Some wedding days are just made for film.
While documenting this intimate celebration at Finch House on video, I had the opportunity to bring along my 35mm camera and capture a handful of moments throughout the day on film, too.
And honestly, a place like Finch House just makes sense on film.
The character of the space, the intimacy of a smaller wedding, and all of those quiet little moments happening between the bigger ones gave me plenty to notice whenever I picked up my film camera.
An Intimate Wedding at Finch House
There’s something I love about photographing smaller wedding celebrations. Without a packed timeline or hundreds of people moving through the same space, you start noticing the little things.
People talking over dinner. Someone fixing a detail before the ceremony. A hug happening off to the side. The way a room looks before everyone fills it.
Those aren't necessarily the moments that make a traditional wedding-day checklist, but they're often the photographs that make a gallery feel personal.
Finch House already has so much character that it felt especially fitting for that kind of documentation.
A Few Frames on 35mm
Film naturally makes me slow down and decide what deserves a frame. Sometimes that's a portrait. Other times it's a detail, a guest, some interesting light, or a completely ordinary moment that just feels worth remembering.
The imperfections are part of why I love it—the grain, movement, colors, and little surprises that come back from the lab.
Why I Bring Film to Weddings
Most of the weddings I photograph aren't exclusively documented on film. Instead, I love incorporating 35mm alongside digital photography.
Digital gives me the flexibility and reliability I want when documenting a full wedding day, while film brings something different to the final gallery. It's slower. A little unpredictable. Nostalgic without needing to manufacture nostalgia.
And because I can't immediately look at the back of the camera to see what I made, I'm able to photograph the frame and move on—which feels pretty aligned with the way I want couples to experience their wedding days, too. Present for it rather than constantly worrying about how it looks.
Film Wedding Photography in North Carolina
These photographs from Finch House are only a small piece of the wedding day, but that's also why I love them. They're little glimpses.
A few frames of a celebration I happened to experience with a film camera in my hands. And as I continue incorporating more 35mm into my wedding work, that's what I want film to bring to my couples' galleries: photographs that aren't trying too hard to be perfect, but somehow feel even more like memories because of it.
If you're planning a wedding in Raleigh or elsewhere in North Carolina and love the look and feeling of 35mm film, you can absolutely incorporate film photography into your wedding coverage.
more than photos <3
film brings more to your wedding
