If you’re anything like us, December is a distracting month. The stresses of end-of-year to-do’s mixed in with holiday activities, plus the obligation to stay focused on goals, is enough to make someone go insane. As photographers, December can either be super busy or dead as a door nail. This year, we wanted a middle ground and decided to focus on families.

Have you noticed the growing interest in sharing epic Holiday Greeting cards or FB and Instagram pics? It’s the easy display of affection towards our friends and families around this time of year. More meaningful yet, family photos around the holidays contribute to the cheerful spirit of “togetherness” and create a yearly memory which becomes timeless, treasured moments.

Jason and I desired to create these “cheerful” Christmas moments for families and the lovely Kennedy, recently opened Edinburgh West. This is undoubtedly one of the classiest venues in the Carolinas. Who couldn’t love the European elegance of a high gated circle drive, European gardening, and an entirely glass arboretum perfectly decorated for Christmas?! It was a done deal. We all set a date to host the “Elegant Family Photos" event.

Then the snow came…and us Michiganders were less than impressed with the town shutting down and the empty milk and bread isles in the stores. To us “northerners,” it was a little…pathetic (no offense). The roads were perfectly clear, and the dusting was rather beautiful. Who wouldn’t want their photos done now?!

I guess I didn’t see the downed trees and the power outages coming. Yup, our power was out for 30 hours and no, we were NOT prepared with bread and milk (g/f bread & coconut milk to be exact). We didn’t even have peanut butter! So we were cold, jobless (our shoots were canceled), hungry, and in the dark. Now, who’s pathetic?

By popular demand, we postponed the “Elegant Family Photo” shoot to the following weekend, which turned out to be the weekend before Christmas. So, we were really appealing to the “last-minute” folk out there. One by one our clients rescheduled their shoots for after the New Year. So, we planned to sleep in the next morning and stay bundled up inside, away from the cold.

Morning came and the phone rang! “Do you have any spots left?” After fumbling through the unexpected call, we set out to meet new clients at noon! Yes, it was cold and rainy but after the shots we got, we wouldn’t have it any other way!

Erika & Cuyler made a stunning entrance in tuxedo & sleek red gown. “We were planning on 15 minutes or so with each family but, do you mind if we take a little longer? I think we can get some really cool shots,” I said. The vote was unanimous. We all set our mind to make the most of this cold, rainy day, at Edinburgh West and that’s just what happened. Check out these shots that were worth taking and good memories worth making! ;)

Not Planned. Even better!

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