A Family-Only Mountain Ceremony + A Summer Camp Reception: Alexis + Cole's Charlottesville Wedding
Alexis and Cole met at UVA during their fourth year, got set up by friends, and somehow both ended up loving each other enough to move all the way to Colorado together for six years before making their way back to Charlottesville. They share a dog, they both work in nonprofits doing work that actually matters to them, and on May 9th, we got to watch them get married on family land just outside the city they started this whole thing in.
An elopement-style ceremony, tucked into the mountains
Their ceremony wasn't big. It didn't need to be. Less than 20 people, all family, gathered on their own property with the Shenandoah Mountains stretched out behind them. There's a kind of quiet you only get with a group that small and a space that vast, and it made the whole thing feel unhurried in the best way. No performance, no eyes on them, except the people who've known them their whole lives. If you've been circling the idea of a Shenandoah elopement, or a ceremony that's intimate without losing any of the weight of the moment, this is exactly what that looks like.
Then the reception happened, and it was one of the most wholesome and cutest ones I have ever documented. As someone who grew up watching The Parent Trap on VHS, having a wedding reception take place at a summer camp was the most nostalgic and precious experience of their entire day.
After the ceremony, everyone made the twenty-minute drive to Camp Holiday Trails, and I am not exaggerating when I say I was giddy to see how it all came together. A summer camp wedding reception sounds like it shouldn't work as well as it does, and then you're standing there watching it happen and all you can say is whoa. It had every bit of the charm you'd hope for and none of the stiffness a lot of receptions accidentally fall into.
I mean, just look at their entrance.
Almost none of these people were at their ceremony, and the hype was top tier.
Not to mention…
The light in the mountains on this day did not play fair.
Some days the light just knows what it's doing, and this was one of them. Golden hour hit different — the kind of glow that makes you want to reschedule every other portrait session you've ever done for this exact hour. A few of these are genuinely some of my favorite frames I've ever taken, and they're the kind of pinterest-board-worthy shots you save immediately and figure out how to recreate later.
And then the dance floor took over…
No bridal party, no big formal send-off, most of the traditional boxes unchecked, and it didn't matter one bit. Their reception entrance alone told you everything about the night that was coming. The energy in that room was unmatched, and once the dance floor opened up, it never really closed.
Thank you for letting us be part of something this personal, this joyful, and this entirely yours. The uniqueness and charm of your day is a reminder that honoring what makes you and your partner YOU is always the priority when it comes to your wedding day.
Huge congratulations to Alexis and Cole!
Black Pepper Photography is a full-service wedding photography and videography team serving Charlottesville, Richmond, Northern Virginia, and DC. Dreaming of your own mountain elopement or a reception venue nobody's used before? Reach out - we'd love to help you create a day that actually feels like you.