Chris Jackson // West Virginia Wedding Photographers

Relaxed Fayetteville, WV, Wedding at the historic Gaines Estate.

The Gaines Estate wedding. As a wedding photographer in Fayetteville, WV, I have been anticipating the opening of the Gaines Estate – and getting to shoot there. Its a dream. For real. And Fall there is probably the best time to have done that.

Erika and Andrew’s wedding was a perfect invitation to to the new wedding venue, right in Fayetteville. This cool couple were so relaxed and chill and it was a breeze to hang around them all day documenting their wedding with my friend and assistant, Marlyn McClendon. Their day started with getting ready in the Gaines Estate main house, which is a lovely yellow – perfect backdrop for photos – and large white walls and high ceilings (a flash photographers dream). The grounds of this Fayette County gem are sprawled and open offering over hundred nice vignettes for backdrops on the fly. The hay field above the house is where Erika and Andrew had their ceremony. Those grasses in October gave a moody feel to the ceremony. Perfect for this couple!

After a light mist and the kiss we moved on to using an old Rolls Royce and the grassy ceremony site for the formalities of the families and the wedding parties, respectively. Then we had a few small locations for the couples portraits and made our way back down to the Gaines Estate new reception hall. The large windowed walls gave perfect light in the building and a nice, soft look on the reception. The reception was small and intimate with a buffet style spread from Pies & Pints. A sparkler exit and this ended the night at the perfect Gaines Estate. I look forward to more weddings at this venue.