Elms Mansion Wedding | New Orleans | Anna + Harrison

I have been wanting to photograph a New Orleans wedding since the beginning of my career, so for an entire decade. You see, I have deep ties to NOLA: the people I consider my grandparents live there, my best friend and brother live there, and I spent a good portion of time there already every year. When Anna and Harrison reached out to me to be their Elms Mansion wedding photographer, I practically did a second line down my street. Even better, I have photographed Anna’s cousin Julia and her husband Mark at almost every stage of their family’s lives. I love their family so very much so the added honor of photographing another Bareiss family member’s wedding was an absolute honor.

New Orleans is a special kind of home to me. It’s about family, and revelry, and fun. The spirit that surrounds me there is a dangerous one: I always joke I could never live there full time because I’d just get fat and happy. New Orleans is about love and joy, and porch sipping, and music, and second lines. Anna and Harrison’s Elms Mansion wedding was every bit of all of these things, with ~~a little bit~~ ok a LOT of rain thrown in. So much rain that we had to improvise on all the formal photos for locations. So much rain that we weren’t sure if the second line was going to happen. So much rain that Nicky and I were completely soaking wet for the majority of the day. That rain did absolutely nothing to damper Anna and Harrison’s spirits though – after having to reschedule their wedding due to COVID and then again due to Anna’s board certification exams, they, like almost everyone who has been faced with similar challenges over the past year, just wanted to get married. And get married they did.

Kate Clark with The Smaller Orchid had a killer team behind us that made the day run incredibly smooth, despite the rain. The Second Line went off without a hitch (but with a lot of dirt). The dance party raged. I have WAY too many favorite photos to share with everyone from this wedding. #sorrynotsorry

Haven’t ever been to New Orleans? I haven’t updated my New Orleans Travel Guide in awhile, but here’s my most recent one with my favorite haunts on it.