Marissa & Gabe — A Fall Wedding at Sacred Heart Cultural Center, Augusta, Georgia

There are venues that require you to work around them, and then there are venues that just make the job easier. Sacred Heart Cultural Center is the second kind.

I photographed Marissa and Gabe's fall wedding at Sacred Heart in downtown Augusta, and from the moment I walked in I understood why couples keep coming back to this place. The building was originally constructed as a Catholic church in the late 1890s with the first service being held on December 2, 1900 and it's been a cultural center since the 1980s. It's listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and once you're inside, that feels obvious. Ninety four stained glass windows. A barrel-vaulted ceiling. Italian marble altars. Fifteen different styles of brickwork on the exterior. It’s so beautiful it doesn't even need additional decoration!

Marissa is a tattoo artist, and she and Gabe both have a lot of ink which gave the whole day a beautifully distinct energy against the backdrop of a 19th century church. That contrast isn't jarring, it's very honest. It's who they are, and Sacred Heart is grand enough to hold all of it without competing. Marissa also designed custom temporary tattoos for the wedding, which guests were wearing throughout the day. Small detail, but it's the kind of thing that tells you a lot about a couple. The care that goes into something like that, the humor in it, the fact that it was entirely her own work is a special touch.

Fall light in Augusta hits differently than summer. Lower, more directional, and the way it came through those stained glass windows in the afternoon created something that analog handles better than digital. Film holds that kind of textured, filtered color in a way that feels true to the space. I also got some time shooting from the balcony, which gave a completely different perspective on the ceremony. The scale of the room reads differently from up there, and so does the intimacy within it.

The staff and vendors were genuinely wonderful to work with, which matters more than people realize going into a wedding day. When everyone on the ground is communicative and easy to be around, it creates a calmer day, and calmer days make for better photographs.

The courtyard adjacent to the Great Hall gave us quieter space during cocktail hour. It featured softer light, less density, and more of the unguarded moments that documentary photography lives in. That's usually where some of the best frames come from anyway. The in-between time.

If you're planning a wedding in Augusta, Georgia and haven't looked at Sacred Heart yet, it's worth a visit. And if you're looking for a film wedding photographer in Augusta or anywhere in Georgia and the Southeast, I'd love to hear about what you're planning. View my weddings & elopements gallery and reach out through the contact page!