You all know how much I adore Hagley Museum and Library up in Wilmington, DE. I first shot there in 2018, and it’s since become one of my all time favorite spots. I’m so happy to be so accepted by their staff, too! So when I heard from Rebecca for their fall Hagley Museum wedding, I was elated! Rebecca and Clayton both worked at Hagley Museum and Library, and they actually met there, too. What makes their story even crazier is the fact they grew up near each other in Ohio. It gets crazier. Then they both moved to Delaware around the same time. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but that sounds like fate.

Rebecca describes their story in the sweetest way,
“I rarely saw him, but a year later I asked someone in his department if I could photograph a piece of the collection for a Thanksgiving social media post. I hadn’t quite forgotten about him and I thought I’d see if anything was there. I took pictures of silver spoons for 3 hours (ah!!!), but he finally engaged in conversation. He asked me to lunch (I didn’t realize it was a date). I thought he was writing another book and wanted to know about my family and their generations of steel mill workers–I brought visual aids! We ended up talking for about 5 hours when the manager came in and stood by our table to signal us to leave so they could turn over service for dinner. We’ve been together ever since.“

Ugh, my heart! I love this bit of their story so much, it really speaks for how perfect they are for each other. The most important thing for Rebecca and Clayton is having a low-key, intimate elopement for just the two of them. Oh, and Archie, their adoooorable little Schnauzer! Their fall Hagley Museum wedding is their way of documenting this time in their lives. Clayton wanted to celebrate their relationship, and there was no better place to do so than where they met.

Hagley Museum and Library is huuuuuge. There is so much ground to cover and perfect little spots for photographs at every turn. You can probably tell from these photographs why I love this place so much. Clayton helped pick the best spots for their session. It really helps having two past Hagley employees while planning! I am over the moon for each place we went. I really could have spent all day with them. I’m even digging the overcast here, it really brings out the gorgeous colors of the grounds. It’s also super helpful when Mother Nature shows off her perfect fall colors. I also want to give a special shoutout to Alisha for taking us all over the property and just being absolutely wonderful in general!

I love that I got to meet Rebecca and Clayton and create such incredible artwork for them. This session is special for so many reasons and I will cherish their kindness and meeting their incredible souls forever. Congrats to Rebecca + Clayton!

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Since I know I’m going to catch flack for these next images, I’m just going to say they are completely decommissioned tracks and part of Hagley Museum. We were 3 feet from the end of the track. Yes, I know the decommissioned part is super ignorant on my part, but we had a staff member with us as well. Everything was fine, just don’t ever shoot on live track or ones you think are abandoned, okurrr?

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