Beautiful, Fall Downtown Raleigh Arboretum Elopement | Raleigh, NC | Tara and Raul — Adam Chapin Photography

I love the big weddings I get to photograph and the stories that I hear through them all, but I also love the small weddings I get to play a part in as well. There is such an amazing sense of intimacy within those small groups. I am sure that the same things happen within the larger weddings, though it is much easier to focus on one or two stories being told amongst 10-20 people versus 150-200. Both are, however, beautiful.

So when Tara and Raul contacted me to photograph their beautiful, fall downtown Raleigh arboretum elopement, I was really excited. Though this elopement would be unlike a few of the others I have shot, in that it would just be them. They did have two friends of theirs there at the courthouse to witness, but that was it and it was cool that this was exactly what they wanted, it was simply about them and nothing more, which I found to be beautiful.

Like so many couples, they were initially a little self-conscious and weren't sure what to do, but like all of those other couples, they soon forgot I was there and became themselves and were up for whatever I suggested, as well as having a few surprises of their own. Two of those things being this intense passion between them that was so palpable, and secondly these two can dance! I'm not talking about twerking or the cupid shuffle, we're talking about some impressive dancing from spins to some solid salsa moves and a killer dip! For a guys who lives by the two step (if you haven't seen the movie Hitch, then you should and you'll get the reference) this stuff was so much fun to just watch them do their thing and just get into it.

As they both share a love of the mountains and the natural world in general, both of them are also super healthy vegans (I tried that once and made it to lunch, cause you know...tacos), so we took a ride over to the JC Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh and walked around looking for some beautiful light, shadow and fun. There we found some amazing spots, had some laughs over a pink and white polka dot tree (no joke, you'll see it below), and even did a little running off into the sunset action, it was insanely fun to spend this warm, fall day with Tara and Raul.

And with all that said, I hope that you love the photos as much as they did!