Murphy, NC wedding photographer

I live here. Murphy weddings are home games.

Murphy sits in the far southwestern corner of North Carolina, where the Hiwassee and Valley Rivers meet and the mountains close in on every side. It's a small town with a courthouse on the hill, a downtown you can walk end to end, and a half-hour drive in any direction to somewhere worth photographing.

I've photographed weddings here for a long time: at the big venues, in churches, in backyards, on family land. I know which roads wash out, where the cell service drops, and where the light goes on a June evening.

Venues I know well in and around Murphy

  • McGuire's Millrace Farm. 110 acres just outside town, and the venue I've photographed more weddings at than any other.
  • The Highland Keep (formerly the Castle of Joy). A stone castle on 11 private acres.
  • Payne Meadows. Right here in Murphy, rain or shine.
  • The Beal Center and John C. Campbell Folk School. Smaller, local, and full of character. I've photographed several weddings at each.
  • Churches, homes, and family land across Cherokee County.
  • A little farther: Hawkesdene in Andrews, Nantahala Weddings & Events in Topton, and Brasstown Valley just over the Georgia line.

What a Murphy wedding looks like

Real seasons. Spring takes its time, summer is green in a dozen shades, fall is loud, and winter is quiet and honest.

A sense of place. Mountains, rivers, old barns, a small downtown. Your pictures will look like they happened here, because they did.

Small-town weddings. Half the guests know each other, and the other half will by the end of the night. I'm good at keeping a crowd like that moving without making anyone feel herded.

Working with me

I focus on the moments while you live them.

I'm not driving in from Asheville or Atlanta the morning of your wedding. If something needs to happen at six in the morning or run past eleven at night, that's easy. And I keep my calendar deliberately quiet, so the weddings I take get my full attention.

A story from a Murphy wedding

Couple under clear umbrellas on their rainy wedding day at Payne Meadows in Murphy, NC, by Nathan Baerreis

Miriam and Seth got married at Payne Meadows in Murphy in the middle of a huge storm, with Miriam's dad officiating. Nobody let the rain run the day. We grabbed umbrellas, went out anyway, and the pictures are better for it. Miriam summed it up best: "We got married in the middle of an insane storm, but a wet knot is harder to untie."

Couple celebrating in the rain after their ceremony at Payne Meadows in Murphy, NC, by Nathan Baerreis

Just down the road

PJ and Dave met me in Brasstown on a cold, overcast day for their engagement pictures. We wandered the hills, the woods, and a few old barns. Don't knock the clouds: they give you amazing light if you know how to work them. They let me be the goober I am naturally, and the pictures came out lighthearted and full of joy, just like them.

PJ and Dave on a winter engagement session by an old waterwheel in Brasstown, NC, near Murphy, by Nathan Baerreis

Let's talk

Getting married in or near Murphy? Send me a note. I'm usually back within a day. If you'd like to see packages first, they're over here.

Also nearby: Western NC wedding photography and The Highland Keep.