You know your wedding photography experience extends WAY beyond your wedding day. That’s why I form long-lasting relationships with my couples so you have the most candid, loving, and breathtaking imagery possible. Get ready to laugh, joke, hug, and celebrate with each other and get photos that capture your love so uniquely you won’t believe they’re yours.
Acelynn & Alex
Walnut Hill Raleigh NC
Melissa & Matthew
Fall Asheville Wedding
Brittany & Brij Colorful Industrial Indian Wedding at The Distillery
Chelsea & Chris
Cannon Green Wedding
Hadley & Mike
Fearington Village, NC
Kenzie & Kyle
A Fall Carolina Grove Wedding
Katie & Taylor Winter
Wedding at The Bradford
Sabrina & Graham
Spring Merrimon Wynne Wedding
Drew & Nathan
Fall Raleigh, NC
Kaitlyn & Brad
Biltmore Estate
Shaoleen & Colin
Brooklyn Bridge & Central Park NYC
Alyssa & Jackson
Fort Fisher Beach
Katie & Brandt
Sunrise in Charleston
Jules & Spencer
Fall at Emerald Isle
Nicole & Tyler Summer at Pullen Park & NC Art Museum
Jamie & Will Cozy Winter Mountain Engagement Session
Heart Of NC 2021 Cover Feature at Merrimon Wynne House
Lavender Oaks Barn of Chapel Hill
Heart of NC Feature
Walnut Hill Summer 2021
Open House
Kestrel Park
Santa Ynez, CA April 2021
Providence Cotton Mill
Fall 2021 Editorial
Pink Figgy Downtown Charleston
March 2021
Chateau Bouffemont
Paris, France
The Maxwell
Summer 2021 Open House
Having Arika as our photographer was one of the best decisions we made when planning our wedding. She is responsive, fun, organized, and incredibly talented. Our photos from our engagement session at Biltmore Estate and Craggy Gardens in Asheville was a blast and the pictures are incredible. She made us feel so comfortable. We just had our wedding on April 30th and she sent us sneak peeks the following day. We are so excited to see the full gallery, but she gave us a ton of photos to gush over in the meantime. We also ended up having AJP do videography as well and we're so excited to see that as well! Arika is an angel and we highly recommend her!
Arika and I hit it off beyond belief when we first met, and every session felt more like meeting up with my friend. From engagement photos, to bridals, to the big day, we loved working with Arika every step of the way. She was more help than anyone; from helping us plan the day of timeline, to calming my nerves when hurricane Florence postponed us, Arika was flexible, professional, and made me feel that she cared about our day going as amazing as possible as much as we did. I also can't speak enough that while most photographers in the busy season take months and months to get you your photos back, Arika got us our photos back in 2 week and I cannot be more in LOVE with how they turned out nor the amount she delivered! Lastly you will not find a better gallery set up than hers! Arika was the best vendor we hired and the best decision we made choosing her!
Arika was absolutely incredible to work with. From the start, she was kind helpful and so willing to go above and beyond to help my now husband and I. Since I was a COVID bride, there was a lot of last minute decisions, moving around schedules and what not, she was responsive and helpful when it came to changing dates. Luckily, Arika and her husband were able to photograph my wedding, and all the pictures turned out beautiful. She made me feel comfortable in front of the camera and had a blast doing it. I highly recommend Arika for any and all weddings!
Arika was so much fun to work with! From our engagement shoot to the end of the wedding day, she was open, engaging, and truly enjoyed her work. She got along with my husband and I from the start and we never stopped laughing. Her husband joined her for the wedding and he was great as well, even bringing me my lipstick just before the ceremony. We would love to work with her again!
Arika shot our destination wedding in Tulum, Mexico and I honestly don't know what we would have done if we had gone with someone else. Having Arika there was almost like having a friend there. She was able to crank out SO many amazing photos without it taking up so much time (this was something really important to us as we wanted to be present during the ceremony).
She did such a good job handling all the big personalities from our family and friends, and made us feel so comfortable that she got to capture some moments of us being ourselves instead of so formal and posed.
We got our photos so quickly and they completely and totally blew me away. They were so bright, beautiful, and fun! So many people have commented on how gorgeous and unique they were and I couldn't agree more. I can't imagine having had anyone else besides Arika and Andre at our wedding - both for the outcome of the amazing photos, and the way that they meshed with our big day personality and professionalism-wise.
Arika is incredible. Both my husband and I were a little nervous about taking engagement pictures, but she made it so easy and comfortable, and our pictures are amazing. Arika had us laughing the entire time, and by the time our wedding rolled around she seemed more like a friend than someone we had only met once before. She captured all of our favorite moments of our wedding day so beautifully, and got us all of our pictures back so quickly. All of our friends and family can’t stop raving about our pictures, and we are so grateful to have hired her to capture our big day.
BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS!! Light, bright, colorful and Arika is SO MUCH FUN!
I met Arika about a year before my wedding to chat about things and I immediately loved her. We had our engagement session on my birthday and the pictures could not have been more beautiful. We shot at several locations and Arika was so patient with us. She will teach you how to 'pose' which comes in handy at the wedding. On our wedding day she was so good at directing everyone. She is SO friendly and fun and truly captures the 'feelings' of the day.
I love how her photos are so bright and colorful, but we also got amazing shots done at night. She is AWESOME. We got our wedding photos back so quickly and I can not stop looking at them. Book Arika ASAP, you will not regret it!!!
It all starts with an email sharing my full investment guide and a few questions about you & your story so we can get to know each other! We’ll plan a phone call to answer your questions and get your booking info taken care of. Once you’re booked, you’ll receive the AJP wedding guide walking you through everything from what to wear on your engagement session to your wedding day timelines!
Your engagement session isn’t just about capturing photos for your save-the-dates. It’s like our first date, only the best way for us to get to know one another is getting you two comfortable in front of the camera. Spend time laughing & cuddling during your session and consider planning a well-deserved date night right after we wrap up the session.
Two months before your wedding, I’ll send you a questionnaire going over every detail I need for your wedding day so we can create a custom wedding day timeline that works best for you. I want your wedding day to be as stress-free as possible, which is why I ask for bridal party and family member names, vendor information, and details that are important to you so we can get right to celebrating on your day!
Your day is FINALLY here. Now it’s time to relax & enjoy while I get to work capturing your beautiful images, rain or shine! We’ll make sure you get photos of the memories that will last a lifetime!
Six weeks later, you’ll receive your full online gallery (after you’ve received LOTS of sneak peaks, of course!). In your gallery, you can print, download, and share your images. If you’ve chosen to include an album in your package, this is when we’ll start the design process!
With AJP, you get more than incredible photos of the greatest day of your life. You get a friend who captures both the big moments and the spontaneous can’t-believe-that-just-happened moments.
All wedding collections include full day coverage, an engagement session, edited images, online gallery, print release, personal rights to photos.
Outside of the Carolinas or planning a destination wedding? Contact me for a custom package. Will travel for love stories!
I'm a person who loves to know details! I love information and doing my research, I also love when everything is laid out to me (do car dealerships bug you too?) Most of my couples share this trait with me. Don't see your answer here? Let's chat!
My editing style I describe as true to life vibrant colors, with natural skin tones. Photos that will remain timeless for generations to come. My shooting style, is a mix of traditional posed, candid & in between moments. The traditional posed photos for parents & grandparents, with lots of candid. Sometimes there are moments where I will need to be in charge, during posed portraits, family formals, etc. I can handle the rowdiest of crowds. There are also some moments, I will be a fly on the wall. Always making sure we are in the best lighting capturing authentic moments.
Yes I do require a planner. Though I highly recommend a partial or full service planner, I only require couples to have a professional day of coordinator on their wedding day. These are the biggest stress relief on your wedding day! Family member & wedding party (or goodness you!) running around trying to keep everything together, setting up & coordinating your vendor team, is the last thing needed on weddings days. Day of coordinators must be a legal business, and may not be an immediate family member or in the wedding party. Venue coordinators and Venue managers do not qualify as day-of coordinator, as they are there specifically for the venue and not the couple.
I include an engagement session in every wedding package. You are not required to use it, but it's one of my favorite ways to get to know you as a couple. Most people have never had professional pictures done, and none of my couples are models. Getting in front of the camera can be very nerve wrecking, which is the last thing you want to experience on your wedding day. We get all those nerves out of the way at your engagement session, we fly through all the formalities of the day, and some of my favorite inside jokes with my couples come from their engagement sessions. I travel all over for engagement sessions, especially for out of state couples.
I do! I shoot on both medium format film & 35 mm film. Film is beautiful, and my editing style is based on recreating the look of film. Shooting film takes out the middle man, and film gets developed, and delivered to me digitally almost perfect. Film also has its time and place. The right lighting, the right moments, so I do shoot both digitally & on film.
Multi Day coverage is available. From welcome parties, day after brunches, Indian weddings, and rehearsal & rehearsal dinners. Custom packages to cover your unique wedding celebration are available upon request, and something we can talk about during our consultation.
Your final gallery will be delivered within 6 weeks of your wedding date. Don't worry though, there will always be lots of sneak peeks in your inbox within 24 hours of your wedding date.
I average 75-85 images per hour that I am shooting. I love delivering our client’s files quickly and easily via an online gallery. You will have the ability to print, share and download your images as much as you want. Online galleries stay up for one year, but you will also be receiving a USB drive with the same files on it to keep for a lifetime. I believe in freely sharing my work because that is what I would want if I were in your shoes!
Videography is available alone & as a package deal with Photography. Booking Photo & Video together adds on an additional team member to your day. Options to add on videography can be as simple as a ceremony film to remember you full ceremony, to a 7- 8 minute feature film. We work together for a cohesive flow, and to quickly finish all the formalities that come with wedding day coverage so you spend as most time with you guests & having fun! There are so many amazing videographers out there, that I always encourage my couples to look around as there are so many different editing/shooting styles out there! I have a list of referrals, I would love to share with you of videographer of varying styles who I love working with.
I’m proud to see my work and my clients featured in premiere publications, including those listed below. Browse a few of my favorites on the right!