Hello, I'm Julie, the founder and co-creator of Magnolia + Ember.

My husband, Colin, and I share some of the most intimate days in a couple's life with them. By trade, we are a photo & video team planning adventure wedding experiences, but our passion comes from a place far beyond the landscapes. Our energy and internal worlds are the lifeforce behind our work. We are ceremonialist with a gift of intentionality and presence.

Myself, I'm an overly detailed storyteller, and these are my personal stories that are too long for an Instagram caption. Moments that have shaped the core of M+E.

You deserve to know who you’re spending your elopement day with.

April 6, 2025

Life is transformation. We are stripped, fragmented, and fractured into our many moving parts time and time again. We are the watchers from within, sitting front row to experience the ever-changing nature of the Universe. This change, this pattern, shows itself throughout our external world. Indigenous people believe ferns represent new beginnings. The dense ferns that draped the entire forest floor on our first camping trip were present in the many unfolding moments of Us that followed. Our story is powerful, and the symbolic journey we see and feel reminds us that the world is alive and breathing.

November 15, 2024

Hurricane Helene brought chaos and change into the lives of so many people. Asheville and surrounding areas on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina became impassable. For us, and Jackie and Dave, this meant a last minute change of elopement plans. In only 4 days, we pivoted, crafting the adventure of a lifetime in Vermont.

No matter how an elopement unfolds, we know that we are always given exactly what is meant for us. Rather than expectations, we chase our intentions and how we want to feel during an experience, and that is what drives the creative process of helping couples plan adventures. Our job as your photographers is not only to capture the day, but guide you into being fully present. Connection is the fundamental principle of our art.

Smoky Mountains | Worldwide