Megan & Allyson’s Running Deer Golf Club Wedding in South Jersey

Mrs. & Mrs. Pennypacker 🤍🤍

Megan and Ally’s Running Deer Golf Club wedding was so intentional and personable! They shared private vows, first looks with some of the most important people in their lives, sweet moments with their grandparents, college friends, played lawn games, had awesome signature drinks, a packed dance floor and PINK SKIES! 

But one of my favorite things about their wedding was how much of the day came back to their people! 

Before the wedding, Megan and Ally had already told me how important their families and friends were to them. They wanted the beautiful portraits, absolutely, but they also wanted photos of their grandparents, their college friends, their families actually interacting and all of the little things happening around them while they were busy GETTING MARRIED.

So that’s exactly what we built their Running Deer wedding photography around.

Getting Ready at Running Deer Golf Club

Megan and Ally both got ready right at Running Deer, but in separate spaces with their own people.

For Megan, that meant her mom, sister-in-law, cousin and brothers. For Ally, it included her sisters, mom, officiant and friends. We photographed their dresses, the details they had chosen and all of those getting-ready photos, but I also knew we had multiple first looks and private vows coming later in the afternoon.

This is where having two photographers really matters!

While I’m photographing one side of the wedding, my second photographer can be with the other. Megan and Ally didn’t have to choose whose getting-ready photos were going to be documented because their wedding was happening in two rooms at the same time!

If you’re getting married here too, I have a full Running Deer Golf Club wedding guide with more about the venue and what I recommend thinking about when you’re planning your photography timeline.

They Didn’t Have Just ONE First Look

Before Megan and Ally saw each other, they had a few other people they wanted to see first.

Megan did a first look with her brothers and her dad and Ally had her own first look with her dad! These were some of my favorite moments because they both had such different personalities! You could really feel the connection. 

Also, I LOVE knowing about these things ahead of time because they aren’t little extras I’m trying to squeeze into five spare minutes before your ceremony. They’re part of the timeline from the beginning!

After these sweet moments, it was finally time for Megan and Ally to see each other! They also chose to exchange their vows privately while they were together.

Just the two of them! They got to have that part for themselves before we moved into wedding party photos, family photos and everything else happening before the ceremony.

THIS is why I don’t start wedding timelines by asking how many hours we need for photos.

I want to know what you actually want to happen. Tell me everything that is important to you and then we build the photography around them.

My Wedding Photography Timeline Guide walks through more of how I approach first looks, portraits, family photos and the rest of the wedding day without turning the entire day into one giant photoshoot.

Family Photos With the People Who Actually Matter

Family was a big priority for Megan and Ally! Andddd this is where my approach to family photos is a little different.

I don’t send my couples away with homework and tell them to come back with a giant list of every possible family-photo combination they can think of.

Before our timeline planning call, I already know about your immediate family and the people you’ve told me matter to you. I have my own family photography workflow that includes the group photos AND individual photos I know we’re going to want.

If there are additional combinations you specifically want, absolutely tell me. For instance, Ally’s college friends! I add those to my list and then we make sure to get them sometime during the day.I just want those before our timeline planning call so we can talk through everything together and build the final plan before the wedding.

Then, on the wedding day, we run it! 

Everyone who needs to be in family photos should already know when and where they’re needed. We’ll have a point person who actually knows your families. My second photographer can help organize who’s coming next while I’m photographing the group in front of me.

Megan and Ally didn’t need to stand there figuring out which grandparent or sibling we needed next. They could stay together, let us run the process and get back to their wedding.

Because yes, I want the photo with Grandmom but I ALSO want you to have time to actually go hug Grandma at cocktail hour!

Running Deer Sunset Photos Without Missing Their Wedding

Megan and Ally obviously wanted photos of the two of them around Running Deer Golf Club! But I wasn’t interested in stealing them from their own wedding for an hour to make that happen.

We had already done their first look and planned so much of their wedding party and family photography before the ceremony, we didn’t arrive at the reception with a portrait list still waiting for us.

Instead, we used smaller windows throughout the day. Then later, we could easily grab Megan and Ally when the skies turned pink! It was only for a few minutes and captured one of the gifts of their day! But then?? We sent them right back to their people.

This is one of my favorite ways to approach wedding portraits because you absolutely can have gorgeous photos without spending your entire wedding posing for them! I want enough time to make the photos you’re going to LOVE.

Then I want you drinking the Meg Transfusion, finding your college friends and actually being at the party you spent all this time planning.

If you’re researching the venue and want to see what the property looks like across different wedding days, you can browse my Running Deer Golf Club wedding galleries.

The Meg Transfusion & Ally Miller Lite 

This might be one of my favorite signature-drink pairings. Megan’s? The Meg Transfusion.

Ally’s? The Ally Miller Lite.

I mean… COME ON. 😂

Their wedding had sage green, white florals and gold details throughout the day, but THESE are the details I want couples to tell me about! 

The weirdly specific ones.

The drink named after you, the snack you HAD to have at the end of the night. The lawn game your friends are definitely going to get way too competitive about. 

Megan and Ally had lawn games for their guests and an after-reception snack planned too and all of those pieces told me way more about how they wanted people to experience their wedding than a color palette ever could! 

Of course I’m photographing the flowers and rings, but I’m also watching what happens once people actually start USING everything you planned! 

The Candids Megan & Ally Actually Asked For

Megan and Ally specifically told me they wanted candid photos.

But when my couples tell me that, I don’t interpret it as, “Please take a few photos of us laughing while we pretend you aren’t there.”

They wanted photos of everyone else too...

People playing lawn games during cocktail hour, reactions during speeches, someone laughing across a table. Their favorite people dancing together when Megan and Ally were somewhere else on the dance floor. 

Because here’s the thing:

You are going to miss parts of your own wedding.

You can’t be talking to your college friends and watching what your grandparents are doing across the room at the same time.

But that’s where we come in.

Of course I want Megan and Ally to open their gallery and see beautiful photos of themselves, but I also want them finding things they didn’t even know happened.

Why I Love Photographing Weddings at Running Deer Golf Club

I’ve photographed a TON of weddings at Running Deer, so when I’m building a timeline here, I’m not trying to figure out the property for the first time while my couple is already getting married.

For Megan and Ally, that meant we could photograph both getting-ready spaces, their family first looks, their own first look and private vows, wedding party, family and couple portraits BEFORE guests ever watched them walk down the aisle.

Then later, we could go back out for sunset without turning it into another massive portrait session. That’s the kind of flexibility I really appreciate about this venue! 

How can we use this property to give you amazing photos AND a wedding you actually get to experience?

You can see more weddings I’ve photographed here in my Running Deer Golf Club wedding category, or compare it with other venues in my South Jersey Wedding Venues Guide.

Planning Your Running Deer Golf Club Wedding?

If you’re getting married at Running Deer Golf Club, don’t come to me thinking you need to already know exactly how your photography timeline should work! 

I’m going to ask you about the good stuff first.

Who are YOUR people? Is your grandmom the first person you’re going to look for after the ceremony?Do you want to read your vows without 150 people listening? Are you wanting to actually make it to cocktail hour?

Is there a signature drink with a ridiculous name I absolutely need to know about?

That’s what I want to know! Then we can figure out where family photos go, when we’re sneaking out for sunset and how much time we actually need for portraits.

Your wedding photography should fit around the wedding you want to experience, not the other way around.

Tell me about your wedding → here! 

Vendor Team

Venue & Catering: Running Deer Golf Club

DJ / Entertainment: POSH DJs

Officiant: Friend of Megan & Ally

Florist: Brittany Floral Design

Cake: Stella Baking Company

Hair: Katie Reader Hair