Wedding Inspiration: Haunted 1900s Styled Shoot

Images: William Avery Photography & River Rose Photography

Attempting to ignore the increasingly scary numbers of COVID spread in DC and instead focus on FALL. It’s FINALLY getting cooler, people have pumpkins on their doorsteps, and we’re planning our halloween costumes. I NEED to find some spaces of joy because right now, things feel too intense. Also there’s a chance Evie might be vaccinated by Halloween (I hope) so that’s my new “looking forward to” date. Using this hauntingly moody shoot as a way to cope and get through it all!

This is what happens when a venue with a history wants to move into the present. We celebrated the past with the present. Welcome to “Haunted 1900.”

In Burke County, NC is the unaltered but decaying small textile village, Henry River Mill Village. Known by the locals as where The Hungry Games was filmed, the Village is getting a much needed make-over. Calvin, the owner, is bringing the once industrial Mill into the present as a wedding and events venue with historic charm.

At the start of the industrial revolution, mill towns sprung up everywhere across the state, many in the western region. One of those in particular was Henry River. The mill opened in 1905, and over time, more than 20 buildings developed to support the residents, the majority of whom worked at the mill. In 1973, the mill shut down, and it wasn’t until 1987 that the last resident left and the town was left abandoned. Until the village was put in the limelight by The Hunger Games, it remained abandoned.

This chilling destination is one of the most haunted abandoned cities in North Carolina. Our styled shoot was built to show the ghost town is hauntingly beautiful. Showing the past married couple watching over the newly married couple.