WRAL Azalea Garden Engagement Photos | Meredith & Ben

The WRAL Azalea Garden in Raleigh is one of the best places in Raleigh to have your engagement photos taken, with one major caveat: peak Azalea bloom differs slightly from year to year, but generally falls in mid-April. I met Meredith & Ben, 2025 wedding clients, at the WRAL Azalea Garden in mid-April this year, and as you can see in the photos, we were greeted with an absolutely amazing array of color and texture.

I met Meredith & Ben at Meredith sister Kirsten’s wedding in 2023 - Meredith & Ben were recently engaged, and we enjoyed chatting throughout the day and experiencing the wedding together. I was honored when Meredith reached out a few weeks later to chat about the possibility of photographing her own wedding. It’s always such a joy and privilege to photograph multiple weddings within the same extended family!

We chose the Azalea Garden based on the time of year, as I knew the azaleas would really be showing off. The garden can be a good spot for engagement photos other times of year as well, especially with it’s beautiful pine trees and 2 fountains, but it really shines during the approximate 2 week long peak bloom in April. Sometimes the peak bloom coincides with the spring rainy season, but Meredith & Ben and I got lucky and had lovely weather and a great evening for sweet and lovely engagement photos!