Kai and Josh contacted us way back in January about their wedding while they were looking for venues and trying to decide between some awesome ones in the mountains. Kai was a bridesmaid in a previously stellar wedding where we loved all the people involved and we spoke for a long time regarding wedding venues and preparing for their engagement session. Unfortunately fate was not with us as the only date their awesome venue had open (Hawkesdene House, we love you, and will return someday!) we were already booked for, and then their engagement session was cancelled once for no leaves on the trees back in early April and then again for rain in later April. :) But we didn’t let it deter us – and we soldiered on to finnnnally shoot their engagement session at their home and meet these wonderful people! There was a lot of poison ivy and I discovered the next day that I was bit by a tick, so he’s remaining in a Ziplock bag in our refrigerator for 30 days just in case I have any symptoms… since that’s how our luck has been going with their session.

Despite said luck, we think their pictures are adorable. And they’re adorable! And we talked about tv and books and music and had fun with their ridiculously cute and friendly dog Kora, whom they rescued together when they were still friends. They then made excuses to go see their joint-adopted dog which basically translated to them watching the whole series of Lost together and, let’s face it, what couple hasn’t been brought closer by watching Lost, right? All the time travel and the polar bears and the button pushing every 108 minutes is bound to turn any meaningful friendship into a lifelong marriage. We wish Kai and Josh the absolute best and just may invite ourselves over again to eat their bean dip and S’mores.

Brandie and William are getting married on her parents’ lovely property in Stem this upcoming summer and we are super excited to be there! They also wanted their engagement photos there because the pups were a priority to them (and being able to run free without their leashes on was equally a priority in picking a spot). Quinn, the German Shepherd mix one, is pretty much all about having his picture taken and may or may not participate in the actual wedding, depending. :) Parker, on the other hand (the Australian Shepherd mix one), is scared of camera shutters, barks at other unseen dogs in the distance, and did not want anything to do with Geoff’s car coming down the driveway (he promptly ran up to it, stopped right in front of it and barked at it, then just stood there unmoving for a good while). So Parker was kind of the wildcard in terms of “dog participation” in the wedding, so Brandie and William decided to get pictures of and with them prior to the wedding in case they can’t attend. ;)

It rained off and on for the entire session, but they were in from Tennessee to visit her parents, so we carried on with the session and had a great time! They were good sports despite rooting for bad sports (William is one of the few people we’ve met who, along with Geoff, also loves the Pittsburgh Pirates despite their inability to consistently play well), and happily trudged through high grass and woods surrounding the property. We are so excited to see and work with them again in August, but will miss the dogs if they aren’t there… let’s be honest. Because who doesn’t love dogs in bowties? :)

Our favorite getting ready spot is always the couple’s own house. We really like seeing other peoples’ houses, for one thing, as it tells you a lot about them. This is always substantially more relaxed, for another thing, especially if they get ready in the same house at the same time. But the third and most important reason why our favorite getting ready spot is the couple’s own house is that we’re typically surrounded by cats or dogs who make everything better for cute, furry, obvious reasons.

There were 3 cats in this house, but only one visible, unhidden cat who had taken a fond liking to Andrea’s wedding dress. The dog’s name is Sweet Penny Scoot Scoots, age 4. She’s possibly won the award for the most nervous flower girl ever, and we’ve seen a lot of nervous flower girls. She was won over eventually with treats and a bow and walked bravely down the aisle for her very doting parents, Andrea and Mark.

Andrea and Mark were married at Mark’s uncle’s house and had their ceremony officiated by Mark’s other uncle. The ceremony was the first we’ve attended to mention Tupac and a vow to “seek help before quitting the marriage,” and was clearly the best ceremony ever. Family threw Hersey Kisses at them afterward (no dresses were harmed) and the DJ actually still spun real records with a set list that was epic and reminiscent of every 90s roller skating party I’ve ever attended (in a good way). They drove off at the end of the night to Mojo’s where their pictures are up on the wall 3 times for eating hamburgers. :)

Date: May 4, 2013

Ceremony and Reception Venue: Private Residence // Raleigh, NC

Andrea’s Occupation: Massage Therapist

Mark’s Occupation: Superintendent

How You Met: Through a friend at the Pour House

Honeymoon Destination: Costa Rica

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Dr. Bobby Wineburg | DJ – Aharon Segal of DJ Gonzo | Caterer – Food Simply Fresh with Kelly Delaire | Hair/Makeup – Amanda Daniels

THESE TWO. We’re kind of partial to them because they lend us awesome British sci-fi movies with tag lines like “Inner City vs. Outer Space” and make us gluten-free cupcakes. Emmanuel currently has some of our comics out on loan, and we’d totally be borrowing his Walking Dead video game right now if we had a Playstation, but we don’t, so that exchange will have to wait. We even played Catch Phrase once where Erika was on my team, and I’m pretty sure she said, “Wild Goose Run” at least twice before I could coax “Wild Goose Chase” out of her and I won’t let her live it down (despite us being the best team and always winning). We like ‘em a whole lot.

So they wanted to do a more candid-type engagement shoot because Erika’s smile starts to fade after forced-smiling for so long, so they proposed a cooking photo shoot. They both like cooking and baking. A lot. A whole, whole lot. Brunch is their favorite meal and I am pretty sure each time we’ve been with them, they talk about recipes. It’s pretty adorable, and I envy their knowledge of how to make things super tasty as well as local restaurant knowledge. They also watch a lot of Drunk Kitchen on Youtube (Google this – it’s awesome) so it was an appropriate idea. But they needed a kitchen and asked if they could use ours, and we said SURE! Because we like them, and also knew we’d get tasty things out of the deal (which we certainly did – jerk chicken with rice and margarita cupcakes!). So it’s kind of strange to see our own kitchen on the blog, but here it is!

They also just recently completed a Color Run, and liked it a whole lot. So they bought the colored powder for the session and threw it at each other (not in our kitchen). Then, covered in colored powder, we drove them back and ate delicious things and were very happy. Erika and Emmanuel get married in July and we will be there to eat their tasty food (and photograph them).

Michele and Jonathan’s wedding was planned quite far in advance. We were honored to be a part of it from the beginning, working with them on their timeline and ideas, and mainly assuring Michele that it probably won’t rain. Of course, we had no idea whether or not it would, but most of the time it doesn’t, so we were betting on that. Michele had the most rain plan contingencies in place in her head of any bride. Jonathan said she spent a lot of Saturdays when it rained looking out the window and commenting, “I feel so bad for whoever is getting married today!”

On our final consultation we looked at the weather and it was cloudy with a small chance of rain on weather.com. However, Michele had a site up her sleeve called Weather Underground (whose name implies that they know a forecast that we don’t) where it was a 50/50 chance of rain or not. It was anyone’s game.

Come their wedding day, there were very dramatic clouds, but we’re happy to report no rain. :) It did sprinkle during their exit, but that’s about it. We bring you this very dry blog post to happily report no rain on Michele and Jonathan’s wedding day. :) And we could not have wished that fabulous luck on two nicer, sweeter, genuine people. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with the two of them as they’re instantly people you like (maybe it’s their obvious adoration of their cats).

Date: April 27, 2013

Ceremony and Reception Venue: Snipes Farm Retreat // Chapel Hill, NC

Michele’s Occupation: Communications

Jonathan’s Occupation: Paralegal/Database Manager

How You Met: In college.

Interesting Bride Fact: First job was at TCBY.

Interesting Groom Fact: Terrified of puppets (especially marionettes).

Honeymoon Destination: Coast of Maine.

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Rev. Dennis Nolen | Band – John Howie Jr. & The Rosewood Bluff | Florist – DIY team headed by good friend Betsy | Cake – Honey & The Moon Bakery  (cake topper hand made by Michele) | Caterer – Catering by Design | Hair/Makeup – Sarah Boulton from Body Bliss Salon | Coordinator – Red Bird Events

These two were fun. We liked them a lot. Part of that is due to the fact that they’re big fans of Lost, the other part of that is due to the fact that they really also enjoyed the Ninja Turtles. They came all the way from Charlotte to spend some time with us but are getting married in South Africa where Joscelin is originally from (she had a very adorable accent). They have two cats, but it was briefly discussed that if we could find a way to properly tame a wild raccoon, Joscelin would probably also add one to the mix. They kept us laughing by doing and saying ridiculous things and I am one hundred percent sure that we would force our friendship upon them if they lived closer to us, but we’re going to have to settle by visiting them during our excursions to Ikea. ;)

When we first met Bob, he was deathly afraid of cats (see his interesting fact below). However, come their wedding day, we were informed that Bob is getting over his fear of cats, of which we’re very proud. We wouldn’t have held his cat fear against him, of course, but our cats might’ve. So it’s good that we’re all on the same page now.

Bob is one of the least serious people we’ve ever met (in a good way) and is always joking around (so you wouldn’t exactly suspect him of a cat phobia… which is, perhaps, what the cats are banking on). Mckenzie is super sweet. Their bridal party was one of the nicest ones we’ve ever had the pleasure of working with, and that says a lot about Bob and Mckenzie. They put up with a lot of things from us (walking in semi-sketchy locations and standing in front of caricatures of fruit) without complaint. Mckenzie and Bob’s wedding involved a lot of happiness, a lot of partying, some pinwheels, a dash of trolley transportation, and a gold coin Mckenzie kept in her shoe that her sister, her mother, and her grandmother all wore in their shoes on their wedding days (the penny was kept in a box with the label of all the names and dates of the weddings – an adorable idea!).

Their cake topper was a Mckenzie and Bob, sitting on a couch, with Bob playing Skyrim and Mckenzie on her iPad. It was pretty amazing. And accurate. Here are our favorites from the day.

Date: April 20, 2013

Ceremony Venue: Sacred Heart Cathedral // Raleigh, NC

Reception Venue: Cobblestone Hall // Raleigh, NC

First Dance Song: “Carolina in My Mind” – James Taylor

Mckenzie’s Occupation: Accountant

Bob’s Occupation: Software Engineer

How You Met: Mutual friends.

Interesting Bride Fact: Most indecisive person ever, I think.

Interesting Groom Fact: Used to be a stand up comedian who is deathly afraid of cats.

Honeymoon Destination: St. Lucia

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Father Schriber | DJ – Collin Y | Florist – Flueressence | Cake – Simply Cakes | Caterer – Rocky Top Hospitality | Hair/Makeup – Carla White | Cake Pops – Raleigh Cake Pops

Kristine and Kevin were fantastic to work with for this shoot! They know how to have fun and aren’t afraid to be a tad bit ridiculous. They made us laugh probably more than we made them laugh, and we had a great time. They both are involved in culinary art – Kristine’s in school for baking and Kevin’s a cook. Geoff and I decided that they should probably move in with us so that we don’t have to do either of those things again (we’ll take care of the dishes and you can live here for free, okay?). Kristine’s planning on making their wedding cake for their spring wedding next year.

I actually met Kristine doing photos for a veterinary hospital two years ago where she was the secretary. She’s kept in touch and followed us for a while and we’re excited to have her and Kevin on board for 2014! They have 4 cats (two outside and two inside) so they get bonus client points.

Abby and Aaron are getting married at one of our favorite wedding venues in the Outer Banks in August – Pelican’s Landing in Corolla. It’s seriously fantastic, and we’re so excited to return. They have a longstanding tradition of being at the beach despite not being from there and despite currently living in Chapel Hill. Their first date was in Atlantic Beach going mini golfing and to the aquarium (Abby is a self-professed aficionado about each), and Abby lived in Wilmington for a short period of time where she spent a lot of time at the beach (of course). Aaron can body surf, but Abby’s afraid of sea creatures so she doesn’t get very far into the water. So this love of the beach turned into an engagement session at the beach, and they were nice enough to bring us out to Nags Head for their engagement session “exploring on the pier! I love piers. They are right up there with aquariums.”

Abby and I discovered on our visit that we generally talk like 4th graders. At one point Abby discussed her love of sharks by saying, “Sharks are my favorite. I like all sharks.” At another point, I kicked around some said and said, “I like sand. It is cool.” So, that was kind of how the session went. Aaron and Geoff wondering how they got here while Abby and I had philosophical discussions about sand and sharks. Casey the dog also joined us and continually barked at seagulls, other dogs, and the waves for the entire shoot. He’s a German Shepherd-Chihuahua mix. Just wait, you’ll see. We had a super great time in Nags Head with them and can’t wait to return in August to photograph their wedding in Corolla so Abby and I can talk about sharks and sand some more.

This was the most intimate wedding ceremony that I’ve ever attended, with myself being the only guest. I also doubled as the witness and the photographer, and I was pretty excited. Excited because I’ve known and loved Heather for a while (she used to live down the street from the family I worked for when I was a nanny), I love small weddings (their officiant said a welcome and Heather said, “That means you, Carolyn!”), I love green wedding dresses (green is the best!), and I loved that their close friends were throwing them a fabulous reception party at a friend’s really fantastic house. Plus they are really good looking. And Heather’s shoes were sparkly.

But enough about my excitement for me – I was also super excited for them. Graham is an amazingly kind person and it’s quite clear that they make each other so happy. Heather’s kids, Wyatt and Theo, just adore Graham and together they’re now one good looking family. :) Heather and Graham were married on Friday, April 12th at Meredith College under the gazebo that her father designed as an architect. She carried a photograph of him, as well as a photo of her opening presents on her 4th birthday party held at the same gazebo. Their friends joined them afterward (and Geoff joined me!) for an awesome party to celebrate their new marriage. We were so happy to be there and met a bunch of really awesome people, two cute cats (very important), and reunited with couples from my nannying days. A fantastic time was had all around. We love you, Heather and Graham!