We love these guys, and there’s not a whole bunch left to say. We photographed their engagement session last year, and before that Jen was one of the first people to ever model for me when I first became a photographer. Jen and Chris are, in fact, some of the first people we ever met in North Carolina, and it’s an absolute honor to photograph their wedding all these years later. Plus, they have a cute dog. A real cute dog. He has one eye and is very good and his name is Gunner.

They got married at the Black Mountain Sanctuary near Asheville which is basically a woodsy forest venue that would be perfect for Hobbits and Hobbit-enthusiasts. Their bluegrass band played covers of both the ABCs and the Violent Femmes, so I’m not sure their range could be wider. It rained. A lot. The third wedding for us in a row. Schedules were drafted, then changed, then changed again, and then changed one more time. They postponed the ceremony just long enough for it to stop completely pouring so they could have their ceremony outside (it was definitely worth it). They modeled with umbrellas and an axe and a light-up pumpkin. Jen allowed me to fondly dub her “The Mud Princess” and everyone ate s’mores around a fire that I didn’t quite want to leave. It was a beautiful day and a lovely evening and everything about it screamed, “IT’S FALL, YOU GUYS!” and we were quite happy with the whole thing.

  • Date: October 10, 2015
  • Ceremony + Reception Venue: Black Mountain Sanctuary // Black Mountain, NC
    First Dance Song: “Hold You In My Arms” – Ray LaMontange
    Jen’s Occupation: Elementary School Teacher
    Chris’s Occupation: Emergency Medicine Resident
    Vendor Credits: Officiant – Reverend Seth | Band – The Bellevue Rhythmaires | Florist – Black Mountain Florist | Caterer – Luella’s BBQ | Coordinator – Sue Christainsen

We love shooting weddings in Asheville. We love it even more when llamas are at those weddings. And we love it even than that when the llamas are named Chocolate Chip and are really good at taking posing directions. Other great things about this wedding include:

  1. The Claxton Farm wedding venue which is nestled in the mountains and is gorgeous.
  2. Kim’s sparkly dress.
  3. Jeffrey’s (Kim’s dad) expression on their formal family portrait the year he was finally allowed to bring his cat (the photograph was prominently displayed at the wedding and is, by far, one of the best things we’ve ever seen).
  4. Goats.
  5. John making Kim laugh at all times and their adorable inability to take themselves seriously.
  6. Cats being mentioned a lot during the ceremony, notably John’s noble attempt to get along with Kim’s cat who was rumored to be slightly difficult (a statement that I can neither confirm nor deny).
  7. Our unscrupulous bribing of the ring bearers for photos.
  8. Did we mention the llama?
  • Date: August 29, 2015
  • Ceremony + Reception Venue: Claxton Farms // Asheville, NC
  • Kim’s Occupation: Director of Recruitment
  • John’s Occupation: Consultant
  • How You Met: At a whiskey cider party.
  • Interesting Fact: John lied on their first date and said he liked cats.
  • Honeymoon: Southern France
  • Vendor Credits: Officiant – Father of the Bride, Jeffrey Marks | Florist – Blossoms by Biltmore | Cake – Ruth and Ranshaw | Hair and Makeup – Heather Ellison of Hair and Makeup by Heather

Our very first Carolyn!!! Well, our first Griffin too… but a Carolyn! Both of us felt like we were e-mailing ourselves, and it was frequently quite confusing to read e-mails threads back and forth about this wedding from Carolyn to Carolyn (“Wait… did I write this? Or did Carolyn? But I’m Carolyn. Hmm.”).

Carolyn and Grif got married in the mountains in Asheville with about twenty of their closest family members and friends. It was the lowest-stress wedding we’ve ever attended, and their dog was their ring bearer (he didn’t actually do that good of a job carrying the rings, but he was certainly cute). They got married at the NC Arboretum and afterward greeted their friends and family and split a Twinkie and that was that. We took pictures of the guests and bridal party, then we traded in our dress shoes for some sneakers and hiked to the top of Craggy Pinnacle for photos at the summit where we made everyone move for us because wearing a wedding dress is a bit like a free pass to anywhere. Plus, everyone was impressed with Carolyn’s newfound street cred for hiking in a wedding dress up to 6,000ft. During our hike, Grif kept asking me how I was feeling and if I needed water (he is so nice!!).*

After we hiked back down, we headed into downtown Asheville for their wedding reception at Curate where we all ate tapas and lived happily ever after. We hung out and celebrated with their amazing guests, each one of them nicer and more welcoming than the last, and loved every minute of this wedding. Also, Grif’s parents happen to be the owners of my favorite store in all of Raleigh (Accipiter!) and I was very excited to meet them (go check out their store if you get a chance! It’s in Cameron Village). Geoff and I also met the film editor for the new Zach Galifianakis movie while eating at the bar and he kept offering to buy us ham. It was good times. We were so happy to be a part of this absolutely lovely wedding, and we will miss Carolyn and Grif when they move to Charlotte, but we’ll visit them when we go to Ikea.

*This was actually probably directed at his wife.

Date: July 12, 2014

Ceremony Venue: NC Arboretum // Asheville, NC

Reception Venue: Curate // Asheville, NC

Carolyn’s Occupation: Teacher

Grif’s Occupation: User Experience Designer (he designed and printed their invitations, which are incredible!).

How You Met: In high school :)

Interesting Fact: We met in high school, but didn’t start dating until we reconnected in college through mutual friends.

Honeymoon Destination: Two weeks in Hawaii!

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Jeanne Sommers | Florist – Blossoms at Biltmore Park | Cake – Short Street Cakes | Caterer – Curate | Hair/Makeup – Lola Salon