Lauren+Evan // Haw River Ballroom Wedding

Winter weddings hold a special place in our hearts. There’s always cafe lights, darker color schemes, and a general sense of merriment. And sometimes, if you’re lucky, a dog with a floral collar named Beryl. And, if you’re even more lucky than that, an amazing bride and groom who have impeccable taste in just about everything. They chose an incredible team of vendors (hellooo to our wedding officiant, Barbara Lodge! hellooo to a dress Lauren purchased from our previous wedding client Susan’s shop Gilded Bridal! hellooo to Stephanie Sevilla, makeup extraordinaire! hellooooo to Peter Lamb and the Wolves who we adore working with each and every time! and finally helloooo to Patty Gallivan, the General Store’s amazing wedding coordinator!). They also chose an incredible color palette (yay burgundy!), a gorgeous wooden altar that Evan’s dad handcrafted, muffs for the girls instead of bouquets, tiny little gold animals standing on small slices of geodes for their placecards that Lauren put all together herself, and a hot chocolate bar that was beautiful. Their entire setup was incredible, down to their modern chairs. It was killer.

Lauren and Evan found us through a mutual friend and we are so glad that they did. They are sweet and cooperative and really good looking and follow directions well and have that cute dog we mentioned earlier. They also did a fake snow exit, which is the first we’ve ever seen, and I have to say that it’s a pretty brilliant idea and also eco friendly. You can do this with potato flakes for an DIY idea and then add water to whomever’s hair to make instant potatoes to eat later. Their bridesmaids and groomsmen were all really nice and their cake topper spectacular. We had wonderful weather, good food, and great music. All hail the winter weddings! They are super cozy feeling, and we hope you feel the love right now. Congratulations, Lauren and Evan!

– Date: December 2, 2017
– Ceremony + Reception Venue: Haw River Ballroom // Saxapahaw, NC
– First Dance Song: “Can’t Nobody Love You” – The Zombies
– Lauren’s Occupation: Compliance and Government Relations Officer at a neato code school, Coding Dojo
– Evan’s Occupation: Super secret security sleuth, better known as Systems Administration at the State Employee’s Credit Union
– How You Met: The Internets (“Through friends” for our parents)
– Interesting Fact: Evan can juggle though he pretends like he can’t and Lauren lived in New Zealand but never met a hobbit.
– Honeymoon: Cape Town, South Africa
– Vendor Credits: Officiant – Reverend Barbara Lodge // Band – Peter Lamb and the Wolves // Florist – Wylde Flowers // Cake – Sugarland // Caterer – Saxapahaw General Store // Hair and Makeup – Stephanie Sevilla // Coordinator – Patty Gallivan // Dress – Elizabeth Dye // Bridal Salon – Gilded Bridal // Seamstress – Marie Cordella // Groomsmen Suits – ASOS

Lindsay+Rishi’s Two-Day Wedding(s)

Hey there, readers! Sorry about the long absence. After this wedding at the end of December, we skipped town to be with our families for the holidays and have only recently returned. We’re excited to share our last wedding of 2013 with you and we’re looking forward to the upcoming Year in Review posts in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned!

So while almost all of you are either currently stressed or were recently stressed about your wedding, Lindsay and Rishi planned two separate weddings over two days the weekend before the holidays. Two ceremonies, two receptions, two different outfits, the whole shebang. So right now we’re declaring Lindsay and Rishi the unofficial queen and king of weddings and that’s that until someone decides to out-do them with three ceremonies in a row (although I can’t guarantee that we’d be able to shoot three ceremonies in a row since we were pretty sore from this). Personally, while I haven’t met him, I hold their cat Bogart personally responsible for their zen-like state in organizing all of this since he looks really put-together on Lindsay’s Instagram account.

Day One was a beautiful Hindu ceremony and day two was a traditional ceremony held at the Umstead Hotel which totally holds up to the rumors about how awesome it is (and how awesome their staff is). There were a lot of sequins. And a little known fact about sequins? They photograph awesomely and all photographers love you when you have sequins (this is a proven, irrefutable fact). There were also little elephants, a grown man who did a lot of karate moves on the dance floor, Randy Bennett – DJ extraordinaire, Christmas lights (also another photographer favorite), some random deer antlers, giant pinecones, and a lot of fun had by all. Thank you to Lindsay, Rishi, and their wonderful and welcoming friends and family, and their ever-helpful bridal party for having us! We had an amazing time. Now I apologize in advance for a super long blog post.

Day One.

Day Two.

Date: December 20th and 21st, 2013

Ceremony and Reception Venue for Friday: The Embassy Suites // Cary, NC

Ceremony and Reception Venue for Saturday: The Umstead Hotel // Cary, NC

First Dance Song: “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe” – Barry White

Lindsay’s Occupation: Special Education Curriculum Designer at Relay Graduate School of Education

Rishi’s Occupation: MBA Candidate at University of Chicago – Booth School of Business

How You Met: At UNC – Chapel Hill

Interesting Bride Fact: The bride’s last name is an amalgam of her parents’ last names, but sans a hyphen.

Interesting Groom Fact: The groom swam with the world’s largest fish, and kicked it in the face.

Honeymoon Destination: Mini-moon in Puerto Rico… honeymoon TBD!

Vendor Credits for Friday: Officiant – Shoba Mehta | DJ – Sitar Player | Florist – Tre Bella Flowers (Becky) | Caterer – Raaga | Hair/Makeup – Salon Blu | Coordinator – Priscilla Erwin of Orangerie Events

Vendor Credits for Saturday: Officiant – Justin Savesky | DJ – Randy Bennett of the Joe Bunn DJ Company | Florist – Tre Bella Flowers (Becky) | Cake – Sweet Memories Bakery | Caterer – The Umstead | Hair/Makeup – Salon Blu | Coordinator – Kelley Ann Ward (The Umstead)

Providence Baptist Church and Cobblestone Hall: The Wedding of Gwen+Nick

This was our very last wedding of 2011 held on December 17th. :) The day after, I flew to Pittsburgh to be home with my family for the holidays, and Gwen and Nick were patient and kind enough to be cool with me editing them when I got back in January. We could not have ended the year on a better note. Gwen, as you may recall from her engagement session, was a teaching co-worker of mine when I taught 2nd grade. She still teaches alongside my other teacher co-workers Jen (who was a bridesmaid in the wedding) and Sara (who did Gwen’s lovely makeup). It was so wonderful to see all of them again and to photograph Gwen and Nick’s family and friends on their wedding day. :) They’re such a sweet and loving couple… and December was the perfect month for them to get married as it’s an important month in their faith as well as a time when Gwen gets a little time off from work. ;) They combined adorable Christmas elements into their wedding… and I nearly cracked up when Gwen told me she was having her guests decorate ornaments for a tree while they were getting their pictures taken to occupy them (it was a very teacher-like craft assignment and amazing!).

Gwen looked beautiful and stunning, as always and Nick and his groomsmen looked awesome in their grey suits (I’m a sucker for grey suits and they photograph so well). Their ceremony took place in the church where they met. Their reception had a Cheerwine toast, a cheesecake bar, and a toilet papered getaway car that almost caught fire from their sparkler exit. ;) It was a beautiful day and I was happy to be there with them. Hope the pictures were worth the wait, guys. xo.

First Dance Song: “You and Me” – Lifehouse

Bride’s Occupation: 4th Grade Teacher

Groom’s Occupation: Software Developer

How You Met: Through our Sunday School class at Providence Baptist Church

Interesting Bride Fact: Competed in the NCAA DIII National Championship game in senior year of college

Interesting Groom Fact: Was the state champion in the floor routine as a 12 year old

Honeymoon Destination: Cruise to the Western Caribbean out of Tampa, FL

Date: December 17, 2011

Ceremony Venue: Providence Baptist Church // Raleigh, NC

Reception Venue: Cobblestone Hall // Raleigh, NC

DJ: Uniq Events

Florist: Harris Teeter

Cake: Melody Sawyer (friend)

Cheesecakes: The Twisted Fork

Hair: Kim Braddy

Makeup: Sara Haan // Makeup For Your Day

Coordinator: April Collier