Caroline & Brian’s Downtown Raleigh Engagement Session

Caroline and Brian came into Raleigh all the way from Charlotte to have their engagement portraits taken, and we are lucky to have had the opportunity to meet them! Finally, Carolyn was able to unite with someone who loves school supplies as much as she does, despite no longer being in school and despite not longer being a teacher. :D They also shared our love of 80s movies and reminisced about past job horror stories. On top of all this, we were pleased to find out that only one half of Caroline and Brian enjoy the Goonies and the Princess Bride, much like only one half of Carolyn and Geoff. We wish they lived closer so 50% of us could try to convince the other 50% that the movies are good (or bad, depending on what side you’re on).

These guys met in Raleigh, went on their first date to Gravy and the Raleigh Times (both of which we visited during the session), and have since moved to Charlotte. They’re getting married in Wilmington next spring as a middle ground of their families’ and their own locations. Brian likes golf and refused Carolyn’s suggestion that they go mini-golfing for their engagement session, and Caroline wouldn’t let him bring his golf clubs into downtown. Caroline was both her high school mascot and their prom queen, and also cries at emotional stories about children throwing out the first pitch on ESPN. They’ve both solidly convinced us that the West Wing is probably a good show to start after we run through House of Cards. We had a great time with these two, and we are so happy they came out to Raleigh to see us! Here’s a few of our favorites.
engagement photographer raleigh nc

Kim+Ginny’s Engagement Session in Raleigh

Man oh man, we were lucky to find these two (or three, if you count Levi the dog, which we certainly should count). Our lovely photographer friend Julia Wade is friends with these ladies but was booked for their wedding date. She lovingly referred them to us and we are eternally grateful because they’re amazing and beautiful people inside and out… plus we obviously got to meet Levi. ;)

So third time’s a charm, right? Sometimes you come down to Raleigh from Virginia for your engagement session and it rains all weekend. Then sometimes you try to move your engagement session to Virginia but it happens to be negative seven degrees the day you try to take them. Then finally you come back down to Raleigh… again… and there’s actual sun and a not-quite-freezing day. :)

Kim (longer darker curlier hair) and Ginny (straight hair) thus finally had their engagement session with us after much patience and much weather-watching! They gratefully came in from Virginia and hung out with us for a while and we had a splendid time! They brought with them their amazing dog who has the uncanny ability to make the craziest faces ever when you take his ears and put them out at their sides like Dumbo. We promise he’s not being tortured… he just looks like it? It’s some kind of crazy Levi reflex. So we took a lot of pictures of him making crazy faces. And adorable faces. And Kim and Ginny spent some time making the most ridiculous high-pitched squealing noises we’ve ever heard trying to get him to tilt his head (a success). It was fantastic. And we cannot wait to be reunited with these two for their wedding in DC in August!

Brooke+Red: A prehistoric engagement session in Raleigh

Ladies and gentlemen, the first of my primary color grooms!

As some of you on my Facebook page know, I have two primary color grooms. Red this year and Blue next year. We’re still scouting out 2014’s primary color groom, so anyone who has a fiancé whom they refer to as “Yellow” on a regular basis, feel free to book us so we can complete the cycle.

On a normal note, meet Brooke and Red! They met online, but weren’t suggested to each other because they were apparently “only” an 80% match (and we all know 95% of the population is undateable). But Red was very specific about who he’d like to meet, found Brooke’s profile, and messaged her. They had a wonderful first date (being the incredibly attractive and charming people that they are), and then before they knew it they would be standing in a large open field with me and a giant helium dinosaur balloon taking engagement pictures.

Red likes golfing and Brooke likes gardening. They both love cooking, but cook in very different ways so that cooperative cooking at the same time has been ruled out entirely. Red’s first CD was the Wayne’s World soundtrack, and Brooke’s was one of the 6 CD deals from Colombia (bonus 90s kid points if you know what I’m talking about), although she was pretty into Ace of Base back in the day (what self-respecting 90s kid wasn’t?). They also really love dinosaurs. A lot. They’re having their wedding reception on the dino floor of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in November, and decided to go that one little step further into dino-love by incorporating the prehistoric awesomeness into their engagement session. And those of you who know me well know that I love me some dinosaur ring shots…