Kaylene and Brandon decided on a destination wedding for their friends and family who all traveled long distances to celebrate with them, and they could not have picked a better venue or city. Asheville is full of awesome views and even more awesome food (we were able to eat lunch in an all-gluten free restaurant which put Carolyn into the best food coma of her life). We’re happy to go there every time.

This wedding gave us the first of working with identical twins which was both very entertaining and very confusing (Geoff is hoping that they have and continue to play pranks on lots of people… thank goodness he doesn’t have a twin). I was walking down the street with Kaylene’s sister Renee and the bridal party when someone at a restaurant called out, “Hey Kaylene!” and Renee had to go back and say, “Kaylene’s not here, I’m her twin sister!” and I asked how many times that happened to which she replied “all the time”… so then I didn’t feel so bad. I had to ask a few times which one was Kaylene and which one was Renee, but eventually things cleared up once Kaylene put on her wedding dress (although I did feel throughout the night that I was getting an awful lot of pictures of the same person… even though they were actually two people).

There was also the added entertainment of the groom’s cake being a giant, larger-than-life sculpted version of their beloved dog, Stella, equipped with little tiny snarl teeth made out of fondant. The crowd watched in horror and fascination as they cut Stella into bits and then stood around staring at the cake remains. Kaylene posted a picture the next day of Real Life Stella being held up to Cake Stella’s head and it was semi-disturbing at best but still amazing.

We had an amazing time getting to know Kaylene and Brandon and their awesome family and friends who took us in with open arms and were super nice and accommodating all day. We loved spending this time in Asheville with all of you and Cake Stella.

Date: September 1, 2013

Ceremony and Reception Venue: The Crest Center and Pavilion // Asheville, NC

First Dance Song: “I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You”

Kaylene’s Occupation: Physician assistant

Brandon’s Occupation: Marketing consultant

How You Met: Working at summer camp in Florida

Interesting Bride Fact: She is obsessed with pugs.

Interesting Groom Fact: He brews his own beer.

Honeymoon Destination: Northern California

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Ralph Millard, father of the groom | Band – Sweetwater Junction | Florist – Kimberly Hyder with Two Buds and a Blossom | Cake – Short Street Cakes and Tiffany’s Baking Company | Caterer – M7 Events (part of Crest Pavilion) | Hair/Makeup – Lola Salon | Day-of Bridal Attendant – Sara Fields

Videri Chocolate Factory

I don’t often do commercial work, but when I do, I prefer it to involve chocolate.

I shoot a lot of things for the Downtown Raleigh Alliance of a varying nature, and on this particular day one of the assignments was to visit Videri Chocolate Factory (across from the Pit) and photograph it. And they gave me samples. And it was so, so delicious. I will be visiting there again soon and probably sneaking into a pile of chocolate in the back while they’re not looking and remain there for years, subsisting only on chocolate (preferably the sea salt kind).

I went to high school with the very lovely and talented Lindsay and was so happy to be contacted by her and her fiancé Jon for their engagement pictures! I went to high school with Jon too, and not that he wasn’t very lovely and talented, but we didn’t know each other then so I can’t comment on just how lovely and talented I’m sure he was at the time. ;) I can say that I’m very happy to have finally met him and that he’s a wonderful person and an amazing match for Lindsay. They love each other very much, writing adorable things about one another in the questionnaire we gave them, and they were super easy to work with despite us dragging them down back alleys in Oakmont and putting them next to construction dumpsters. :D They wanted the session to feel romantic, and while dumpsters don’t seem romantic at the time, they look REALLY good, ok?

The adorable white ball of fluff that you see in the beginning of this post is Beaumont, the happiest of all terriers. Lindsay saw a Cesar Dog Food commercial and decided that she must have a Westie… which I kind of think is an amazing inspiration for adopting a dog. They got one, named him Beaumont which sounds quite regal, and he lives up to his darling name. He can play dead and high-five and just generally runs around being cute. He has a super loving home with Lindsay and Jon and tells us that he is very excited for his parents to finally be married.

We’re so excited to be photographing the wedding of these two next summer! We will miss Beaumont’s presence, but maybe we can Skype him in?