Flash mob.

There were a ton of cameras at our last wedding reception and a bunch of camera enthusiasts. And by a ton of cameras, I mean there were probably about eight 5D Mark IIs with professional flashes in the audience, twenty Rebels, and countless point and shoots. The amount of other flashes in the audience caused Geoff to end up with this “mistake” about halfway through the evening. There I am! Standing on a chair between the two flashes to the left. :) Mistake? Yes. Awesome mistake? Heck yes!

Raleigh Portrait Photographer: Kristen

This shoot was so much fun for me (and Geoff!) to do! I became Twitter pals with another local photographer named Kristen (of Kristen Abigail Photography) a while back. A few weeks later I received an e-mail asking if I’d do the honors of photographing updated headshots of her for her website. I said of course! :) We decided to approach it as having a sort of senior portrait feel. Kristen is often behind the camera but not in front of it, and we could all use a personal photoshoot once in a while instead of just a few headshots. So we had a grand old time running around a part of Raleigh that I hadn’t explored before and got to spend time with a lovely lady! Kristen is such a sweet person and up for anything. I don’t think I’ve had anyone laugh so much on a session! She just cracked up the whole time and was as pleasant as could be. :) So without further ado, here’s Kristen!

Kristen’s nifty camera strap is from Etsy! Looove Etsy for stuff like that (and purses… and headbands… and..)

She brought the little daisy from home where she keeps a bunch of them in her room because they’re a happy source of inspiration!

Kristen – you were fabulous to work with! Thank you so much for asking us to do this. I hope you can use some for your website and use the others as reminders of how lovely and beautiful you are!

Raleigh Wedding Photographer: Shannon+Phil

Horray for Shannon and Phil – wonderful engagement models and owners of the still popular Vince and Jackson session – who are now finally married!! This wedding was not only creatively put together with tons of little adorable details, but Shannon looked stunning and Phil dapper as always. They crack me up and together they are just two peas in a pod. It’s always so lovely to see two people so right for each other. And they had the BEST time at their wedding. This was one of the happiest, chillest weddings ever. No one got upset about anything and it was just general merriment all around. Their families were amazing and kind, and their bridal party was hilarious and creative. Kudos to you all and thank you for making this a WONDERFUL experience for us! :D

Date: June 11, 2011

Ceremony Venue: The Longview Center Unity Church of the Triangle // Raleigh, NC

Reception Venue: Cobblestone Hall // Raleigh, NC

Flowers, Catering, Cake: Catering Works

Transportation: The Olde South Trolley Co.

Officiant: Gordon Jewett

DJ: Brian O’Toole

Invitations: Kristin Mason

Now, before I get started, I must say that I love getting invitations from my couples. It’s a really good way to see what their wedding is going to be like, and it’s always nice to feel included too! :D I opened Shannon and Phil’s and just about died. They are so funny, adorable, and well designed at the same time. I quickly asked who made them, and found out that one of her bridesmaids made them for her (Kristin Mason – she’s a graphic designer). Holy cowwww – amazing invitations (and programs!!!).

Can I just say that this is the first time we’ve had a “bridesdude” and a “groomschick” and how awesome it was? More specifically – having a groomschick is incredibly helpful because none of the guys ever know how to pin on a boutonniere. You go, groomschick!

A majority of the bridal party was hailing from New Jersey, Shannon’s home state, so their mode of transportation for the day was the Olde South Trolley Co, who did an excellent job taking the bridal party around for a tour while we did the newlywed pictures. It was awesome, convenient, and kept everyone occupied.

One of my favorite pictures of the day – Shannon arriving at the Longview Center for her wedding ceremony!

Their wedding programs doubled as handy fans and were just as stinkin’ cute as their invitations. They also had Vince and Jackson’s pictures on the back, but I had to trim down soommmee of the pictures or else this would’ve been a really long blog post, so I chose the front for the final blog post. But sooo adorable!

I love that this street is noisy and covered with cars, but when you look at just the two of them inside the frame it’s like they’re in a green, picturesque wedding picture. :)

Shannon and Phil had a DIY photobooth at their wedding reception which was a great idea! They set up a little black drop cloth, a blank book, pens, glue sticks, a polaroid camera, lots of film, and lots of fun props, and everyone had a BLAST. It was affordable, doable, and everyone had a good time taking pictures of their friends and family. For a while Geoff and I considered releasing a photobooth service add-on in the fall or winter, but have since decided against it for a few reasons. So when I saw this, I thought of what a wonderful idea it would be to suggest it to CSP brides and grooms who enjoy the DIY feel of a homemade Polaroid photobooth!

Cornhole, ya’ll! ;) For those northerners who don’t know (Geoff and I were SO confused when we moved down south), cornhole is basically bean bag toss. It’s really big down here. People make custom cornhole boards (we did see a Steelers one once!) and play on the street, in their yards, and pretty much everywhere else.

Saw some major storm clouds coming and ran to get Shannon and Phil for a few pictures outside in City Market. These were pretty much what I wanted our own wedding photographs to be like (Raleigh – WHY did you not light up those tree lights on our wedding night!?), so I was glad I was able to give them to someone else. :)

Congratulations, Shannon and Phil! I hope you are having a WONDERFUL time in Jamaica! Thank you so much! :D