Jen+Jon // Wakefield Barn Wedding

Remember these three pretty faces from their engagement session earlier this year? I say three because one of those pretty faces is a very shaggy/furry pretty face and that is the face of Sam the Dog. But, she is 100% a member of this family and is always included so I don’t want to leave her out here. Sam was a groomspup and, while she historically does not like very many people, she did cuddle with Geoff on the ride over to the ceremony in the backseat of the car, and she did lick my hand exactly once on the wedding day, so I’d call it a win. This was a huge improvement over literally jumping away from me if I tried to pet her in the past (which I frequently did because I forget she doesn’t like me and she’s so cute). ANYWAY – Sam was there, and adorable as usual, and wearing a little floral collar. Jen and Jon were also there, also being adorable, and wearing a pretty dress and bee socks respectively. Jen let me wear her stole on top of my puffy vest while I took photos of them and I looked very high fashion as they can attest.

These guys are so sweet and nice and smiley and funny and we love them both. They really like Game of Thrones and lifting heavy things and October (me too! except lifting heavy things). Jen is also Celiac, so we enjoy talking about things we can and cannot eat. They like deep frying gluten free stuff, and there was a moment of the wedding night where we cornered Jon and discussed deep fryer options. They had a gluten free cake (!!!) and gluten free pizza (!!!) and three of the world’s cutest flower girls. The best man also created a brilliant speech where he asked the guys getting ready for random words to include, just for kicks, to see if he could seamlessly integrate them. He asked Geoff, who asked him how hard he wanted the word to be (he was told very hard) before suggesting polypropylene, which, I have to say, was seamlessly integrated (I wouldn’t have thought it could be done). We had a great time meeting all their family and friends (who are just as nice as they are, surprise!) and can’t wait to discuss GoT’s series finale with them in the future.

Date: November 17, 2018
Ceremony + Reception Venue: The Historic Wakefield Barn // Wake Forest, NC
First Dance Song: “Beautiful Crazy” – Luke Combs
Jon’s Occupation: Financial Analyst for Cisco and Personal Trainer
Jen’s Occupation: Speech Therapist
How You Met: We met on the dating app Bumble
Interesting Fact: We cruise town playing Pokemon way too often.
Honeymoon: The Bahamas!
Officiant: Pastor Jason Butler
Band – Whiskey Rebellion
Florist: Expressions of Love
Cake: Sweet Traditions
Caterer: Il Muliano
Hair/Makeup: Teighla Norris
Coordinator: Daniel Varela of Chad Biggs Planning

Jo+Brad+Laurel+Sam+Frank // A Raleigh Family Session

Ya’ll know these guys so they don’t really need any introduction, but we will say that meet a lot of people on this job, but Jo, Brad, Laurel, and Sam are some of our favorites. They’ve kept in touch with us and invite us to their lake house and cook us dinner and let us play with their french bulldog and send us text messages when Carrie Fisher dies. We love them, and they are near and dear to our hearts. We photographed them last year with Frank, their newly adopted French Bulldog who has become, perhaps, the most babied and spoiled of the family and is possibly the favorite child (I know Laurel and Sam won’t be offended by this statement but will likely agree with me, so I feel like it’s fine to put that out there). They LOVE him, and how could you not, given that face!? And lucky for Frank, he was adopted into a family who took their adoption of him seriously, and so they are doing everything they can to get Frank back on a path to health and wellness after some pretty devastating news. Frank was diagnosed with Granulomatous Meningoencephalitis. Essentially, it’s an autoimmune disease brought on by a bad reaction to a vaccination. He’s had seizures and pneumonia, as well as other significant reactions to the disease and the drugs used to treat it. Currently, he is doing quite well on chemo and is a very strong, brave little pup. He is on the upswing and his family is taking great care of him in conjuncture with the NC State Veterinary Hospital Neurology Team.

So this year – we did their family pictures at the arboretum, but Frank was recovering at this current juncture from a recent hospital stay, so he was only able to join us for half of the pictures. He has since made significant strides and we are so happy for him! He is still sporting his veterinary hospital haircut in these pictures but also sporting a cool French t-shirt to represent his heritage. We’re so glad that Frank has this wonderful family in his life, and WE’RE so happy to have this wonderful family in OUR lives. Sam and Laurel remain two of our most favorite children, and they just keep getting funnier and more amazing as they get older. Probably because they have some pretty great parents whom we adore. Happy to photograph this family once again!

Jessica+Andrew // Ocean Isle Destination Wedding

Jessica and Andrew hail all the way up from Minnesota! And, like all Minnesota people I’ve encountered in my lifetime, they are exceedingly nice and can also tolerate much colder temperatures than me. These guys are avid travelers, and they wanted to share the joy of traveling with their family and friends, so they decided to hold their wedding in Ocean Isle, NC and have everyone join them. They rented an enormous and gorgeously updated beach house, and had a ceremony out by the ocean. It was a sunny and clear day while Jess and Andrew strolled along the beach in the sunset with me and videographer Matt from Dogwood Media shouting “Dope dope dope” at them… which is, I’m pretty sure, exactly what they pictured their wedding day being like. We had a ridiculous amount of fun with these guys. And look at how pretty they are. Just look at them. SO PRETTY. Jessica’s dress was gorgeous and I had a fun time making her spin around repeatedly and then trying to shake the sand out of the tulle. They then danced the night away with a super fun group of people who love to pretend they’re all jumping rope at the reception. We are so glad that they asked us to join them out in Ocean Isle – we had never been to that part of the NC coast before (we’re originally from Pittsburgh so still have much of this state to explore) and we loved it! It was clear of people and the light is beautiful out there in November, and the beach is pristine in every direction. We’re so happy and grateful these guys chose North Carolina and chose US to be with them for their wedding day. Congratulations to you both! You beautiful people you.

Date: November 3, 2018
Ceremony + Reception Venue: Southern Comfort Beach House // Ocean Isle Beach, NC
First Dance Song: “Eyes on You” – Chase Rice
Andrew’s Occupation: Union Scaffold Builder
Jessica’s Occupation: Call Center Rep
How You Met: Mutual friends
Interesting Fact: Our parents knew each other when we were kids and we actually use to jump on the trampoline together, Jessie has no recollection of this.
Honeymoon: Cabo San Lucas
Officiant: Pastor Alan
DJ: Coastal DJ
Cake: One Belle Bakery
Caterer: A Thyme Savor Catering
Hair/Makeup: Silver Ceiling Beauty
Videographer: Dogwood Media
Coordinator: Shady Brown Events