Tory+Adam // Duke Lemur Center Wedding

This is, proudly, the second bridesmaid of our beloved past client Carly that we’ve had the pleasure of photographing! Carly seems to permeate most things we do, and we’re totally okay with that because we love her. Carly’s mom even was accidentally present at a consult we had with Tory and her mom! So everything’s like a small little circle of Carly and we love it. We’re so glad that we were introduced to Tory, who is a kind, hilarious, creative soul who loves lemurs. Her sister-in-law Sara works at the Duke Lemur Center, and they just started recently doing weddings there, so it was a perfect fit! You guys, we learned a lot about lemurs. They live in Madagascar and are the only primates there. There are so many species of lemurs that they’ve all developed distinct traits – from the color of their coat and eyes, to different things they eat, to different ways of behaving in order to all survive together. Plus, did you know John Cleese likes lemurs? He’s a frequent visitor to the Duke Lemur Center (because why not?). Tory and I have a mutual love for Monty Python so this was an extra exciting bonus for her venue choice.

On the morning of the wedding, I hadn’t yet met Adam, and I asked Tory what he was like. She said, “Oh, he’s so friendly. He will make friends with anyone!” and I totally agree. Adam is an absolutely delightful human being. He’s incredibly friendly with a big smile and a great laugh, and everyone had really great, endearing stories to tell about both him and Tory all day. Tory’s brother officiated the wedding, adding several adorable stories of his own (including a lot about Tory’s love for all things chart, graph, and data-related, so when later in the night I found a huge graph detailing her father’s sense of humor I was not surprised to learn she had made it). The reception was held in Tory’s parents’ house, which is an incredible midcentury modern work of art… complete with a lemur Christmas tree. Everything was personalized and perfect.

We did discover on the day of the wedding that Adam is mildly (like 5%) afraid of lemurs. None of us knew this (including Adam) until we directly approached said lemurs. And I have to say, while they’re incredibly adorable, I think something about their intense beady eyed stare and quick movements does make them a tad intimidating (the lemurs, not Tory and Adam). We were lucky enough to have access to part of the center where the lemurs roam free in the forest, and were immediately approached by a lemur named Nacho and his friend. I don’t remember the friend’s name because Nacho just really stuck with me because I really like nachos. Tory’s excitement is evidenced in her face in these pictures, while Adam stands a bit behind her, usually gripping her shoulders, like he might use her as a shield if a lemur got too close. I don’t blame him, as I used a telephoto to photograph them… just in case.

Date: July 14, 2018
Ceremony Venue: Duke Lemur Center // Durham, NC
Reception Venue: Private Residence // Durham, NC
First Dance Song: “Painting by Chagal” – Weepies cover performed by Tory’s Aunt Victoria Clark, cousin Thomas Luke Guest, and accompanied by cousin Kyle Anderson
How You Met: As reluctant attendees of a fundraiser in Boston
Honeymoon: Cycling through Ireland and Scotland
Officiant: Banks Clark (Tory’s brother)
DJ: DJ Jay Mik
Florist: Tory!
Cake: Monuts
Caterer: Durham Catering
Hair/Makeup: Tiffany at Arrow Salon
Coordinator: Nancy Kelly
Ceremony Treat: Locopops

Anne+Brian+Wyatt.

Anne and Brian are near and dear to our hearts. I’ve photographed Anne as a bridesmaid and a fiancee, as well as her bridal portraits AND her wedding, so I believe this is my 5th time photographing her if my very basic math skills are correct. ;) And this time she is a mother! She and Brian are the proud parents of the most adorable kid to hate hats this side of the sun. His name is Wyatt, and he is full of energy, inquisitive looks, and I believe I mentioned hatred of hats but it’s worth repeating. This kid hates hats. And much in the spirit of his feline brother Pippin (and cats everywhere), he didn’t want to do something simply for the fact that he got the sense that we wanted him to do it. This was evident by the small smirk on his face each time he plucked the hat off his head and threw it on the ground. Somewhere in the background I believe we heard the soft refrain of “I ain’t gonna be part of this system.”

In between sessions of throwing his hat on the ground, he walked around the arboretum and the sunflower field with his two loving parents and was freaking adorable. Look at that hair! Those overalls! He’s a peach. So, obviously, are Anne and Brian who are such sweet and loving parents! Can’t say I’m surprised as they’ve always been sweet and loving to everyone, but they have such a bond with this little guy. A bond strong enough to repeatedly try to put a hat on his head despite his thwarting them at every turn. And if that isn’t unconditional parental love, I don’t know what is. So happy and thrilled to be a part of this family’s continued photo history!

“I ain’t gonna be part of this system.”

Kathy+Andrew // Raleigh Family Portraits

Kathy and Andrew are beloved previous wedding clients of ours from way back in 2012 where their wedding culminated in a fierce game of competitive ping pong. We’ve since followed their many adventures living in Chicago, and now their current adventures back in the Triangle. Most of these adventures involve Andrew decorating his beard in some way, or pictures of their adorable cats Brewer (tabby!) and Addy (calico!). Now they’ve embarked on the brand new adventures of both homeownership and parenthood, and kindly asked us to capture a bit of both. Their newest addition’s name is Alden, and his favorite activities involve staring into your soul with intense, prolonged eye contact the likes of which I’ve never seen in a baby, and hanging out with his mom and dad (in between staring into their souls as well). And when I mean he stares into your soul, I mean HE STARES INTO YOUR SOUL. It’s the type of eye contact where you’re like, woah! I feel like this person knows literally everything about me right now, and I’m a bit uncomfortable, even though it’s a baby. He definitely is 100% probably clairvoyant. If I photograph him as a toddler or a teenager, I may make Kathy and Andrew sign a nondisclosure agreement depending on how discreet he is with his release of information.

When he’s not finding out literally everything about you via telepathy, he makes cute faces and has adorable cheeks and hangs out in his rad house. The cats aren’t troubled by him (probably because he’s able to communicate with them mentally somehow) and allowed us to give them some belly rubs while we were there! We did not give belly rubs to Kathy or Andrew despite them also being adorable, but I might have pat Kathy on the head once or twice because I like her haircut. We are quite happy to see our clients doing fab things years later, and we loved meeting the littlest members of Kathy and Andrew’s home!