Alyssa+Ben // Montego Bay, Jamaica Wedding

WHAT IS BETTER THAN A LITTLE WEDDING IN JAMAICA?! A little wedding in Jamaica surrounded by some wonderful peeps who treat you like one of their own on an all-inclusive resort that regularly brings you pina coladas, that’s what. Alyssa and Ben are truly the best, and Alyssa is one of the few people that I can regularly text in all caps about everything, knowing that she’ll also text me back in all caps. I think all of our wedding e-mails also ended in about 50+ emojis. At first they started out tropical-themed, but then they degraded over time into completely random emojis for no reason since we had already used up all the tropical ones. Their senses of humor are already quite apparent to a lot of you who’ve seen their sneak peeks online but words still can’t accurately describe Alyssa and Ben and their entire group of people. They are wonderfully kind and thoughtful and everything good, but I appreciate their ridiculous humor the most. They played Toto through a fanny pack speaker system on a regular basis the entire week we were there (also Weezer covering Toto for good measure). All the bridesmaids got matching temporary butt tattoos, applied only after a thorough inspection of each individual to assess what the “best cheek” was and a group vote. There was some sort of “FWA FWA FWA” alarm noise that they’d all make in unison really loudly and for no discernible reason that I could understand but I appreciated nonetheless.

When we land these sorts of gigs everyone always asks how we did it, so here’s a small back story. Alyssa and Ben were connected and reconnected with us through Matt+Jamie who had their wedding in New York last year. I mistakenly identified Alyssa as a bridesmaid and kept asking her to do things for me (which she did because she’s nice), and I had actually gone to high school with Ben and Matt (they were a couple years younger than me). It was super nice to see Ben and Matt again, and I had thoroughly befriended Alyssa when I realized that her and Ben were together! We discussed nose piercings for a good while that evening, and then we got an e-mail asking us to go to Jamaica several months later. So, fellow wedding photographers, always ask wedding guests for help and then discuss nose piercings with them and also have gone to high school with their partners, and you’ll be in Jamaica in no time.

We went on tropical excursions! We jumped off probably unsafe cliffs into what was definitely unsafe pools of crystal blue waters! We climbed up 100% unsafe limestone rock waterfalls with like 5,000 other tourists! We sang the Fern Gully bat song. We listened to more Bob Marley than I would’ve ever thought humanly possible. We went snorkeling! At some point I was in some sort of on-resort night club dancing to that “boots with the fur” song wearing leggings with a composition notebook print. We searched high and low for carved wooden cats off-resort, only to be greeted by AN ENTIRE LOBBY FULL OF CARVED WOODEN CATS at the resort when we returned (Geoff would only let me take home two cats… a real shame… but they both got flagged at the airport). We kayaked! We waved our arms around some sort of glowing algae in a lagoon! We got stung by a lot of tiny microscopic jellyfish! We ate the best jerk chicken cooked by some dude wearing a chef’s hat who sat every day at the end of the beach with a giant grill! The adventures were endless and wonderful.

Alyssa and Ben – we love love love love you. Thank you for taking us on a trip of a lifetime and trusting us and going out to stand on sketchy rocks with us forever and ever amen. Keep texting us in all caps.

**GO PRO PHOTOS**


**REGULAR PHOTOS ON AN ACTUAL CAMERA**

Date: June 29, 2018
Ceremony + Reception Venue: Sunscape Cove, Montego Bay, Jamaica
Ben’s Occupation: Mechanical Engineer
Alyssa’s Occupation: Commercial Insurance Sales
How You Met: FACEBOOK — whaaaaat???
Interesting Fact: We both had animals named after Disney Movies before we even met…..then we continued with 2 cats and named them Rajah and Abu, like my favorite Disney movie Aladdin.
Honeymoon: BOCA RATON, FL — Aunt and Uncle are going to England for 2 weeks and we get the HOUSE FOR A WEEK!

Alyssa+Ben // Montego Bay, Jamaica Engagement Session

I have so, so much to say about Alyssa+Ben’s amazingness and how we ended up in Jamaica with them, but I’mma save that all for their wedding blog post. So for now, just be satisfied with these pictures of Alyssa and Ben tackling each other and faceplanting in the water together. Rest assured that it was like 900 degrees with 900% humidity when we shot these, and admire how little they look like they’re sweating. Gaze upon the gloriousness of a Jamaican beach and know that somewhere, somehow, Bob Marley is playing softly in the distance. And please enjoy a pina colada on our behalf as you look through these. BRB with their wedding.

Mary Beth+Brandon // The Cookery Wedding

Mary Beth and Brandon came to us via beloved clients Megan and Carly, so we already knew that we’d like them. Then we liked them more when we found out that they like Twin Peaks, and also cats. Then we liked them even MORE when their first dance was to the Twin Peaks song “Dance of the Dream Man” by Angelo Badalamenti – bonus points for them being totally illuminated by red lights via the Black Lodge, err, I mean, their DJ. Then we liked them EVEN MORE when we got to hang out with them all day at their wedding. They are two of the most thoughtful, kind, gentle people who I want to hug all the time. They had flower crowns and flower necklaces (!) and flower bracelets (!). They planted little popsicle sticks in flower pots for a seating chart. They walked down the aisle together, and planted a tree in a pot for their ceremony, with each of their parents watering it. They treated everyone with kindness and were two of the most gracious wedding hosts. All the vendors were able to sit at a table with the guests and eat (!!) and we were treated so very well. They’re just good people.

The day contained added bonus points for using taking pictures in a neighborhood that contained a friendly neighborhood cat who then, once befriended, we literally could not get rid of. He’s in like, every picture after that unless we cropped him out. He insisted on posing with them and stopped just shy of giving us suggestions and directions and taking over the entire wedding by himself. I know they say that rain on your wedding day is good luck, or pennies in your shoe and stuff, but I’m fairly certain that a cat who’s knowledgeable about photography and inserts himself into every posed picture has to mean SOMETHING, right? I’m guessing it’ll mean like 25 years of the BEST LUCK EVER and then after that just regular good luck. And I hope so, because Mary Beth and Brandon deserve it. So happy to have come across them and to photograph this beautiful wedding at The Cookery’s new space!

Date: June 23, 2018
Ceremony + Reception Venue: The Cookery // Durham, NC
First Dance Song: “Dance of the Dream Man” – Angelo Badalamenti
Brandon’s Occupation: Energy Specialist (Mechanical Engineer)
Mary Beth’s Occupation: Speech-Language Pathologist
How You Met: In farm school in Pittsboro, NC in 2008
Interesting Fact: We have crossed paths in many different avenues of life, even prior to officially meeting. Brandon still owes Mary Beth $3 which he borrowed from her at the thrift store in 2008.
Honeymoon: France (Paris, Provence)
Officiant: Michelle Johnson, LCSW
DJ: PlayPlay
Florist: Bluebird Meadows
Cake: Kelley G Cupcakes
Caterer: Snap Pea Catering
Hair/Makeup: Natasha Abe
Coordinator: Events by Emily