Crystal+Jason // Anniversary Session

Crystal and Jason seem to be like an adorable rain magnet. And if raining in the form of a hurricane on your wedding day is some sort of good luck, then having it rain againnnn during your anniversary portrait session you drove in from Charlotte to accomplish, then I’d say that they’re neck-deep in luck and need to play the lottery ASAP. 1870 Farm, where they were married, were gracious enough to have us return to shoot their portrait session. I got to pet a goat. It was great. They showed me all the areas that they were supposed to take pictures at had Hurricane Matthew not been an uninvited guest at their wedding. And this was the lake we were going to take pictures at! And this was the tree we were supposed to get married under! The tour was lovely, but interrupted halfway through by a turkey that meant business, and stopped me from spending as much time with the adorable goat as I would’ve preferred. Atlas, Crystal and Jason’s really cute little teddy bear dog, was also hell bent on killing said turkey, although I’m fairly confident he would’ve lost due to his small stature and the look of utter annihilation that the turkey had in its eye, and we moved on. We were supposed to shoot in the evening, but we moved it up to try and shoot in the space between the rain and were mostly successful, but it did start to rain toward the end. They busted out the white wedding umbrellas they used to shield themselves a year ago at their wedding and we continued onward. Rain cannot stop them. We are so glad to have been a part of their rainy wedding and their rainy anniversary shoot and their lives. Now please play the lottery and share some of it with us, thanks.

Melanie+Ryan+Scarlett+Raven // Halloween Family Session

Halloween is quite near and dear to our hearts. My birthday is in October, and I’ve usurped Halloween as my own personal holiday since I was born. Then Geoff and I were married on the 23rd with a Halloween-themed wedding, and basically Halloween all year, Halloween all the time, Halloween Halloween Halloween. We met Melanie and Ryan some time ago, and they are ALSO Halloween Halloween Halloween in ALL THE BEST WAYS! We were unfortunately unavailable to photograph their wedding but they’ve returned to us now with their sweet daughters Scarlett and Raven and booked us for a Halloween family session and we were SO EXCITED!! Their decorations are quite impressive, and we’ve learned we need to up our outdoor game a bit. They also have the most fabulous and wonderful collection of tiny little Halloween houses that light up and have moving ghosts and they’re all very elaborate and spooky. We had Christmas houses like this when we were little, but had I known Halloween houses existed, my parents would’ve been in trouble.

So we hung out with this Halloweeny crew at their place, checking out their decorations and running around the house playing! Scarlett is a brave and strong girl, who doesn’t flinch when her dad turns the corner wearing a terrifying clown mask, but instead attempts to block him with a Wonder Woman arm maneuver while still trying to hold onto some M&Ms. Raven loves the Zombie Man in the yard, and the giant inflatable spider down the street at a neighbor’s. She also adores the Chucky dolls upstairs in their attic, but isn’t quite okay with the terrifying clown mask yet (we’re working on it). Both children love their Halloween balloons, candy-dispensing mummy head, and the giant rubber rat sitting on top of their play kitchen. They also enjoy telling Alexa to play “This is Halloween” but forget the Danny Elfman part so Alexa plays the Marilyn Manson version and the kids hide. Melanie and Ryan enjoy horror movies (surprise!), getting their pictures taken with Robert Englund, collecting wonderful horror movie art, and being our heroes. Cheers to this spooktacular family of ghouls and ghoulettes! We are so happy to have been a little part of your boooootiful Halloween season.

Kate+Parag // Indian-Fusion Wedding at The Rickhouse

Kate and Parag have never met a curry they didn’t like. And it’s a good thing too as their wedding ceremony food was some of the best we’ve ever eaten. They had an American buffet with barbecue! They had an Indian buffet with curry and some other stuff I couldn’t pronounce but was absolutely delicious! They had cake! They had puddings! They had a sundae bar! They had a tater tot bar! This is the first wedding (and potentially only wedding in the foreseeable future) where we literally left so full that we did not eat nachos when we got home. That’s right. No nachos. I don’t know how to explain to all of you the significance of that, only to say that we’ve shot at least 200-some weddings at this point, and we eat nachos after ever single one. So their food was good. SO good.

And Kate and Parag are also SO GOOD. They are perfect for each other and make each other laugh often. Kate has a wonderful set of perfect teeth so it’s good that Parag keeps her laughing so we can admire them. This was their second wedding to each other. Their first was a traditional Hindu ceremony, and this was their American and Indian fusion wedding. Kate sent me the pictures from their first one which were amazing, and Kate wore a really incredible nose ring that was so large it defied the laws of gravity. Their Indian-fusion wedding was lacking in the nose ring department, but it made up for it with amazing henna designs in the shape of little elephants and brilliant colors sprinkled all over their ceremony and reception. There were traditional Indian dances and American popcorn next to the Durham Bull’s old baseball field. The little kids dismantled their incredible floral altar during the reception and threw repeatedly threw the flowers down Parag’s suit jacket, and they danced away the night with their fabulous family and friends. We are thrilled to have been part of Kate and Parag’s awesome fusion wedding, and so glad they came down from DC to celebrate in Durham!

– Date: September 30, 2017
– Ceremony + Reception Venue: The Rickhouse // Durham, NC
– First Dance Song: “There She Goes” – The La’s
– Kate’s Occupation: Graduate Program Coordinator at George Washington University
– Parag’s Occupation: Director of Pharmacokinetics at the National Institutes of Health
– How You Met: Online! Back when OkCupid was a thing.
– Interesting Fact: This is our second wedding! We had a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony this past June – Kate wore an enormous clip-on hoop nose ring. Parag wore Aladdin shoes. It was baller.
– Honeymoon: India and Thailand
– Vendor Credits: Officiant – Rev. Sue Hudson. DJ – Alex from Vox DJ Company. Florist – Tre Bella Florist. Cake – Edible Art Bakery. Caterer – Southern Harvest Catering Company and Raaga. Hair/Makeup – Bella Trio Studio. Videographer – Elegant Imagez. Coordinator – Kelli from The Perfect Plan. Lighting – Get Lit. Photobooth – ZimZoom.