Marissa+John // Snipes Farm Wedding

Marissa and John found us, liked our website bats, and booked us. We met them, liked Marissa’s bangs and John’s happy smile, and accepted. Also, they have hermit crabs. AND THE HERMIT CRABS CAME TO THE WEDDING. I was so excited. I was disappointed none had been wearing a top hat or a little gown, but I guess there’s only so much you can do (they did travel all the way from Boone after all, and were probably tired doing all of their… hermit crab… things). Marissa and John are the happiest, friendliest, super chillest teacher people we know (and it’s a good thing they are because they will make fantastic and patient teachers and the world needs them). There was a bajillion kajillion chance of rain on their wedding day, and for an outdoor ceremony, that’s not so good. And rain it did. And then it stopped. And we took pictures, ran outside, did a ceremony, and then the rain started again. And then it stopped. And then we took some pictures. And it started again. And then it stopped. And we did their exit. And then it started again. So, I’d say we were as lucky as we could possibly be at dodging rain again this weekend. Can you believe Marissa’s bangs looked this good with such high humidity? It’s crazy.

  • Date: May 29, 2016
  • Ceremony + Reception Venue: Snipes Farm Retreat // Chapel Hill, NC
  • First Dance Song: “Lucky” – Jason Mraz
  • Marissa’s Occupation: Completing her Master’s in Elementary Education
  • John’s Occupation: Student teaching in the High Country and will graduate in December
  • How You Met: We met in 9th grade during our first period English class. After being friends for about 3 years, we started dating our second semester senior year right before prom.
  • Interesting Marissa Facts: Marissa loves to send mail and has been pen pals with Abby, one of the wedding helpers, for almost 4 years. Marissa loves to bake and her favorite meal is brunch. Marissa loves John, but is keeping her last name, Minnick, after their wedding.
  • Interesting John Facts: John does most of our cooking and loves looking for new recipes – he’s a stellar cook and has taught Marissa a lot! John loves fish and has spent the past year doing research on fish species in the New River. John loves Legos and collects Monopoly games. Right now, he has 12 different versions of Monopoly.
  • Honeymoon: Classes! We’re both taking a full load of summer courses at Appalachian.
  • Vendor Credits: Officiant – John Oliver. Florist – Marissa! Peach Cobbler – Southern Season. Caterer – Durham Catering Company.

Promo // PNC Downtown Raleigh Movie Series

Super happy to photograph the promos for an event organized by the Downtown Raleigh Alliance each year: the PNC Downtown Raleigh Movie Series! For a window of time in the summer, they bring you free movies downtown in City Plaza. It is pretty wonderful. There are food trucks, a DJ, the opportunity to shop around locally beforehand, and just hang out. Once the movie starts, it’s beautiful sitting out there in the plaza lights! No, they aren’t paying me to say this stuff, we just go a lot. Here’s the schedule of the movies showing this summer: http://www.downtownraleighmovieseries.com/.

Blair+John // Wedding at Saint Anne’s Chapel

We are absolutely in love with small weddings, pixie haircuts, Rush, and silver wedding dresses. This was a good day for us. It was a wedding of 50 people in Saint Anne’s Chapel in Tarboro, NC: an adorable, somewhat-haunted-looking church from the 1920s, located on property that belonged to a Civil War general in the 1800s. I was in love with it from the moment I saw it. It belongs to Blair’s aunt and uncle, who acquired the property some years back and restored the church which was in a bit of disrepair, and moved into the general’s old farm house. It has a big front porch where Geoff and I drank lemonade in some rocking chairs and felt truly southern.

The reception was held right behind the church where their family and friends gathered to support them, and the kids took over the lawn games. All while listening to Rush and Prince. It was so, so good. Blair and John, who are two super outstanding people with now four outstanding children, are very calm and happy people, and so this was a chillaxing event where everyone had fun. I ate a gluten free cheesecake, and it didn’t rain at all, so I feel like it really couldn’t have been a better day. Congratulations, guys!

  • Date: May 21, 2016
  • Ceremony + Reception Venue: Saint Anne’s Chapel and Retreat Center // Tarboro, North Carolina
  • First Dance Song: “The Luckiest” – Ben Folds
  • Blair’s Occupation: Tax accountant (no, that does not mean she knows anything about real estate tax or anything else not related to a foreign bank). She’s also a full time family coordinator, chauffeur, personal shopper, and domestic goddess.
  • John’s Occupation:John is a mechical engineer and has designed some pretty cool helicopter parts in his day, but now he is in business development figuring out parts for the oil industry. He is the resident tinkerer, fixing of things that need fixing, and enjoys making Blair laugh with his nerdy jokes and bizarre mental recollection of 80’s music.
  • How You Met: Match.com – seriously!
  • Interesting Fact: Uh, really not good at answering this question – people seem to find it bizarre that Blair has a masters in accounting but an undergrad in interior design. John will eat pretty much anything from fois gras in Paris to Hillbilly hotdogs in Lesage, WV and he is a total beer nerd.
  • Honeymoon: Grenada!
  • Vendor Credits: Officiant – Pastor Sharon Taylor. Acoustic Guitarist – Matthew Kanon. Wedding Coordinator – Mark Brown. Cakes and Pies – Michele Chavis. Caterer – H.I. Tharringont. Hair/Makeup – Bride.