Rachel and Kevin had the super good fortune of not only giving birth to a beautiful baby girl, but also having her a few days before we sent our camera equipment away for a couple weeks to Canon for yearly maintenance. ;) We were hoping Evelyn Grace made her appearance on her due date, Jan 31st, and she thankfully made a timely arrival on February 1st. This enabled us to meet and photograph her in the adorable curled-up baby stage before they start throwing their limbs around all over the place. :)

We met the new parents at their home where they introduced us to Evelyn, who is a big fan of sleeping, napping, swaddling, sleeping, eating, and avoiding facing the camera at all times (don’t worry, babies are slow, so I was able to photograph her several times facing me before she caught on and turned the other direction). She is freaking adorable, with a little head full of hair and really adorable baby clothes and baby things. When my sister and I were little we had a babydoll we called Baby Evelyn, so I was even partial to her name. ;)

We were also introduced to Shirley, a tuxedo cat who has that amazing cat ability to sense when a door is suddenly opened into a room they’re not normally allowed to go in, enabling them to make a run for it, go into the “forbidden room”, and jump into the newborn’s crib to cuddle up with a stuffed elephant. Bandit, their tabby cat, also has that exact same the-door-is-open-to-the-forbidden-room-quick-lets-go-in-it cat sense, and hides under the crib. Clearly, it’s just a giant cat bed. Nora, their hound, who seemed like she was much more interested in cheese than her new baby sister, did not get in the crib.

Rachel and Kevin were just as much of a joy to work with as all the smaller creatures in their house, and it was such an honor to come into their home and photograph their little ones. :)

We’ve had a great time getting to know Caroline and Dana… the only couple to ever bring fake mustaches, noses, and glasses disguises with them consistently on every shoot we’ve had together. Dana is a redhead, our most favorite of hair colors, and Caroline almost sounds like Carolyn, so we liked them from the beginning (turns out later that having your name almost sound like the bride’s gets pretty confusing really fast and I did a lot of “fake-out” waving that day to people I thought were calling my name).

They had a stellar crew of vendors, venues, bridesmaids, groomsmen (the best man was the brother of Laura, our bride last year), and everyone pulled together to make it a pretty spectacular day. It was cold but sunny, and despite taking pictures outside where everyone but the guys had exposed shoulders, everyone was a real trooper and a joy to work with. Caroline and Dana are fun. They enjoy bantering with other people, and bantering with each other, and bantering in general. I think they were amused at my horror when Magnolia leaves started getting caught underneath the tulle in Caroline’s dress and she dragged-screeched them across campus (no wedding dress should ever make that noise, and I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from, but I was pretty sure that we all might either be in imminent danger from a dragon… or perhaps I was actively breaking Caroline’s dress). When her dress wasn’t screeching (don’t worry, we made it stop before she walked down the aisle), they had a great day. And when I mean “had a great day”, I really mean it. Neither Caroline or Dana seemed stressed or worried once (if they were, they didn’t show it), and literally seemed to be having a fantastic time all day. And it was contagious. Here comes the joy.

Date: January 31, 2015

Ceremony Venue: Duke Chapel // Durham, NC

Reception Venue: Bay 7 // American Tobacco // Durham, NC

Caroline’s Occupation: Lawyer

Dana’s Occupation: Office Manager at NC State University

How You Met: Through our mutual (and awesome) friend Will, who worked in Caroline’s office a few years back. We went from being friends to being more than that over dinner at the Raleigh Times and a concert by the band Schooner at Kings.

Honeymoon: Kauai, Hawaii

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Rev. Christi Dye | Band – Groovetown | Florist – Tre Bella | Cake – Edible Art | Caterer – Angus Barn | Hair/Makeup – Makeup Culture | Coordinator – Kelley Ann Ward with A Southern Soiree | Hotel – Washington Duke Inn | Stationary – Sweetpress Studio

Caroline and Her Dress.

Caroline+Dana were married this past weekend, so now’s my chance to show you guys a few of my favorites from her bridal shoot. This lady’s got the best skin and complexion ever and she looked absolutely beautiful in that dress. Plus, I mean, do the math. 1 Caroline + 1 Carolyn + 1 Carolina Inn = Caros for days and an awesome dress session. ;)