Melanie+Nicole Get Married in North Carolina

Our first e-mail from Melanie said, “Two girls getting married in Durham seek cool, laid-back, easy-going, ridiculously talented photographers to capture every detail of this illegal venture on June 7, 2013 at Duke Gardens. Two wedding dresses, two mothers of the bride, two step dads, one dad, two maids of honor, zero bridesmaids and one awesome party. We met at a white trash party, Nicole took Mel’s stitches out after ACL surgery and impressively told the surgeon “I got this.” A year later Mel saw Nicole doing Soulja Boy moves on the dance floor and knew she needed to get to know this girl better. So she did. We are celebrating the fifth anniversary of our first date on 12/12/12. Mel asked Nicole to marry her on Labor Day and gave her a ring. A month later Nicole asked Mel to marry her back and gave HER a ring. Because you can do cool stuff like that when you are two girls.” For reference – Melanie is in the pink dress, Nicole is in the ivory dress.

We loved them instantly. Then they came over to our house and Nicole wore this sweater. At that moment, we may or may not have begged them to let us shoot their wedding. They agreed. Then all went out to see Jurassic Park in 3D. They screamed really loud when the velociraptor attacked. Then we photographed their “gay and awesome” wedding ceremony (our first gay wedding!). And then went out two days later to see Iron Man (not in 3D… and no screaming this time). We found out that the paths behind our houses connect so they’re going to be seeing a lot more of us (provided they like their pictures) so that we can visit their elderly cat named Syd (see below) whom Carolyn befriended at the wedding.

Besides it being the first gay wedding we’ve photographed, it was also the biggest wedding heist we’ve EVER seen pulled off in the history of our career. I’d use this blog to lecture all of you ladies out there who are afraid of the rain on your wedding day, but I’m kind of sure that the pictures speak for themselves. Red/orange radar from a tropical storm and two brides who didn’t care at all but who were determined to take pictures outdoors come hell or high water (quite literally very high). We were soaked (and changed our clothes before the ceremony; Carolyn blow-dried her shoes in their bathroom) but the girls stayed relatively dry thanks to umbrellas… and this should prove to ALL of you that it’s better to dance in the rain than to have indoor pictures. Anyway – it was wet. The ground was flooded. Duke Gardens wouldn’t put out chairs because they would destroy the extremely saturated grass. But Melanie and Nicole are like the honey badgers of the bride world and had their wedding outside anyway with standing guests. The sun came out one hour prior to ceremony time. It was amazing and totally unreal. Their pictures after the ceremony at Duke Gardens are a sunny day. One of their guests asked us the evening before what’s the craziest thing we’ve ever seen at a wedding – and now we have an answer. :)

Date: June 7, 2013

Ceremony and Reception Venue: Duke Gardens // Durham, NC

First Dance Song: “I Remember” – Whitley

Melanie’s Occupation: Healthcare Market Consultant

Nicole’s Occupation: Physician Assistant

How You Met: A sequence of events that included a white trash party, stitches, and dancing the Soulja Boy.

Interesting Melanie Fact: Had ancestors on the Mayflower, can be spotted as an extra in the movie Whip It, and can’t fold a fitted sheet to save her life.

Interesting Nicole Fact: Swam with sharks and touched the Pope, though not at the same time.

Honeymoon Destination: Italy next year! We hope.

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Antoinette Polito (friend) | DJ – All the Right Grooves | Florist – Melanie and Nicole and Whole Foods :-) | Cake – Durham Catering Co | Caterer – Durham Catering Co | Hair/Makeup – Angela Goldman, owner, A Go-Go Salon | Coordinator – Nicole Conder, Premier Party Planning

Meagan+Jonathan’s Wedding at Barclay Villa

Meagan and Jonathan had their wedding at Barclay Villa in Angier, NC. We had been hearing a lot about this venue for a few years but hadn’t had the opportunity to shoot there until now. But basically it’s a giant castle-house that the owners built to have weddings and is very Game of Thrones… without all the bad stuff. The DJ told me that he once had a Renaissance Fair wedding there where the bride and groom asked him to wear a Jester hat. Amazing.

I knew Meagan from a long series of e-mails over a long period of time and from her bridal portraits, but Geoff and I didn’t meet Jonathan until the wedding weekend. Knowing how sweet and lovely Meagan is, we knew that Jonathan would probably be nice, and he certainly was SUPER nice, as were all of his really nice but semi-rowdy with photobombing-tendencies groomsmen (I say that with love, gentlemen). Meagan and Jonathan were married by Meagan’s aunt which was really cool (we’ve been seeing a lot of family members marrying our couples lately!) and Meagan wore the first ring given to her grandmother by her late grandfather down the aisle.

The bridesmaids spent the morning/afternoon getting their hair and makeup done while the groomsmen spent the morning/afternoon playing pool and offering cigarettes to the lion statues out front in their Adidas sneakers. This is pretty typical (without the sneakers). In the evening they partied down and we were sat at a table of their very nice friends and had a lot of fun. Meagan and Jonathan were promptly sent on their honeymoon on a early flight the next day and are still there, so we’ll wish them congratulations and love from the States until they come back home!

Date: June 1, 2013

Ceremony and Reception Venue: Barclay Villa // Angier, NC

First Dance Song: “These Arms of Mine” – Otis Redding

Meagan’s Occupation: Recently graduated – still job hunting

Jonathan’s Occupation: Student/server

How You Met: Our freshman year in high school

Interesting Bride Fact: Meagan refuses to use any type of wooden utensil (knife, spoon, cutting board, popsicle stick) or to touch or stand on wooden objects if they’re wet. She can’t stand the feel of it.

Interesting Groom Fact: Jonathan is the only left handed person on either side of his family.

Honeymoon Destination: St. Maarten

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Rev. Janie Taylor | DJ – Island Sound and Video | Florist – Jeffrey’s Florist | Cake – Simply Cakes | Caterer – Barclay Villa | Hair and Makeup – Britt Murphy, Radiance Salon and Day Spa | Vidoegrapher – DJ Island Sound and Video | Coordinator – Cathy Honeycutt of Barclay Villa

Deb and Carey Are Engaged!

Deb and Carey are pretty neat people with a deep love and appreciation for zombies and gardening. Normally I’d say those two things wouldn’t go hand-in-hand, but when you think about it, they probably could. We suggested to them that they could use them Agave plants as a (short-lived and not-so-nuturional) source of food when the zombie apocalypse arises, so hopefully that will spark their imagination and we’ll soon discover some livestock and more sustainable plants such as corn and wheat fields growing at their house. ;)

A few fun facts besides their mad gardening skills: they can make homemade mint ice cream, donuts are their favorite food group, they met at swing dancing class and can dance really well. We suggested that this would make their first dance really good, and they replied that there’s been a lot of pressure on them for their first dance to be really good since everyone knows they can dance, so it may or may not be good, but we’re hoping it is to detract from our terrible dance moves.