Rachel turns sweet sixteen in Pittsburgh

Rachel loves boy bands. A lot. A whole, whole, whole, whole lot. She says loving boy bands is pretty embarrassing, but not as embarrassing as her grunge phase (to which I can relate). She loves them so much that she knits them scarves. When she’s not knitting scarves and mailing them to boy bands (One Direction is her favorite, although we did rock out some New Kids on the Block in the car), she attends a boarding school in Greensboro, North Carolina and comes home to Pittsburgh, PA as much as she can (something to which I can also relate). She roots for the Pens and works for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History working as a counselor for the camp programs for little kids. She can play guitar and speaks fluent Russian (her family’s from St.  Petersburg) and has three dogs.

I think Rachel is pretty darn awesome. Not only did she sing boy band songs for me, she also told me a lot of chemistry jokes. And anyone who tells me good chemistry jokes is automatically written down in my Book of Favorite People. Happy 16th birthday, Rachel… you rocked this out.

Brooke+Red: A prehistoric engagement session in Raleigh

Ladies and gentlemen, the first of my primary color grooms!

As some of you on my Facebook page know, I have two primary color grooms. Red this year and Blue next year. We’re still scouting out 2014’s primary color groom, so anyone who has a fiancé whom they refer to as “Yellow” on a regular basis, feel free to book us so we can complete the cycle.

On a normal note, meet Brooke and Red! They met online, but weren’t suggested to each other because they were apparently “only” an 80% match (and we all know 95% of the population is undateable). But Red was very specific about who he’d like to meet, found Brooke’s profile, and messaged her. They had a wonderful first date (being the incredibly attractive and charming people that they are), and then before they knew it they would be standing in a large open field with me and a giant helium dinosaur balloon taking engagement pictures.

Red likes golfing and Brooke likes gardening. They both love cooking, but cook in very different ways so that cooperative cooking at the same time has been ruled out entirely. Red’s first CD was the Wayne’s World soundtrack, and Brooke’s was one of the 6 CD deals from Colombia (bonus 90s kid points if you know what I’m talking about), although she was pretty into Ace of Base back in the day (what self-respecting 90s kid wasn’t?). They also really love dinosaurs. A lot. They’re having their wedding reception on the dino floor of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in November, and decided to go that one little step further into dino-love by incorporating the prehistoric awesomeness into their engagement session. And those of you who know me well know that I love me some dinosaur ring shots…

Wendy+Nelson Have A Wedding at All Saints Chapel in Raleigh, NC

Wendy and Nelson were married at All Saints Chapel the day before Easter, their rings carried in tiny metal eggs. :) And with Wendy’s son Ashton calling Nelson “Dad” for quite some time now already, the day was a long time coming for all of them. It was beautiful to see them all finally unite as a family, very much in love and supportive of each other.

Laura, the matron of honor, gave a speech about how she knew Nelson was the one for Wendy… and while I’m terrible at remembering speeches and quotes, I’ll paraphrase: Nelson loves cars. A lot. He has a 1968 Camaro and brought it over for Wendy to see when they first started dating. Now, it’s pretty well known in their family circle that Nelson really doesn’t let anyone go near his cars (or especially in them), and he rarely lets it out of the garage because it’s kept in pristine condition. But not only did he bring it over for Wendy – he let Ashton climb in the car. :) Now, for those who know Nelson, this was a really big move on his part, and the start of a wonderful commitment to both Wendy and Ashton.

They all threw a killer wedding at All Saints complete with adorable Easter Egg ornaments as favors and the most. popular. candy. bar. ever. At the very end of the post you’ll see what happens when a bunch of children literally wipe the entire candy bar clean in approximately 20 minutes, and the aftermath that ensued after the sugar kicked in about 30 minutes later…

First Dance: “Broken Road” – Rascal Flats

Bride’s Occupation: Head Hunter

Groom’s Occupation: Electrical Design Engineer

How You Met: Introduced

Interesting Bride Fact: “Always seems to have everything under control and well organized, but is actually a total mess… :)”

Interesting Groom Fact: “Is a total germaphobe and control freak!”

Honeymoon Destination: Miami and then onto the Bahamas in June

Date: April 7, 2012

Ceremony and Reception Venue: All Saints Chapel // Raleigh, NC

Officiant: Rev. Robin Renteria

Wedding Coordinator: Sally Oakley – Personalized Wedding Planning

DJ: Black Belt Limousines and Sedans

Florist: Dogwood Tree

Cake: Edible Art

Catering: Unforgettable Food Affairs

Hair: Charisma Salon // Joni

Ceremony Coordinator: Martha Gribble