We were so thrilled to finally work with Megan and Carly when we didn’t have 100+ degree fevers like the day of their engagement shoot. It’s so much easier to work when you don’t feel like you’re going to die, eh? And what two better people to kick off our wedding season than these guys! They are nice and happy and so cute together all the time that they make everything really easy, and their wedding day was a blast. The weather was great, there was tasty food and cake and gluten-free cakes, everyone was in a good mood, and some guy named Tucker at The Franklin Hotel totally swooped in and saved the day with his ability to tie a bow tie. There was even a parking spot at the Coker Arboretum for pictures, which is a rare occurrence. We take all of these things to be a sign of good luck and fortune in their marriage (you guys didn’t know that us finding a parking spot in Chapel Hill is good luck for your marriage, did you? you learn something new every day!).

Megan’s currently finishing her dissertation in Kentucky, and then they’re planning to move to Durham because they love it here, but also so that Megan and I can use each other for haircut inspiration. And also so we can pet their Corgi. And so Carly can coach me in the ways of her cross stitching knowledge. We are super excited that Carly and Megan have found each other and are married and are moving back to our city! And we send these two very lovely and wonderful people a big heartfelt congratulations and an uncomfortably long hug from us to them.

• Date: April 8, 2017
• Ceremony Venue: Pilgrim United Church of Christ // Durham, NC
• Reception Venue: The Cookery // Durham, NC
• First Dance Song: “Simple Life” – The Weepies
• Megan’s Occupation: Soon to be engineer
• Carly’s Occupation: Works with people with disabilities in lots of different settings
• How You Met: One of those online dating sites, followed by an accidental meeting at the gym
• Interesting Fact: Megan has lived in 6 states, but now will never leave NC. Carly can walk fast on her hands. We love playing lots and lots of board games. Megan can identify lots of bugs, Carly likes to test this often.
• Honeymoon: Minimoon in Asheville, NC so Megan can get back to KY to defend her thesis and move us one step closer to living in Durham.
• Vendor Credits: Officiant – Rev. Mandy Mizelle Norris. DJ – Damian Maass. Florist – Julie of Bushel and Peck. Cake – Details Cake Design. Caterer – Donovan’s Dish. Hair/Makeup – Bella Trio, Durham NC. Coordinator – Leah Coman of C&D Events. Ceremony Music – Arioso String. Transportation – Greenway Transit.

Hannah and David had a wonderful afternoon wedding at the Cotton Room. Both of them are absolute pictures of calm. The 100% cool and collected expression Hannah is wearing through this entire blog post is not carefully curated; she was just like that all of the time. And I’m pretty sure she can give Tyra a run for the money in a closed-mouth-smile competition. Also, she kind of reminds me of Natalie Portman. Plus, she wore a lace dress with this awesome detachable skirt thing made of tulle. It’s kind of like a veil, but for the lower half of your body instead of your head. I love Hannah and it is obvious.

It is also very obvious that David loves Hannah, as he spent most of the day lovingly gazing at her and why wouldn’t he?! Of course he would. David is wonderfully kind and charming and was so sweet to us all day… making sure we ate and were okay and thanking us for being there. They are just the best. It’s kind of how I picture the wedding of any sort of royal prince and princess in maybe England or something. Is that weird? Maybe. Anyway, we had a lovely time, and then dragged poor Hannah and David into the mosquito infested woods of Durham to take pictures of them post-wedding (yes, both of them looked this good after their entire wedding, which is pretty unbelievable). Congratulations to two wonderful people – we were so happy to photograph your wedding!

  • Date: October 1, 2016
  • Ceremony + Reception Venue: The Cotton Room // Durham, NC
  • First Dance Song: “Forever” – Ben Harper
  • Hannah’s Occupation: CPA
  • David’s Occupation: Renewable Energy Business Development
  • How You Met: Slim’s Downtown Raleigh – first met and then met again a year later at which point we started dating
  • Interesting Fact: David loves dogs and is allergic to cats but has grown quite fond of Hannah’s cat. The dog and cat have grown quite fond of one another too!   Hannah is a vegetarian. David is not – but graciously compliments each vegetarian dinner Hannah makes – even when he wishes they contain meat :)
  • Honeymoon: Sedona, AZ
  • Vendor Credits: Officiant – Reverend Felix (Tony) Futtrell. DJ – Island Sound (Frankie). Florist – English Garden. Cake – Ashley Cakes. Caterer – The Cotton Room/Triangle Catering. Hair/Makeup – Makeup for Your Day. Coordinator – Shelley Clayton. Exit Car – Dave’s Car.

Lauren and Kris had all the necessary things for a delightful wedding: donuts, a jazz band, an ice cream truck, a crazy little biodiesel bus, and a phone full of pictures of their cat Calvin using Snapchat wearing a fedora and a fake mustache. They were married by a friend in a little intimate spot of grass in the middle of Duke Forest surrounded by trees and fabulous early fall light. Then we all went on to the reception at The Cookery that was adorned with little golden dinosaurs sporting air plants that were standing guard over bottles of liquor holding wildflowers. I really wanted to steal all of them and start a tiny gold dinosaur plant army but I couldn’t do that because Lauren and Kris are so nice and I feel like it’s probably good luck for your marriage if you start out with your own golden dinosaur plant army and I didn’t want to rob them of that.

Did we mention the ice cream truck? We did, but we’re going to talk about it again right now because ice cream. At one point Lauren held a glass of wine in one hand and an ice cream cone in the other and looked so ridiculously thrilled with the whole thing and I thought yes, this is what happiness looks like. Everyone loves The Parlour and we do too, especially when they arrive in a pink and white truck, and I had two scoops of the Vietnamese Coffee because it’s my favorite, even though I don’t like coffee at all. And we ate our ice cream as the fabulous Mint Julep Jazz Band played on into the night and everyone had the best time talking and socializing. Thank you for having a delightful and charming wedding, Lauren and Kris, and we hope you’re up in DC starting that tiny golden dinosaur plant army with your cat Calvin.

  • Date: September 23, 2016
  • Ceremony Venue: Duke Forest // Durham, NC
  • Reception Venue: The Cookery // Durham, NC
  • Lauren’s Occupation: Economist for the federal government in DC
  • Kris’s Occupation: Energy analyst
  • How You Met: Graduate school classmates at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment.
  • Interesting Fact: Although they love Durham almost as much as they love each other, the only actual NC native in their family is their okra-loving cat, Calvin (from APS of Durham).
  • Honeymoon: Not sure yet! The front runners are Croatia and Laos.
  • Vendor Credits: Officiant – Zarak Khan. Band – Mint Julep Jazz Band. Florist – Pine State Flowers. Ice Cream – The Parlour Ice Cream Truck. Caterer – Durham Catering Company. Hair/Makeup – Carla White. Coordinator – Gretchen Garrett of Red Bird Events. Ceremony Music – Jordan Nance. Transporation – Greenway Transit. Donuts – Monuts.