Class of 2017.

Phew. Many of you know that this was a crap year for us. We had a significant death in the family, a laundry closet that was flooded, two cats in the emergency hospital, a computer that died, and a small kitchen fire that Carolyn valiantly extinguished… saving the lives of everyone in attendance. We blame 100% of the bad things that happened to us on a small wooden tiki carving we discovered under the dryer in said pre-flooded laundry closet, but that’s neither here nor there. Anyway, it sucked. We were hit with one thing after the other. But you know what didn’t suck? Our 2017 professional year. It ruled. Every single one of our clients was sane, kind, welcoming, pleasant, and fabulous in every way. We got hugs and thank you letters and toys for our cats and invitations to drinks and gatherings and copies of Hocus Pocus on DVD. You all took immense care of us this year when we needed it most, and we can’t thank you enough. You all were a very special class indeed, and we’re glad to see you graduate ::sheds tear::. I’m not sure where you’re graduating to… but… come back and visit us, please. We love each and every one of you. Thanks for making a bad year have tremendously good moments.

The year end “Class Of” posts date back to 2011.

2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011

Lauren+Evan // Haw River Ballroom Wedding

Winter weddings hold a special place in our hearts. There’s always cafe lights, darker color schemes, and a general sense of merriment. And sometimes, if you’re lucky, a dog with a floral collar named Beryl. And, if you’re even more lucky than that, an amazing bride and groom who have impeccable taste in just about everything. They chose an incredible team of vendors (hellooo to our wedding officiant, Barbara Lodge! hellooo to a dress Lauren purchased from our previous wedding client Susan’s shop Gilded Bridal! hellooo to Stephanie Sevilla, makeup extraordinaire! hellooooo to Peter Lamb and the Wolves who we adore working with each and every time! and finally helloooo to Patty Gallivan, the General Store’s amazing wedding coordinator!). They also chose an incredible color palette (yay burgundy!), a gorgeous wooden altar that Evan’s dad handcrafted, muffs for the girls instead of bouquets, tiny little gold animals standing on small slices of geodes for their placecards that Lauren put all together herself, and a hot chocolate bar that was beautiful. Their entire setup was incredible, down to their modern chairs. It was killer.

Lauren and Evan found us through a mutual friend and we are so glad that they did. They are sweet and cooperative and really good looking and follow directions well and have that cute dog we mentioned earlier. They also did a fake snow exit, which is the first we’ve ever seen, and I have to say that it’s a pretty brilliant idea and also eco friendly. You can do this with potato flakes for an DIY idea and then add water to whomever’s hair to make instant potatoes to eat later. Their bridesmaids and groomsmen were all really nice and their cake topper spectacular. We had wonderful weather, good food, and great music. All hail the winter weddings! They are super cozy feeling, and we hope you feel the love right now. Congratulations, Lauren and Evan!

– Date: December 2, 2017
– Ceremony + Reception Venue: Haw River Ballroom // Saxapahaw, NC
– First Dance Song: “Can’t Nobody Love You” – The Zombies
– Lauren’s Occupation: Compliance and Government Relations Officer at a neato code school, Coding Dojo
– Evan’s Occupation: Super secret security sleuth, better known as Systems Administration at the State Employee’s Credit Union
– How You Met: The Internets (“Through friends” for our parents)
– Interesting Fact: Evan can juggle though he pretends like he can’t and Lauren lived in New Zealand but never met a hobbit.
– Honeymoon: Cape Town, South Africa
– Vendor Credits: Officiant – Reverend Barbara Lodge // Band – Peter Lamb and the Wolves // Florist – Wylde Flowers // Cake – Sugarland // Caterer – Saxapahaw General Store // Hair and Makeup – Stephanie Sevilla // Coordinator – Patty Gallivan // Dress – Elizabeth Dye // Bridal Salon – Gilded Bridal // Seamstress – Marie Cordella // Groomsmen Suits – ASOS

Leila+Colin // Asheville, NC Wedding

Okay before I start this, it’s important to know that Leila’s name is pronounced “LIE-LA.” We literally started writing it that way in e-mails so I could remember, all caps included. I knew someone who had her named spelled Leila once, but pronounced it “Lee-la,” which is what I had been calling Leila in my head for months when I was corrected by Heather at Gilded Bridal, which is where Leila bought her stunner of a dress. Have you ever mispronounced someone’s name before? Something about the correction makes the mispronunciation even worse. It causes me to overthink it. Then “Lee-la” turned into “Lee… no, Lay-la… no no, Lee-la, yeah, Lee-la. NO. Lieeeeee…laa?” I couldn’t get it right. Until I remembered good old Lyla Garrity from Friday Night Lights. No, her name isn’t spelled Leila, but it’s pronounced “LIE-LA” and I freaking love Friday Night Lights so for some reason I was able to remember it this way because #texasforever and #cleareyesfullheartscantlose. I am 100% impressed that I didn’t call Colin “Rigs” once.

Now that we have that settled, Leila was our beloved former clients Carly+Jay’s maid of honor and we were so happy when she asked us to shoot her and Colin’s wedding in Asheville! It was actually in Swannanoa which is a pretty little small town just far enough outside of Asheville to be very woodsy, yet close enough where I could overdose on cinnamon buns at Posana for brunch. Ideal conditions. Hidden River Events is an incredible venue with a ton of wildflowers, horses, and dare I say the best lighting conditions on the planet (well, in the evening of October 14th anyway). It was beautiful. And Leila and Colin aren’t so bad themselves. Leila is of Palestinian descent and she and Colin met in Palestine doing all sorts of wonderful humanitarian goodness for people over there. They continue to do humanitarian goodness for all sorts of people from their homebase in Washington, DC with their dog Mr. B while watching Seinfeld at the same time. They were surrounded at their wedding by other Palestinians and also a lot of Irish. There were lots of good accents.

Leila and Colin were super fun to work with when we weren’t bringing up childhood traumas such as the death of Artax in the Neverending Story (don’t worry kids, I’ve since researched this heavily and the horse did not actually die, but was given to the actor who played Atreyu and died “much much later, living a good life doing horse stuff”). We are so, so happy to have been their wedding photographers and excited to see them and Mr. B again this spring for another portrait session where we don’t have to bring up the Neverending Story again (but we might because remember the rock guy?!). We love you guys! Thank you forever and ever neverending for having us. Isn’t this wedding purdy?

– Date: October 14, 2017
– Ceremony + Reception Venue: Hidden River Events // Swannanoa, NC
– Leila’s Occupation: Public Health
– Colin’s Occupation: PhD
– How You Met: Palestine
– Interesting Fact: I can do a lot of pushups.
– Honeymoon: Maybe Chile.
– Vendor Credits: Officiant – Jeanne Sommer. DJ+Florist+Coordinator – Hidden River Events. Food – Anne’s Custom Catering. Makeup – Jen O’Leary. Hair – Sarah Carpenter.