This was a seriously amazing start to 2015, and if it’s any indication of the weddings to come this year, we’ll be in wedding heaven.

Lisa and Curtis are amazingly cute together, and I think that even if it were 110 degrees instead of 45, they still would’ve been just as cuddly. The story of how they met is pretty stellar, and had a big impact on their wedding reception. Lisa and Curt are swing dancers, and Lisa originally saw him during class one day. Curt is blind so he didn’t see Lisa, but he left quite an impression on her and she remembered him. So when they later showed up on each other’s OkCupid accounts as the top match, they each had encouragement from mutual friends to pursue each other, and they are now living happily ever after. :)

Of course, since swing dancing played a big part in their meeting and in their current lives, they wanted to incorporate it in their wedding. Lisa and Curtis hired Peter Lamb and the Wolves, a popular jazz band in the area whom we absolutely love working with, to play at their reception. But not everyone knows how to dance to live jazz of the upbeat variety and they wanted all their guests to have a great time, so they brought in their swing dance instructor Richard Badu (who was also the instructor for our other swing dancing clients Deb+Carey), and had him teach a mini swing lesson to all of their guests before the reception. Richard is an amazing dancer whom we’ve had the pleasure of watching before, but it was great to see him teach! Then it was even more amazing to see all of their guests not only participate, but have some of the most fun we’ve ever seen at a wedding reception. They rotated partners every minute or so, so almost all 120 guests met all the other 120 guests, danced with them, and had a great time. As a result, they had an amazing reception with some incredible dancing (there was a lot of kicking and spinning and Geoff and I had to dodge quite a few limbs in the process of taking pictures). This was a seriously great way to get all of their guests involved, and we loved every minute of it. There’s something so fun about watching people who can actually dance.

Anyway, it was a fantastic day, and we absolutely love Lisa and Curt who were amazing wedding clients for us, and we know they’ll have a long and happy life together dancing the night away. :)

Date: January 3, 2015

Ceremony and Reception Venue: Haw River Ballroom // Saxapahaw, NC

First Dance Song: “Blue Moon”

Lisa’s Occupation: Program Evaluator and Improvement Advisor

Curt’s Occupation: Economics Professor (Game Theorist)

How You Met: Lisa originally saw Curt swing dancing, but then decided to pursue him when he was her top match on OkCupid.

Interesting Fact: Curt is blind. Lisa loves that this fact provides an excuse to hold hands with him ALL the time. They dislike sitting across a table from each other, because they can’t touch without spilling something nor make googly eyes without touching. With only one breath of helium, Lisa can sing the Lullabye League’s Welcome to Dorothy perfectly. Without helium she still gets a B+.  Curt has come in second place at The Monti Story Slam five times. We think he is the most non-winningist winner. Curt has a much better sense of direction than Lisa. She often relies on him for driving directions.

Honeymoon Destination: Still considering the location of a summer getaway.

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Rev. Robin Renteria | Band – Peter Lamb and the Wolves | Florist – Paper flowers by More Paper Than Shoes | Cakes – Guglehupf | Caterer – Saxapahaw General Store and Catering | Hair/Makeup – Kenny Parrella | Coordinator – Cameron Ratliff and Patricia Gallivan (Saxapahaw General Store) | Paper Moon – Dappsy | Wedding Sash – GlamHouse

This wedding had so much personality, but we knew that it would from the second we met Hannah and Harrison, and continued once we met Hannah’s parents, and continued again once we met their bridal party and friends. :) Hannah and Harrison (from here on known as H2) were referred to us by their dear friend (and our photography friend!) Melissa Tuck. Her in-laws are great friends with Hannah’s family, and she so graciously referred us for the super important job of documenting this amazing wedding, and we couldn’t be happier. Hannah wore a vintage wedding dress that was worn by both her grandmother and her mother. It had an outstanding hoop skirt and was overall just fantastic. Harrison had on some badass suspenders on both evenings, and can rock a bow tie pretty hard. On day 1, Carolyn was introduced to the concept of “snack cheese” (which, apparently, is just cheese you eat for a snack, but instead of calling it… cheese… you call it “snack cheese”) and was schooled by an eight year old girl on how to tell a frog from a toad. H2 had their first look next to a giant mural of themselves painted on the side of her childhood home by a friend (it features Hannah driving happily with her eyes closed and Harrison being extremely terrified). Then Hannah and Harrison dug up some bourbon that they buried in the backyard, drank it, made some faces, and proceeded to go take pictures with us. Their wedding ceremony was held in Heater Park (where Harrison proposed) in Cary with about fifty people and some yay signs. Their reception was held in the backyard of Hannah’s parents which they had totally redecorated and landscaped for the occasion (it was beautiful). There was a chandelier made out of branches and some tin can people dressed up like a bride and groom. The second night involved a rooftop reception held at Solas in downtown Raleigh. Peter Lamb and the Wolves graced us with their amazing presence (we are super lucky and happy to be joining them for a wedding again in January) and everyone danced the night away (and spilled some glow sticks, which was kind of fascinating. If they break, it spills into a bunch of electric glowing droplets, which, as it turns out, can severely stain your shirt). They talked about epic and legendary family games of Risk, and a good time was had by all.

Date: September 26 and 27, 2014

Ceremony Venue: Heater Park // Cary, NC

Reception Venue (Night 1): Backyard // Private Property

Reception Venue (Night 2): Solas // Raleigh, NC

Hannah’s Occupation: Clinical Research

Harrison’s Occupation: Global Business Intelligence

How You Met: At a party. He thought she was Asian; she was not. Luckily it still turned out ok :)

Interesting Fact: The bride went to the hospital on her bachlorette party because she fell down 2 stairs and knocked herself out.  The groom has impeccable coordination.

Honeymoon Destination: Beach now, Australia/New Zealand later.

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Linda Rhoades | Band – Peter Lamb and the Wolves | Classical Guitar – Mac Ogden | Cake – Blue Moon Bakery | Caterer – Thrills from the Grill (Friday night) and Solas (Saturday night) | Hair/Makeup – The Hair and Face Lounge | Coordinator – Gretchen at RedBird Events | Muralist – Sam Ogden