We are absolutely in love with small weddings, pixie haircuts, Rush, and silver wedding dresses. This was a good day for us. It was a wedding of 50 people in Saint Anne’s Chapel in Tarboro, NC: an adorable, somewhat-haunted-looking church from the 1920s, located on property that belonged to a Civil War general in the 1800s. I was in love with it from the moment I saw it. It belongs to Blair’s aunt and uncle, who acquired the property some years back and restored the church which was in a bit of disrepair, and moved into the general’s old farm house. It has a big front porch where Geoff and I drank lemonade in some rocking chairs and felt truly southern.

The reception was held right behind the church where their family and friends gathered to support them, and the kids took over the lawn games. All while listening to Rush and Prince. It was so, so good. Blair and John, who are two super outstanding people with now four outstanding children, are very calm and happy people, and so this was a chillaxing event where everyone had fun. I ate a gluten free cheesecake, and it didn’t rain at all, so I feel like it really couldn’t have been a better day. Congratulations, guys!

  • Date: May 21, 2016
  • Ceremony + Reception Venue: Saint Anne’s Chapel and Retreat Center // Tarboro, North Carolina
  • First Dance Song: “The Luckiest” – Ben Folds
  • Blair’s Occupation: Tax accountant (no, that does not mean she knows anything about real estate tax or anything else not related to a foreign bank). She’s also a full time family coordinator, chauffeur, personal shopper, and domestic goddess.
  • John’s Occupation:John is a mechical engineer and has designed some pretty cool helicopter parts in his day, but now he is in business development figuring out parts for the oil industry. He is the resident tinkerer, fixing of things that need fixing, and enjoys making Blair laugh with his nerdy jokes and bizarre mental recollection of 80’s music.
  • How You Met: Match.com – seriously!
  • Interesting Fact: Uh, really not good at answering this question – people seem to find it bizarre that Blair has a masters in accounting but an undergrad in interior design. John will eat pretty much anything from fois gras in Paris to Hillbilly hotdogs in Lesage, WV and he is a total beer nerd.
  • Honeymoon: Grenada!
  • Vendor Credits: Officiant – Pastor Sharon Taylor. Acoustic Guitarist – Matthew Kanon. Wedding Coordinator – Mark Brown. Cakes and Pies – Michele Chavis. Caterer – H.I. Tharringont. Hair/Makeup – Bride.

I’m always partial to people with my name, but it does make it difficult when Geoff is directing clients to figure out who he’s talking to. Meet Carolyn and Shawn! They are super fun and cute and follow direction exceedingly well. They are also both short like me, so I didn’t have to use my step stool (yes!). We met them one evening in the Raleigh Rose Garden and made a good time of it, talking about travel and cats and how Ramsay Bolton is an evil psychopath. Fun fact about Carolyn and Shawn: if you count to three, they’ll turn and run directly into each other. If you count to three again, they’ll turn and run directly into each other one more time. It seems to be some sort of reflex. We’re looking forward to counting to three on their wedding day and seeing what happens, but they’ll probably just run into each other, this time super dressed up.

We received an email from a woman named Teresa a couple of months ago who was attempting to gather information from different photographers for her friend Romey. Romey wasn’t sure they wanted a photographer and Teresa was sleuthing around gathering intel in an attempt to change Romey’s mind. :) Eventually she did just that, and we were kindly invited to photograph an intimate evening ceremony and dinner reception at Death & Taxes in downtown Raleigh. Well, it’s kind of Death & Taxes. They have an upstairs portion called the Bridge Club which is where this was all held, and it’s a lovely room with large windows looking out over downtown. We met them shortly before their ceremony where Joe quickly won us over with his impressive beard and work history in video games, and Romey quickly won me over by wearing 101 Dalmations canvas shoes. I was disappointed when she changed into glitter heels, no matter how lovely, because, come on, 101 Dalmations. They were married in a beautiful and hilarious ceremony under a gorgeous flower arch, and then they fed us a bunch of seriously amazing food. Like, a whole lot of great food. Plates and plates! I think I’ve been dreaming of the twice baked mashed potatoes ever since. We’re thankful Teresa convinced them to hire us because the mashed potatoes were that good. But also because Romey and Joe are pretty amazing themselves. :)

  • Date: February 12, 2016
  • Ceremony + Reception Venue: Death & Taxes 3rd Floor Bridge Club // Raleigh, NC
  • Romey’s Occupation: Accountant
  • Joe’s Occupation: Business Development
  • How You Met: Match.com. Romey “winked” at Joe!
  • Interesting Fact: These questions are the hardest to answer.
  • Honeymoon: Hawaii in March
  • Vendor Credits: Officiant – Chris Donahue | Florist – Fresh Affairs | Cake – Death & Taxes/Bridge Club | Caterer – Death & Taxes/Bridge Club