There was a 100% gluten free cake at this wedding (carrot cake, yum!) that I could eat, but that wasn’t even the best part. The best part was the honey badger cake toppers. They are sharing a snake. The catering staff stood around and all made guesses as to what sort of animal they were. “Is that skunk?” “Why do they have a ribbon in their mouth?” Next to the cake sat a stuffed honey badger, a gift from their friend, who walked by and told me, “He says inappropriate things. He came with a parental advisory sticker.”

Monica and Graham became our clients at some point last year when we bonded over our gluten allergy and invited them over for gluten-free pizza and Woodchuck cider. We’ve forced our friendship upon them ever since and get together for pizza when we’re all not busy. They exploded Mentos and Diet Coke in their engagement session with us and have since bought a cat that they named Tesla. They’re a lot smarter than we are but they don’t hold it against us. They had an awesome wedding at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences surrounded by sciencey things and dinosaurs and honey badgers and lived happily ever after.

Date: December 15, 2012

Monica’s Occupation: Perpetual student (PhD candidate, Environmental Toxicology at NC State)

Graham’s Occupation: Continuous student (PhD candidate, Particle Physics at NC State)

How You Met: North Carolina Governor’s School during high school

Interesting Bride Fact: Played the bassoon in middle and high school. Fact: it’s the coolest instrument ever. Look it up.

Interesting Groom Fact: Has an irrational fear of being hit by a meteorite.

Honeymoon Location: Big island of Hawaii

Ceremony and Reception Location: North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences // Raleigh, NC

Officiant: Rev. Robin Renteria

DJ: DJ Stephen Scott Professional Entertainment // Rob

Florist: Catering Works // Joe Barnes

Cake: The Celiac Cakery // Noreen Fitzmaurice

Catering: Catering Works

Hair: Alter Ego Hair Salon

Makeup: Belle Trachtenberg

Honey Badger Cake Toppers: Bonjour Poupette (Etsy)

Jen and Rob met when Rob was playing in bands during the period of Jen’s life when she “used to go see a lot of death metal shows in Fayetteville.” She said this to me while wearing a beautifully layered wedding gown with a veil on. :) I literally lol’ed… just because at that point in her wedding day, I really couldn’t see Jen going to see death metal bands in Fayetteville. She’s so genuinely sweet and has a quiet speaking voice and is so nice to everyone around her that it’s hard to imagine her headbanging away. But here Jen and Rob were on their wedding day at Caffe Luna in downtown Raleigh surrounded by friends, family, and most importantly – their newborn son Rob Jr… whom they affectionately refer to as R2 and whom I affectionately refer to as RDJ (both his initials and a homage from myself to the great Robert Downey Jr.). Jen got an R2D2 groom/son cake that she surprised them with and that Geoff wanted to steal. You’ll see in addition to RDJ the plethora of adorable children who were present at this wedding, and the beautiful and wonderful bridal party that accompanied our metalhead newlyweds. 

Date: November 13, 2011

Ceremony and Reception Venue: Caffe Luna // Raleigh, NC

DJ: Mike Morse

Florist: Fresh Affairs // Lyn Graves

Wedding Cake: Cake Dreams by Sally

Groom’s Cake: Cinda’s Creative Cakes

Officiant: Rev. Robin Renteria

Hair/Makeup: Images by Denise

 

Everyone’s favorite baseball enthusiasts tie the knot! Caitlin and Christopher, law school students at the University of Virginia, held their wedding here in Raleigh where Caitlin’s family resides. They met at the University of Georgia, and in a weird, Twilight Zone spin on events, are good friends with one of the groomsmen at our last wedding in Asheville. Normally we only see repeat guests at weddings that come from referrals, but these two couples didn’t know each other until they met at the wedding of the groomsman, Beau, a few weeks ago. At that point Sarah called and said, “We met another one of your couples!” So we thought that was cool, and we shot Sarah’s wedding, and then as we’re rolling up to Caitlin and Christopher’s wedding, Geoff says, “That’s Beau!” and it was… and it was all very deja vu strangeness. I guess it just proves that our clients are cool and run in cool circles with other cool people who have equally awesome taste in photographs. ;)

Anyyyway, this wedding was a beautiful late morning wedding and we had a great time shooting it! I must say, it was one of the most active dance parties we have ever seen… especially for an afternoon reception. Also, it was definitely hands-down the most active group of people over 70 I have ever seen as well. The grandparents were totally jamming out. It was pretty amazing. Caitlin and Christopher are total sweethearts who are beautiful inside and out. :)

Date: August 13, 2011

Ceremony Venue: Sacred Heart Cathedral // Raleigh, NC

Reception Venue: North Ridge Country Club // Raleigh, NC

Officiant: Father Sal Busichio

DJ: Tim Hazell, TJDJ

Florist: Suzanne Page, JaGG Classic Wholesale

Cake/Food: North Ridge Country Club

Caitlin’s grandmother made these little floral arrangements below in tiny watering cans for their wedding after-party at the house, and I just thought it was the cutest idea ever. It would make adorable centerpieces for a spring wedding outside. Way to go, grandma! Also, the above picture is one of my favorites of the day. :) It makes me smile!

Christopher is a sweetheart and had just the best, genuinely excited reaction upon seeing the lovely Caitlin. :)

It started raining during the ceremony, so we improvised and did the first half of their pictures inside. :)

Beau! Our mutual wedding client friend. :)

This was a very energetic exit… I feel like the noisemakers had something to do with that. ;) We hadn’t seen this type of exit before, and it was great! I kinda wanted a noisemaker, but it would’ve distracted me, so it’s probably for the best. Congratulations, Caitlin and Christopher! Best of luck in Virginia and please keep in touch! :D