We were not only excited to shoot our first wedding of the year (Geoff did an excellent job second shooting this wedding with me), but we were also excited to see two of our very good friends get married, meet their AWESOME families, and have an excellent time… all of which we did. :)

For those who missed their abbreviated backstory on their engagement session post, Daniel was my sanity-saving best friend back at my old part time job before I went full-time with photography. He was pretty quiet when I first met him, but I gradually realized that the person singing really really really loud across the room from me was the same guy, and so I made an effort to get to know him since he amused me so frequently. Then I found out he likes the New England Patriots. This put a thorn in our friendship as I was constantly made fun of and harassed when I wore my Steelers jersey to work, but then again, making fun of each other is pretty much the foundation of our friendship, so it worked out pretty well. Until I found out that he was planning a Patriots themed wedding. And to be honest, I didn’t think he was serious (it can be kind of hard to tell when you’re trying to take someone seriously while they drink SunnyD out of a glass boot).

As it turns out, he was serious. A few weeks later Geoff and I had the privilege of meeting his absolutely lovely fiancé who is equally as wonderful and hilarious as Daniel (I had no doubts) to discuss photographing their wedding. Since then, the fabulous Mary Ann and I have also become close and we enjoy getting our butts kicked by our husbands when we go bowling. Daniel and Mary Ann are truly a couple that we love being around because they are exactly like each other to the point where it’s highly amusing and adorable at the same time (you’ll see here in a few minutes). They’re also some of the nicest people in the world, not to mention both of them being super cute and easy to photograph. :)

And you know what? Their Patriots themed wedding was awesome!!! There, I said it. I dislike the Patriots as much as they dislike the Steelers, but honestly, this was so well done.  Their centerpieces, colors, cake, and everything else worked perfectly and it was a beauuuutiful wedding. And they used some of their engagement session football shots in the save the dates and wedding programs (all football ticket themed), which was such a cute idea. YOU GUYS ARE ADORABLE. Also, their families were the best. THE BEST. Thank you all for being so kind, open, and helpful.. I hope all of you enjoy the pictures. And of course, we love you, Mary Ann and Daniel!

Date: March 5, 2011

Venue: Rand-Bryan House

Cake: Tier Bella

Flowers: Belinda Hobson

Dj: Mike Morse

Officiant: Bishop Jason Johnson

Musician [Singer]: Vanessa Durand

March Wedding Rand-Bryan House red and white wedding Patriots theme wedding

Patriots themed wedding

Red White and Blue Wedding

New England Patriots wedding cake

New England Patriots themed wedding

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Groomsmen

Bridesmaids

groomsmen getting ready

Silver wedding shoes

Rand-Bryan house wedding

Rand-Bryan House wedding Garner nc

Wedding Dress

Raleigh Wedding Photographer

Red and White Bridal Bouquet

Red and White Bridal Bouquet

navy blue and silver bridal party

Raleigh Wedding Photographer

red white and blue bridesmaids

red white and blue groomsmen

Rand-Bryan House wedding

wedding ceremony Rand-Bryan House

Rand-Bryan House wedding ceremony

Raleigh Wedding Photographer

Outdoor wedding in March Raleigh NC

wedding veil

Below is by far my favorite picture of the day, period. Better than all the portraits, better than all the details and dance pictures combined. The ceremony officiant asked anyone who might object to their marriage to speak now, and they turned their heads in unison and gave everyone the same look at the same time… and I really don’t think it was planned. It also captures both of their sarcastic sides beautifully. ;)

Rand-Bryan House wedding ceremony outside

March outdoor wedding

March outdoor wedding

Exchange of rings

Vanessa Durand

Raleigh wedding photographer

First Kiss

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family portraits

Bridal Party portrait

Raleigh Wedding Photographer

Carolyn Scott Photography

Rand-Bryan House wedding portraits

Raleigh Wedding Photographer

Wedding Portraits Raleigh NC

Raleigh Wedding Photographer

Rand-Bryan House Wedding

Garner wedding venue

Bridal Portraits

Groom portraits

ring shot

Rand-Bryan House reception

Rand-Bryan House wedding reception

Rand-Bryan House wedding reception

Rand-Bryan House wedding reception

Rand-Bryan House wedding reception

Rand-Bryan House wedding reception

Rand-Bryan House wedding reception

Rand-Bryan House wedding reception

Rand-Bryan House wedding reception

Raleigh wedding photographer

Raleigh wedding photographer

Raleigh wedding photographer

Raleigh wedding photographer

Raleigh wedding photographer

Garter Toss

Raleigh wedding photographer

Raleigh wedding photographer

Raleigh wedding photographer

Raleigh wedding photographer

All the congratulations in the world, you two… We hope you’re having a great honeymoon and love the pictures when you get back! :)

kelsey and adam’s wedding date finally came! you may remember the adorable couple from their engagement shoot with their daughter, emma grace. kelsey and i have been facebook chatting it up over the last couple of months and we were so excited for our weddings which are falling a few days apart (mine is coming up in a few days!). i love the bond that you can build with clients and that lovely point where clients become friends. :) kelsey and adam are definitely that – my friends as well as a beautiful couple who has a wonderful group of family and friends. they thankfully had a warm, dry, sunny day on october 9th when they were married in pinehurst, nc. enjoy!

bride getting ready with white flats wedding jewelry bridesmaids

had to get a shot of the mother/daughter wedding dresses. :) emma grace’s tiny dress was just too cute! we hung it in the same place as mom’s as a surprise… we thought kelsey would enjoy the side-by-side pics. :)

mother and daughter wedding dresses bride getting ready with perfume bridal veil

first look pictures are becoming very popular for several reasons: 1.) you get ALL of the nervous jitters out of the way so you’re both relaxed for the ceremony 2.) extra time for pictures! 3.) your better half actually gets to tell you what they think about what you’re wearing instead of smiling at you in silence then turning to do the ceremony 4.) you get to express your love for each other in a very genuine way before the ceremony and all-day ruckus begins 5.) they make ADORABLE pictures!

i highly recommend going with the first look pictures. we’re doing it for our wedding because we don’t want a cocktail hour, and i’d love to get pictures beforehand for time, so geoff and i can talk about the dress, and so i can concentrate on actually walking down the aisle (which is stairs!) instead of trying to see what geoff’s expression is. :) if you don’t trust me about first look pictures yet, just look at how adorable kelsey and adam’s are! he was sooo nervous to see her, which made it even more adorable.

first look

he has such a sweet expression on his face. :) such a lovely set of pictures!

first look first look pictures

then we got all of THIS out of the way before the ceremony! it was an easy, low-stress day. love it. the bridesmaids wore sangria colored dresses with the groomsmen in matching ties.

bridal party in sangria bridesmaids in sangria dresses groomsmen with sunglasses

kelsey’s bro walked her down the aisle and into the sunny ceremony. it was bright! it made the pictures look very fall-esque though and i’m digging them. :)

southern pines wedding ceremony

southern wines wedding photographer

southern pines wedding ceremony

two-sided first kiss! thanks to geoff for getting the one on the left. :)

first kiss

i’m in love with this ring shot. i’m in love with her ring!

claddagh wedding ring

wedding portraits

raleigh wedding photographer

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southern pines bride

southern pines wedding

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emma grace making her tiny debut for the second time on the CSP blog. :)

baby wedding dress

autumn wedding

they had an intimate reception back at kelsey’s mom’s house which was very relaxed and fun. a nice break for my back and feet from a crowded dance floor! sometimes it’s good to switch things up a bit. :)

north carolina wedding photographer blog

wedding dog

outdoor wedding reception

outdoor wedding reception

thank you, kelsey and adam, for entrusting me with your pictures, which i know are very important to you. you have been amazing to work with all this time and i look forward to seeing you in raleigh soon! :) congratulations!!

meet a super sweet and adorable family whose october wedding you can expect to see in a little over a month! :) kelsey and adam are not only getting ready to tie the knot, they also just welcomed their newborn baby emma into the world not too long ago. when we discussed doing an engagement session, we decided we would wait until emma was born and settled in before we took some newborn/family/engagement pictures. i had been following emma’s growing-up progress via kelsey’s facebook pictures to the point where i already felt like i knew her when i met her, but she’s so much more beautiful in person than in a photograph! what a cutie. :) and oh yeah, kelsey and adam are super cute too! we had such a great time. can’t wait for their wedding next month!

raleigh engagement raleigh family photographer raleigh newborn photographer

yeeeep. puttin’ babies in suitcases. this is what i do for a living, folks. paying the bills via babies in suitcases.

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goooorgeous light and a goooorgeous couple. this was her mom’s backyard where i should totally set up a small studio and pay a monthly fee to mom in order to shoot because the light is just so stellar.

north carolina engagement photographer engagement photography

WHEELBARROW SHOT! check and mark off the photographic bucket list. :)

carolyn scott photography rural engagement photographs raleigh engagement pictures

YAY! can’t wait to see you two next month!