This is the second time this month that we’ve have a portrait session in wedding garb! We love doing shoots like this, so we were excited when Erin contacted us. She and Nick were married in October, but wanted to have some more wedding pictures in their much loved city of Raleigh before taking the plunge and moving to their new city of Durham (which we’ve promised them they’ll love just as much!), and, more importantly, they wanted photos in their wedding outfits with their beloved dog Beaux.

You guys, just take a look at Beaux. He joined us in the second half of the session at a park near their house and I almost died from the cuteness. I think everyone else almost died from exhaustion after hearing me say, “It’s Beaux time!” over and over again as an ode to the Bojangle’s commercials and this adorable Corgi in front of me (sorry guys). He wore a bow tie and ran surprisingly fast for being so low to the ground. And while I can’t say he enjoyed having his picture taken, he did tolerate it once he quickly learned that it will get him bacon treats.

Now, I don’t want to make this session with these two lovely people entirely about Beaux (even though I kind of do because he’s so cute). But Erin and Nick are adorable too! Erin wore her lovely lace wedding dress and Nick wore his grandfather’s tux from the 1930s which is in amazingly immaculate condition. Nick is really into plants (he’s a landscape architect) and specifically urban foliage so we had a good time watching him geek out over plants growing beside some pipes and bricks in the Warehouse District. We can’t wait for these guys to explore the urban foliage and awesomeness that is Durham when they move! And you guys… we are so excited for Beaux to live in Durham too.

We tend to be shooting in Raleigh a lot because that’s where most of our clients hail from, so we love, love, love to get the chance to photograph sessions in Durham! It’s a little weird. And a little edgy. And it’s our home, and we love it. So we were happy to get an inquiry from Ashley and Josh who wanted to come explore the Dirty D with us. :)

These two are getting married in Indiana next year (they’re both from there and have known each other since elementary school). Work brought them both down here and they’re lucky enough to work for the same company doing science things (yay for carpooling!). They have cats with science names (Andromeda and Io) and both really love Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, and other super sciencey science things. Needless to say, we liked them a whole lot even if Carolyn had a hard time understanding their actual occupations (Carolyn, while extremely competent in choir, English, drama, and mock trial… is decidedly bad at science, math, and anything involving numbers, equations, measurements or, in reality, anything that’s useful). We wish Ashley and Josh the best time ever getting married up north in 2014!

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)