Margaret and Bryan are singlehandedly responsible for nearly destroying our marriage by getting us hooked on the video game Overcooked. We first learned about this during their engagement session in Winston-Salem where Margaret described it as a video game in which “You’re a bunch of adorable characters working in a restaurant to fill orders really fast, but the restaurant is also haunted.” Immediately intrigued by this definition, we went home and downloaded it. And it is exactly as Margaret described:

I’m a little red fox wearing a chef’s hat. Geoff’s a guy who has a box for a head wearing a chef’s hat. We’re trying to make hamburgers, but we’re on different sides of a restaurant located in lava. He has the plates. I have the lettuce. I need to get the lettuce to him, but it needs to be placed on a rotating small rock in the lava. When it finally gets to Geoff, he falls in the lava, and we need to start over. Eventually Geoff falls in the lava so much that we lose entirely. Or – I’m a little raccoon wearing a chef’s hat, and Geoff’s a little black fox wearing a chef’s hat. We’re trying to make soup in a land full of ice. He has the onions, I have the tomatoes, and the kitchen is always catching on fire (nobody knows where the fire extinguisher is, or we dropped it in the lake). He sends the onions over to me, and I fall in the icy water and die. Eventually I fall in the icy water so often that we lose entirely.

Basically – this video game is impossible, but you’re always blaming your loss on your spouse’s inability to navigate either lava or ice, or the fact that they can’t chop vegetables fast enough. Of course YOU’RE chopping fast enough and YOU never accidentally send a plated order down the garbage disposal. There’s a lot of yelling. It’s like assembling Ikea furniture, but worse, and there’s no shelf when you’re done – just resentment.

We don’t resent Margaret and Bryan, though. In fact, we LOVE Overcooked, and actually beat the entire game, and are somehow still married (don’t hold your breath though, we still have bonus levels to complete and the holiday edition). And we’re grateful for Margaret and Bryan for introducing us to a game that we didn’t know we needed in order to hone our hamburger making skills. And it’s a testament to their own marriage that they, too, have played Overcooked and LOOK – they still got married! They must have good communication and the ability to make a mean pepperoni pizza peacefully together, and that’s what love is all about. They had a beautiful wedding with a stormtrooper ring bearer and a giant movie book for a guest book that I signed on the Temple of Doom page because that’s what Geoff would’ve wanted (he’s not dead – he was just across the room when I signed it). We’re so glad we got to work with these guys, and we will never forget them every time we yell at each other about vegetables.

Also, shout out to anyone who recognizes this ceremony’s fabulous cello player from a past wedding of ours! :D


Date: May 27, 2018
Ceremony + Reception Venue: Brier Creek Country Club // Raleigh, NC
First Dance Song: “I Love You” – Alex Clare
Margaret’s Occupation: Teacher
Bryan’s Occupation: Doctor
How You Met: OK Cupid
Interesting Fact: Love pugs
Honeymoon: Cartagena, Colombia
Officiant: Reverend Pam Carey
DJ: Jeff Simpson
Florist: The English Garden
Cake: Raleigh Cake Pops
Caterer: Brier Creek Country Club
Hair/Makeup: Brenda Van Benschoten
Coordinator: Shawn Shindler
Photo Booth: Shutter Booth
Ceremony Musicians: Elegant Ensembles

Class of 2017.

Phew. Many of you know that this was a crap year for us. We had a significant death in the family, a laundry closet that was flooded, two cats in the emergency hospital, a computer that died, and a small kitchen fire that Carolyn valiantly extinguished… saving the lives of everyone in attendance. We blame 100% of the bad things that happened to us on a small wooden tiki carving we discovered under the dryer in said pre-flooded laundry closet, but that’s neither here nor there. Anyway, it sucked. We were hit with one thing after the other. But you know what didn’t suck? Our 2017 professional year. It ruled. Every single one of our clients was sane, kind, welcoming, pleasant, and fabulous in every way. We got hugs and thank you letters and toys for our cats and invitations to drinks and gatherings and copies of Hocus Pocus on DVD. You all took immense care of us this year when we needed it most, and we can’t thank you enough. You all were a very special class indeed, and we’re glad to see you graduate ::sheds tear::. I’m not sure where you’re graduating to… but… come back and visit us, please. We love each and every one of you. Thanks for making a bad year have tremendously good moments.

The year end “Class Of” posts date back to 2011.

2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011

Lucy and Kevin booked us without first meeting us as they are living in New York City and have very busy schedules, and we were down here with very busy schedules, and we kept trying to make meeting work but it just didn’t. Then we were up in Manhattan for an engagement session and so we met up with Lucy and Kevin over burgers at a super tasty place somewhere in the city where peanut butter milkshakes were had both by Lucy and myself and everything was great. They showed us pictures of their cat, as well as pictures of their cat sitter who is about to have a podcast about cats. We showed them pictures of our cats. We briefly discussed a preliminary timeline for their wedding and then went right back to talking about our cats. I started following Lucy on Twitter and Instagram, where now I can see regular updates on her cat.

When I got to Lucy’s parents’ house while Lucy was getting ready, I said, “How is your cat? How is the guy who is taking care of your cat?” and Lucy promptly pulled out her phone to show me a picture of her cat cuddled up with her beloved cat sitter. Then other bridesmaids starting showing me photos of their cats too. One showed us a picture of her dog but it was a really cute fluffy dog that had cat-like ears so it’s okay. So what you’re about to see below is less about Lucy and Kevin getting married so much as it is about their cat Masha gaining two official parents. We’ve reached out to Masha’s representatives and we’re awaiting a comment on how she feels, but our guess is pretty thrilled, but that she’d also like fed.

In a rare move where I’m about to say things that don’t involve this couple’s cat, I’d like to announce that Lucy and Kevin are a wonderful couple, talented musicians (Kevin plays trumpet and Lucy plays violin and we’re talking like official music school musicians of music musicology and all that music stuff), and we loved working with them both. Lucy is wonderful and Kevin is the Best Kevin and it was a joy photographing them looking really serious in front of a painting of a giant button.


– Date: November 4, 2017
– Ceremony + Reception Venue: NCMA (North Carolina Museum of Art) // Raleigh, NC
– First Dance Song: “Mango Tree” – Zac Brown Band
– Lucy’s Occupation: PhD student in Historical Musicology
– Kevin’s Occupation: Software Product Manager
– How You Met: At a party for admitted Vanderbilt students before the start of our freshman year of college back in 2008.
– Interesting Fact: We have a tabby cat named Masha and our most longstanding argument concerns yellow vs. dijon mustard (ed. note: obviously dijon is superior (nope))
– Honeymoon: Somewhere warm TBD!
– Vendor Credits: Officiant – Katherine Burson (Kevin’s aunt). DJ – Mitch Woodard of Joe Bunn DJ Company. Florist – The Watered Garden. Cake – Cinda’s Creative Cakes. Caterer – Iris Cafe. Hair – Katelyn McGinn. Makeup – The bride. Coordinator – Morgan Greer with the NCMA. Ceremony Music – Jonathan Kramer on cello (he played at Lucy’s parents’ wedding almost 30 years ago!)