Promo // Gilded Bridal.

I am so, so, so thrilled to have done our third promo shoot for the fabulous Gilded Bridal! For those who missed parts one and two, Gilded Bridal is a boutique bridal shop in downtown Raleigh run by our very own former engagement and wedding client Susan Langford! She offers dresses from independent designers, and they’re badass. And I’m not just saying that because I love her. If her shop was around when I was married, my dress would’ve been a whole different ballgame.

Susan cares deeply about her brides and also her awesome staff, so for Gilded’s Staff Appreciation Day, I came in to take headshots of the gorgeous Gilded girls as well as brides going through the process of picking out a gown and accessories. Then they all went to get manicures. It was a good day.

So if you’re in the market for a wedding gown in the Triangle area, check out Gilded Bridal in downtown Raleigh because Susan is awesome and I am so proud of the incredible business owner she’s become! And now we have a ton of women e-mailing us to tell us that they bought their dress from Gilded and it’s our current wedding clients buying wedding things from our former wedding clients and that makes us smile a lot because our clients are THE BEST! And it’s neat to see them come together.

Thanks to the amazing crew who helped us pull together this day! Hair/Makeup by Samantha Ray of Lula Hair + Makeup and Joanne Maye. And thank you to our amazing models and staff: Leah, Amy, Susan, Natalee, Lauren, and Heather! You put the sparkle in Gilded Bridal. :)

The first time we met Emily and Dan, we had a Skype meeting where they held up their tuxedo cat and we held up our tuxedo cat and we were both pretty thrilled at the greatness of our cats having a meeting over the internet (the cats, pictured below, for reasons unknown don’t look as thrilled about it as we do).


But what we didn’t really realize at the time was exactly how much Pax and Buckles look alike, and how we’d come to confuse them on Instagram. Actual conversations with Geoff go like this:

– I show a picture of Pax to Geoff. Geoff looks at picture.
– Geoff, alarmed: When did you take Buckles to someone else’s house?!
– Me: That is Pax, Emily and Dan’s cat, the one that looks just like Buckles.
– Geoff: No, that is Buckles.
– Me:… No, it’s really not.

Annnnnd repeat. Emily and Dan are currently living in Pittsburgh, and someday when we’re up there visiting our families, I am determined to stop by unannounced and swap our cats for a few days and see if they notice (they’ll forget this by the time I actually do it).

But before I do that, I need to back up here and talk about their wedding. It was fabulous! And involved a flower crown that currently holds the title of Supreme Queen of Flower Crowns everywhere and I imagine it will continue to hold that title for quite some time. I was concerned about her ability to move, but that flower crown held fast and strong and did not shed one single petal all day, nor move from its exact spot on her head. It was like a being from another world. I’m not sure what happened after they left the wedding, but I can only imagine that some sort of spell had to be cast to a.) release it from her head and b.) set it free into this world. She asked me how to preserve it, but I imagine now, after observing its powers firsthand, that it’ll just do that itself.

Their wedding was so summery and gardeny and funnnn. There were little tiny cake toppers (one shaped like our cat – thanks, guys!) and wonderful floral elements and a flag representing Pittsburgh (that I think they also did for us – thanks, guys! wow, you thought of us a lot). AND they went to Iceland for their honeymoon and we spent way too much of their final consultation giving them advice on Iceland rather than their wedding (they didn’t need the wedding help anyway). But come to think of it, they didn’t really need the Iceland help either, especially when we saw that they gave each other hiking boots for their wedding gifts. We had an awesome time at their wedding and love how rad our clients have been this year! No pressure, the rest of you. Congratulations, Emily+Dan!

• Date: May 28, 2017
• Ceremony + Reception Venue: Leslie-Alford-Mims House // Holly Springs, NC
• First Dance Song: “Lovin’ You Baby” – Charles Bradley
• Emily’s Occupation: Neuroscience PhD Student at University of Pittsburgh
• Dan’s Occupation: Media & Marketing Manager
• How You Met: High school AP English class
• Interesting Fact about Emily: Name twin will be at the wedding and they were also roommates in college at UGA
• Interesting Fact about Dan: Played the role of “Sk8er Boy” in a independent film in 2004
• Interesting Fact about Emily+Dan: Emily made a Pro’s and Con’s list before she decided to date Dan and Dan’s Mom wanted Dan to date Emily after she saw Emily reading “Catch-22” at the pool.
• Honeymoon: ICELAND!
• Vendor Credits: Officiant – Rev. Patrick Ballard. DJ – Eric Hodgden of All Around Raleigh DJ Company. Florist – The English Garden. Cake – Sugar Euphoria. Caterer – Belle’s Catering. Makeup – Michelle Clark. Hair – Jennifer McDonald. Coordinator – Annie Truesdell of Orangerie Events. Classical Guitarist – Ed Stephenson.

CSP Class of 2016.

As we finally bid this dumpster-fire of a year that is 2016 adieu, we take a moment to happily remember that while things went crashing and burning swiftly after David Bowie died, that not all of the year was bad. We personally had a lot of happy memories working with these happy people that we love and cherish. CSP had a wonderful year thanks to everyone in this post. A huge heartfelt congratulations to all of our clients on their weddings, anniversaries, children, pets, engagements, families, and all milestones large and small that we helped celebrate with you all this year. WE’RE SENDING A BIG HUG TO ALL OF YOU. A big, sweaty, gone-on-too-uncomfortably-long hug. May the odds of 2017 be ever in your favor. Congratulations to the CSP Class of 2016!

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

Class of 2015

Class of 2014

Class of 2013

Class of 2012

Class of 2011