Elizabeth+Catherine // A Cotton Room Wedding

Winter weddings are always so lovely and this one was no exception. Elizabeth and Catherine, whom you may remember from their engagement session last spring, were married during a late morning ceremony at The Cotton Room in Durham in December. Their old rugby coach officiated, and they were surrounded by family, friends, and just a little bit of snow. :) It’s pretty rare to snow around here, and even more rare to snow during the day (for some reason our snow frequently comes in at night). Oftentimes the snow is actually ice. This snow consisted of large, puffy, beautiful flakes that added a bit of magic to the day, even though the snow didn’t stick. It nicely complemented the gorgeous winter decor of lit trees and candles and it all felt very warm and fuzzy.

Elizabeth and Catherine did a first look that they were so excited for after keeping everything about their outfits secret from each other for months. They also gave out adorable T-Rex and Narwhal printed glasses as their wedding favors that I’ve been drinking from ever since (I wash it in between drinks, don’t worry). The placecards were little pieces of round wood that Elizabeth engraved by hand, and everywhere you turned there were adorable pictures of them as children (these are my favorite things to look at during weddings). They had a lovely wedding and have a lovely marriage, and we couldn’t be more excited to see these two wonderful people get married. Congrats, Elizabeth and Catherine! We couldn’t have ended our 2017 season on a better note.

– Date: December 9, 2017
– Ceremony + Reception Venue: The Cotton Room // Durham, NC
– First Dance Song: “Ho Hey” – The Lumineers
– Catherine’s Occupation: Community Organizing (State Director)
– Elizabeth’s Occupation: IT Audit (Manager IT Audit, Data Governance)
– How You Met: Rugby!
– Interesting Fact: We have Broadway season tickets at DPAC as Catherine is an avid Broadway fan. E does crossfit and talks about it incessantly. Catherine likes to take long silent bike rides alone while listening to podcasts about TV. We are also huge wine fans and are taking a wine tour in Spain!
– Honeymoon: Spain
– Vendor Credits: Officiant – Sarah Deane // DJ – Ali Kaba // Florist – Petal & Oak // Cake – Cinda’s Creative Cakes // Caterer – The Cotton Room // Hair+Makeup – Evanna Coe & Jennifer Panther // Coordinator – Ari Ball

Stephanie+Tim // Wedding at The Rickhouse

Stephanie and Tim love pizza, Stranger Things, and each other. You may remember them from their engagement session at 21C Museum Hotel that ended with them eating pizza at Pie Pushers. We spent most of that engagement session discussing *spoiler alert* Barb’s untimely end in season one of Stranger Things and how justice might eventually be served… served just like their pizza. And although the jury on justice for Barb is still kinda out, the jury on Stephanie and Tim’s wedding where they also were served pizza again is IN and the jury says “EXCELLENT.” We got special permission from The Durham to shoot on the rooftop as Stephanie and Tim were guests there that evening and the light was purrrdy. Then NC Comic-Con was taking place and lots of fabulous characters graced us with their presence as we did photos downtown. And finally Stephanie and Tim were married in a beautiful indoor ceremony at The Rickhouse, which culminated with pizza and ice cream, which is the married dinner of champions.

So while things didn’t work out so well for Barb, they did work out excellently for Stephanie and Tim, and we were so happy to be a part of their day. They are fun and hilarious and easy-going, and they have an amazing group of friends (shout-out to a phenomenally cooperative and stylish wedding party). Also, be on the look out for their cake topper which is one of the best we’ve ever seen. Thank you from the bottom of our upside-down hearts for having us as your wedding photographers, guys. THE PIZZA WAS TASTY AND YOU GUYS ARE SWELL.

– Date: November 11, 2017
– Ceremony + Reception Venue: The Rickhouse // Durham, NC
– First Dance Song: “We Found Each Other in the Dark” – City and Colour
– Stephanie’s Occupation: Project Analyst
– Tim’s Occupation: Supply Chain Coordinator
– How You Met: We swiped right.
– Interesting Fact: Besides being the least interesting people in the world, we are “professional” softball players for local amateur softball leagues.
– Honeymoon: Cruise to the Caribbean
– Vendor Credits: Officiant – Rebekah Perno // DJ – Barry of Be Digital Entertainment // Florist – Brandi’s Botanicals // Cake – Kristen Sherman // Caterer – Happy Cardinal Catering // Hair – Lane Clements // Make-Up – Lauren Tedino // Coordinator – Amanda Buchanan of Simple Day // Lighting – Vivid Lighting // Ice Cream – The Parlour // Calligrapher – Marika Wendelken

Lauren+Kris // Duke Forest Wedding.

Lauren and Kris had all the necessary things for a delightful wedding: donuts, a jazz band, an ice cream truck, a crazy little biodiesel bus, and a phone full of pictures of their cat Calvin using Snapchat wearing a fedora and a fake mustache. They were married by a friend in a little intimate spot of grass in the middle of Duke Forest surrounded by trees and fabulous early fall light. Then we all went on to the reception at The Cookery that was adorned with little golden dinosaurs sporting air plants that were standing guard over bottles of liquor holding wildflowers. I really wanted to steal all of them and start a tiny gold dinosaur plant army but I couldn’t do that because Lauren and Kris are so nice and I feel like it’s probably good luck for your marriage if you start out with your own golden dinosaur plant army and I didn’t want to rob them of that.

Did we mention the ice cream truck? We did, but we’re going to talk about it again right now because ice cream. At one point Lauren held a glass of wine in one hand and an ice cream cone in the other and looked so ridiculously thrilled with the whole thing and I thought yes, this is what happiness looks like. Everyone loves The Parlour and we do too, especially when they arrive in a pink and white truck, and I had two scoops of the Vietnamese Coffee because it’s my favorite, even though I don’t like coffee at all. And we ate our ice cream as the fabulous Mint Julep Jazz Band played on into the night and everyone had the best time talking and socializing. Thank you for having a delightful and charming wedding, Lauren and Kris, and we hope you’re up in DC starting that tiny golden dinosaur plant army with your cat Calvin.

  • Date: September 23, 2016
  • Ceremony Venue: Duke Forest // Durham, NC
  • Reception Venue: The Cookery // Durham, NC
  • Lauren’s Occupation: Economist for the federal government in DC
  • Kris’s Occupation: Energy analyst
  • How You Met: Graduate school classmates at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment.
  • Interesting Fact: Although they love Durham almost as much as they love each other, the only actual NC native in their family is their okra-loving cat, Calvin (from APS of Durham).
  • Honeymoon: Not sure yet! The front runners are Croatia and Laos.
  • Vendor Credits: Officiant – Zarak Khan. Band – Mint Julep Jazz Band. Florist – Pine State Flowers. Ice Cream – The Parlour Ice Cream Truck. Caterer – Durham Catering Company. Hair/Makeup – Carla White. Coordinator – Gretchen Garrett of Red Bird Events. Ceremony Music – Jordan Nance. Transporation – Greenway Transit. Donuts – Monuts.