Jessica+RJ+Cats Cats Cats // A Chapel Hill Engagement Session

WE NEED MORE ENGAGEMENT SESSIONS WITH CATS. Do you hear me, internet? Cats. More cats. We are not short on adorable doggos, but we are short on cats. That being said, you have to hire us fully prepared that your engagement session is just going to turn into pictures of your cats. Jessica was prepared for that (cat dress, cat blanket, book on how to talk to your cat about guns). RJ did stop us during the session to say something like, “Wait, aren’t these supposed to be pictures of us?” but I’m pretty sure he was joking due to the cat salt & pepper shakers, Jackson Galaxy books, and polaroids of their cats adorning their walls.

These guys have two cats: Lola, a tortie, who gave us several hisses of love while trying to drag away an entire bag of treats with her teeth up the stairs, and Misha, a black and white tripod cow cat from Russia. Yes, literally from Russia. Jessica and RJ adopted him in the states after he was already a tripod. We have been told he was “in a car accident in Russia” when he lost his leg, which brings up several questions for me. The phrasing wasn’t “hit by a car,” which is what it normally would be, but rather that he was “in a car accident,” which to me implies that he might have been driving. So, my conclusion is that Misha is possibly (probably) a Russian spy. His owners claim he’s not smart enough, but he’s literally the only cat I’ve ever know who can do tricks (sit, shake, turn around). Jessica and RJ claim that this is because RJ works from home and has time to train him, but both Geoff and myself work from home, and our cats are untrained in almost every way. So… before I get all the evidence in, I’ll watch what I say around Misha… just in case. Both cats are adorable.

So now that their cats have been covered, I need to move on the second most interesting fact of this session, which is how Jessica and RJ met, because it’s quite possibly the best meeting story we’ve ever heard in our 10 years of doing this. Jessica needed a wedding date “to show up an ex who was a groomsman, [and] naturally, I posted an ad to Craigslist.” Then, bold soul that Jessica is, she met several people who responded in order to conduct interviews as to who would be the most convincing/best date to show up the ex-boyfriend. RJ claimed in an e-mail that he’s taller than he really is (Jessica had a height requirement), but they met, instantly clicked, and Jessica decided she could overlook his lying about his height. I can’t even make this stuff up you guys. Best. meeting. story. ever. In like, one million ways. And it gets even better, because several people asked RJ how he met Jessica while they were at the wedding, and RJ recounted a very emotional fake story. This worked for a while until one of the other guests said, “Isn’t that a Subaru commercial?” (and it was), and his cover was blown. But guys… clearly this couple was tailor made just for us. We love everything about them. We are so excited to shoot their wedding in DC next year… where I can only hope that one of the guests brings a plus one and then steals another Subaru commercial ad to explain how they met.