Emily+Dan // Wedding at Leslie-Alford-Mims House

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.

Ashleigh+Rob // A Baltimore, MD Wedding

Ashleigh and Rob are every bit as wonderful and friendly and amazing as you’d think from looking at them. Everyone loves them, and so do we. Rob gave us the biggest bear hug when we met him in person for the first time the night before the wedding, even though I believe I immediately stuck my hand in one of his groomsmen’s plate of crab dip. And while on the dance floor the next day, some random girl I didn’t know said to me, “Look at Ashleigh. Isn’t she wonderful?! She is so genuine!” and I agreed wholeheartedly because YES SHE SERIOUSLY IS. They are so huggy! And smiley! And joyful and fun and everything good. We are quite happy to have worked with them, and excited to be back in Baltimore!

This was our most educational Baltimore experience. We’ve been there before visiting friends or seeing concerts, but this time we saw a lot of historical stuff too. There was a free ghost tour being offered in Fells Point and we took it because who in their right mind turns down a free ghost tour? And we learned a lot about the city! Also – did you know (unrelated to ghosts and probably the least important fact about Baltimore ever but one that I find the most amusing) that they have some sort of adorable trash machine that lives in their river, sorts garbage out via conveyor belt, and then a tug boat comes and removes the river dumpster full of trash? And that this contraption has large googley eyes and his name is Mr. Trash Wheel?! Look at him, he’s adorable.

So – we met some incredible people and saw an incredible trash wheel and stayed in an incredible city. Everyone here was SO NICE and we were treated like family. And the weather cooperated (yay!) and Ashleigh wore flat shoes and ran like a champion and look at her smile I love herrrr. And Rob is so nice and wonderful and lost his tie clip like 4 times but found it every time! We love you guys and have warm, fuzzy feelings toward Baltimore.

• Date: May 20, 2017
• Ceremony Venue: St. Casimir Church // Baltimore, MD
• Reception Venue: Richardson Farms // Hydes, MD
• First Dance Song: “First Day of My Life” – Bright Eyes
• Ashleigh’s Occupation: Nurse/Student
• Rob’s Occupation: Accountant
• How You Met: We met through mutual friends while at a bar. Ashleigh loved Rob’s jokes & Rob loved that Ashleigh actually laughed at them all.
• Interesting Fact: We decided that 2017 was a good year to get married, buy a house, & go back to grad school. Yay adulting! :)
• Honeymoon: Amalfi Coast, Italy
• Vendor Credits: Officiant – Father Dennis Grumsey. Band – Sly 45. Florist – Holly Frisch. Cake – Lauren Lotz of Lotz of Sweets. Caterer – Richardson Farms. Hair – Brushing Bride. Makeup – Fleurt Beauty Company. Videographer – Brett Bye Videography. Coordinator – Robyn Burke.

Bailey+Baxter // A Pet Session.

Bailey and Baxter are two delightful and adorable senior pups that we had the pleasure of photographing alongside their humans Shannon and Jason. Bailey is 15 years young (!) and is like a miniature German Shepherd fuzzy mutt dog who acts more like a cat. They adopted her back when they first moved in together after finding her in a drain. She is a shy, sweet dog who adores her humans and canine companion Baxter. Baxter is a 10 years young (!) Jack Russell Terrier who is very active in his retirement. He enjoys barking at other dogs (in a friendly way) and smelling things and get very excited, after which he generally collapses on a blanket. They are truly wonderful dogs, and Shannon and Jason love them very much. Our job was to capture everyone’s relationship at this point in their little senior doggy lives, and we had a great time doing so. We also loved getting to know Shannon and Jason! They’ve been married for nearly 13 years and love traveling and cooking vegan. After we shot this session they left for the Bahamas but didn’t invite us to come along, and we’re still in the process of forgiving them. They are also the only people we’ve ever met who had the opportunity to see SNL live, and we’re now also trying to forgive them for that too. They get to do all the cool things! But we get to photograph them… and we know that’s pretty cool too. :) So happy to have worked with these guys and their pups!