Katy+Mike+Lois // At Home Family Session

Katy and Mike are friends of ours through Kelly+Danny and Beth+David and also through their love of little mousey critters and Halloween. They love Halloween as much as we do, but are better at scary movies, so now they’ve taken us under their wing to introduce us to strange new things. Lois, their daughter, is going to be very well versed in the strange and unusual, but is already quite knowledgeable at how to be freaking adorable. Look at those plaid pants! Also, I think she’s one of maybe 5 toddlers under 2 on the planet with a Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds poster in her play room. Also – a badass Edgar Allen Poe pillow. We think that Lois has a 99.5% chance of turning out to be the coolest kid ever but she also has a 0.5% chance of teenage rebellion that would involve listening to only boy bands and watching a lot of CBS shows. The odds are clearly in her favor to be super cool, but she also ripped up a comic in front of our eyes and seemed pleased while doing so, so we’re unclear on her motives just yet. It is certain, however, that she loves space and space helmets, so if she turned out to watch a lot of CSI we could probably forgive her if she’s an astronaut. In the meantime her parents will continually coach her on how to have really good taste in everything while coaching us on movies we haven’t heard of but will undoubtably love. We’ll take the opportunity to hang out with wonderful people and to slowly but surely steal all of their furniture and decor while they aren’t looking and load it into our hatchback over a long enough period of time that they won’t notice.

Sarah+Jason // Winston-Salem Wedding

We had been looking forward to meeting Sarah and Jason in person for so long! We virtually met them a while back for their wedding where they charmed the pants off of us (figuratively, not literally, although we were Skyping so I may have had on pajamas pants secretly, but they would’ve stayed on because I’m always cold and that would’ve been weird). Anyway, we liked them a lot and were super excited to venture out to Winston-Salem to shoot their wedding. It was the first wedding we’ve experienced in eight years that referenced Mad Max: Fury Road several times in the actual ceremony and where the officiant threatened to spray paint them. It was also our first blue dress (which we LOVED!!) and my first bride who got ready to a playlist of music that included a lot of Andrew W.K. (I don’t know where there’s not more Andrew W.K. in everyone’s life).

Also, take a look at those paper bouquets and boutonnieres and say a little blessing for Sarah’s mom’s hands. She made every one of those flowers, and dedicated an hour or two every night starting in January. They were cut out from paper and comic books in layers, folded, and glued together. She is a saint. Did you see the wonderful bouquet stems that are actually lightsabers? Those were very kindly donated to the wedding cause by some younger kids who took apart their toys so they could be used as bouquets. Later in the evening the adults took apart the flowers, reassembled the light sabers, and went to town.

We had an awesome time working with Sarah and Jason. They are hilarious and fun and Sarah is a GREAT wedding dress spinner and I maaaay have requested that she “spin around real quick until you get sick. Keep going! Still keep going! Keep goinnng” and then Sarah almost did get sick but not quite because she is a spinning champion. Congratulations, friends. May you spin and spin and never get sick.

  • Date: October 15, 2016
  • Ceremony Venue: Grace Court Park // Winston-Salem, NC
  • Reception Venue: Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts // Winston-Salem, NC
  • First Dance Song: “I Gotta Have You” – The Weepies
  • Sarah’s Occupation: Digital Advertising
  • Jason’s Occupation: Concierge/Office Manager/Writer/Jack of all Trades
  • How You Met: We met sophomore year of high school. Our first date was Junior Prom.
  • Interesting Fact: Jason has a podcast with our friend Kelsey called “Ruin My Life.” Everyone should check it out! Sarah is the voice of a doll.
  • Honeymoon: Driving down the Pacific Coast Highway in California.
  • Vendor Credits: Officiant –Brad Canning. Emcee – Daniel Dockery. Paper Flowers – Sarah’s Mom, Debbie. Regular Flowers – House of Plants. Cake – Katy’s Cakery. Caterer – The Porch. Hair/Makeup – Heather Foster of Escape Salon. Coordinator – Micaiah Norby of Orangerie Events.

Katherine+Jon // Raleigh Engagement

Katherine and Jon are pretty stellar and I’m not just saying that because we have a creepy amount in common and I’d like to think Geoff and I are cooler than we actually are. We are super excited to shoot their wedding next summer at the Merrimon-Wynne House and also to run into them at weird, random concerts between now and then. Jon is one of two really, really excited clients named Jon/John Rush fans that we’ve had this year and we always appreciate those with a deep love for Geddy Lee. Katherine and Jon also love Brand New, one of Geoff and I’s favorite bands, that we all saw this summer along with several other clients in a big, Brand New love fest.

In an obvious connection upon seeing either one of us, Katherine and I are both very short and Geoff and Jon are normal-people sized, so it was only logical for both her and I to dress up as Eleven from Stranger Things for Halloween this year (me with a shaved head, Katherine with her blonde hair). Jon went as Dr. Martin Brenner and Geoff went as the Demogorgon. Twinning and winning. Or, you know, at least getting candy.

We followed them around Raleigh for their engagement session, a city that they love very much and where they had their first date, and then continued on to NC State where we took a few more pictures of them and then watched as Jon drove his car to a lake and lovingly gazed at it for a long time (Katherine was there too but it was mostly about the car). We’ll keep you updated as to whether or not the car makes an appearance at the wedding. We’d assume it would be the getaway car, but I feel like there’s a fair chance we could see it take part in the lighting of the unity candle or something.