Amanda+Joe // Wake Forest Family Session Part 2

Remember Amanda, Joe, Michael, Lucien, and Aria from this summer? Amanda was pregnant then, and the boys were so excited. They didn’t know if they’d have a new sister or brother, but they were cool with either, and just so excited to help their mom and dad. Amanda and Joe planned a home birth, and Michael was to announce the sex of the baby. But, as it often does, life got a little bit in the way: a bad house flood caused by a hot water tank that happened while they were on vacation put a damper on things, causing the family to have to live elsewhere during home repairs while 36-40 weeks pregnant. However, a family friend quickly and successfully fixed their home good as new (including beautiful new hardwood floors!) and Fiona, their new baby girl, was born on September 15th successfully at home on the morning of Hurricane Florence. Michael was indeed able to announce to everyone that they had a new little sister, and now another girl joins the ranks of the household, evening up the numbers to 3 girls and 3 boys (yes, of course I am counting Aria the Husky as a member of the family). So happy for all of them! It was so fun to document them again. They’re such a tight knit group, and the boys are obsessed with their little sister! We had a great time taking some updated shots around the house (Amanda was especially interested in documenting the family dynamics pre and post new baby), and then walking along the beautiful greenway near their home where Amanda, a super talented photographer herself, often likes to shoot. Such a great time working with this fabulous family again!

Jen+Jon // Wakefield Barn Wedding

Remember these three pretty faces from their engagement session earlier this year? I say three because one of those pretty faces is a very shaggy/furry pretty face and that is the face of Sam the Dog. But, she is 100% a member of this family and is always included so I don’t want to leave her out here. Sam was a groomspup and, while she historically does not like very many people, she did cuddle with Geoff on the ride over to the ceremony in the backseat of the car, and she did lick my hand exactly once on the wedding day, so I’d call it a win. This was a huge improvement over literally jumping away from me if I tried to pet her in the past (which I frequently did because I forget she doesn’t like me and she’s so cute). ANYWAY – Sam was there, and adorable as usual, and wearing a little floral collar. Jen and Jon were also there, also being adorable, and wearing a pretty dress and bee socks respectively. Jen let me wear her stole on top of my puffy vest while I took photos of them and I looked very high fashion as they can attest.

These guys are so sweet and nice and smiley and funny and we love them both. They really like Game of Thrones and lifting heavy things and October (me too! except lifting heavy things). Jen is also Celiac, so we enjoy talking about things we can and cannot eat. They like deep frying gluten free stuff, and there was a moment of the wedding night where we cornered Jon and discussed deep fryer options. They had a gluten free cake (!!!) and gluten free pizza (!!!) and three of the world’s cutest flower girls. The best man also created a brilliant speech where he asked the guys getting ready for random words to include, just for kicks, to see if he could seamlessly integrate them. He asked Geoff, who asked him how hard he wanted the word to be (he was told very hard) before suggesting polypropylene, which, I have to say, was seamlessly integrated (I wouldn’t have thought it could be done). We had a great time meeting all their family and friends (who are just as nice as they are, surprise!) and can’t wait to discuss GoT’s series finale with them in the future.

Date: November 17, 2018
Ceremony + Reception Venue: The Historic Wakefield Barn // Wake Forest, NC
First Dance Song: “Beautiful Crazy” – Luke Combs
Jon’s Occupation: Financial Analyst for Cisco and Personal Trainer
Jen’s Occupation: Speech Therapist
How You Met: We met on the dating app Bumble
Interesting Fact: We cruise town playing Pokemon way too often.
Honeymoon: The Bahamas!
Officiant: Pastor Jason Butler
Band – Whiskey Rebellion
Florist: Expressions of Love
Cake: Sweet Traditions
Caterer: Il Muliano
Hair/Makeup: Teighla Norris
Coordinator: Daniel Varela of Chad Biggs Planning

Jo+Brad+Laurel+Sam+Frank // A Raleigh Family Session

Ya’ll know these guys so they don’t really need any introduction, but we will say that meet a lot of people on this job, but Jo, Brad, Laurel, and Sam are some of our favorites. They’ve kept in touch with us and invite us to their lake house and cook us dinner and let us play with their french bulldog and send us text messages when Carrie Fisher dies. We love them, and they are near and dear to our hearts. We photographed them last year with Frank, their newly adopted French Bulldog who has become, perhaps, the most babied and spoiled of the family and is possibly the favorite child (I know Laurel and Sam won’t be offended by this statement but will likely agree with me, so I feel like it’s fine to put that out there). They LOVE him, and how could you not, given that face!? And lucky for Frank, he was adopted into a family who took their adoption of him seriously, and so they are doing everything they can to get Frank back on a path to health and wellness after some pretty devastating news. Frank was diagnosed with Granulomatous Meningoencephalitis. Essentially, it’s an autoimmune disease brought on by a bad reaction to a vaccination. He’s had seizures and pneumonia, as well as other significant reactions to the disease and the drugs used to treat it. Currently, he is doing quite well on chemo and is a very strong, brave little pup. He is on the upswing and his family is taking great care of him in conjuncture with the NC State Veterinary Hospital Neurology Team.

So this year – we did their family pictures at the arboretum, but Frank was recovering at this current juncture from a recent hospital stay, so he was only able to join us for half of the pictures. He has since made significant strides and we are so happy for him! He is still sporting his veterinary hospital haircut in these pictures but also sporting a cool French t-shirt to represent his heritage. We’re so glad that Frank has this wonderful family in his life, and WE’RE so happy to have this wonderful family in OUR lives. Sam and Laurel remain two of our most favorite children, and they just keep getting funnier and more amazing as they get older. Probably because they have some pretty great parents whom we adore. Happy to photograph this family once again!