Kate+Parag // Indian-Fusion Wedding at The Rickhouse

Kate and Parag have never met a curry they didn’t like. And it’s a good thing too as their wedding ceremony food was some of the best we’ve ever eaten. They had an American buffet with barbecue! They had an Indian buffet with curry and some other stuff I couldn’t pronounce but was absolutely delicious! They had cake! They had puddings! They had a sundae bar! They had a tater tot bar! This is the first wedding (and potentially only wedding in the foreseeable future) where we literally left so full that we did not eat nachos when we got home. That’s right. No nachos. I don’t know how to explain to all of you the significance of that, only to say that we’ve shot at least 200-some weddings at this point, and we eat nachos after ever single one. So their food was good. SO good.

And Kate and Parag are also SO GOOD. They are perfect for each other and make each other laugh often. Kate has a wonderful set of perfect teeth so it’s good that Parag keeps her laughing so we can admire them. This was their second wedding to each other. Their first was a traditional Hindu ceremony, and this was their American and Indian fusion wedding. Kate sent me the pictures from their first one which were amazing, and Kate wore a really incredible nose ring that was so large it defied the laws of gravity. Their Indian-fusion wedding was lacking in the nose ring department, but it made up for it with amazing henna designs in the shape of little elephants and brilliant colors sprinkled all over their ceremony and reception. There were traditional Indian dances and American popcorn next to the Durham Bull’s old baseball field. The little kids dismantled their incredible floral altar during the reception and threw repeatedly threw the flowers down Parag’s suit jacket, and they danced away the night with their fabulous family and friends. We are thrilled to have been part of Kate and Parag’s awesome fusion wedding, and so glad they came down from DC to celebrate in Durham!

– Date: September 30, 2017
– Ceremony + Reception Venue: The Rickhouse // Durham, NC
– First Dance Song: “There She Goes” – The La’s
– Kate’s Occupation: Graduate Program Coordinator at George Washington University
– Parag’s Occupation: Director of Pharmacokinetics at the National Institutes of Health
– How You Met: Online! Back when OkCupid was a thing.
– Interesting Fact: This is our second wedding! We had a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony this past June – Kate wore an enormous clip-on hoop nose ring. Parag wore Aladdin shoes. It was baller.
– Honeymoon: India and Thailand
– Vendor Credits: Officiant – Rev. Sue Hudson. DJ – Alex from Vox DJ Company. Florist – Tre Bella Florist. Cake – Edible Art Bakery. Caterer – Southern Harvest Catering Company and Raaga. Hair/Makeup – Bella Trio Studio. Videographer – Elegant Imagez. Coordinator – Kelli from The Perfect Plan. Lighting – Get Lit. Photobooth – ZimZoom.

Promo // Genesis // Actress Headshots

Promo sessions are funnnn and they get even more fun when they’re for an aspiring actress who is just starting her career and whose name is Genesis. I won’t even give her last name here because I’m in the habit of not last-naming people on my blog but rest assured that her entire name makes her sound like some sort of incredibly badass superhero. She mentioned that it would be a shame for her to go through life with her badass name and not become an actress, and I agree, because she’s gotta put this awesome name to use. She told me people frequently think of her name as possibly being religious, and I disclosed that the first thing I thought of is Phil Collins. So I’m not sure what that says about me, but I do love Phil Collins.

Anyway, her initial e-mail came with instructions that we “assist as visual liaison to subject, so she can go on auditions. This subject is “no fuss” and will comply with your direction. She will be equipped in black as per usual and will have been fed.” People that have been fed are my favorite. So Genesis won us over quite fully and immediately. Then we found her Twitter account and discovered her intense love of Halloween is one that rivals our own, as well as her love for cats, and use of Gifs. We like her a lot. We agreed to her photoshoot on the condition that should she become famous, she needs to thank us in every speech, as well as credit us repeatedly and obnoxiously on IMDB. She’s agreed to our terms, so now it’s time for her to GO FORTH and use these photos and get famous. She is aspiring to a Sigourney Weaver-type, alien-ass-kicking, trench coat-wearing, Sci-fi babe and I think she already is one. Also hey Genesis if you do meet Phil Collins if he needs headshots for anything just give him our card, ok?

Cat+Mitchell+Cameron // Lifestyle Family Photos in Greensboro

It’s our pleasure to welcome the always wonderful Cat+Mitchell into the CSP 4-Timers Club, and their son Cameron into the 2-Timers Club! Somehow Cameron has gone from infant-wearing-headphones to toddler-wearing-headphones practically overnight, and in that span of time Cat and Mitchell have really upped their A-game on the glasses front with Mitchell now sporting a mint green and Cat wearing ones with gold glitter. When Cat and Mitchell aren’t being great parents, they’re out being great friends to us. They’ve picked up obscure Coheed records for us on Record Store Day, and bought us tiny little striped toy cats from Ikea, and have always gone above and beyond on the friend front. We love and appreciate them very much, and are so happy to take photos of them and Cameron.

There were many wonderful little family moments during this session: bed jumping, book reading, Cameron texting while operating a feet-motorized vehicle, eating ice cream, finding and identifying every canine within a 10-block radius and shouting “DOOG” in its general direction, and splashing around in the city waterpark. But the best moment (at least for me personally) was Cameron getting onto their bed and seeing a little framed photo we took of Cat and Mitchell at their wedding. And he pointed to it and said, “Momma! Dada!” and took the frame down and held it and pointed to it and looked happy. >> insert sentimental Carolyn monologue here >> I have always operated under the assumption that someday our photos will be passed down to kids or family friends or whoever. Who doesn’t love looking at pictures of their parents on their wedding day? They were younger, more awake, well-dressed in their wedding clothes, and somehow you didn’t exist when the photo was taken. It’s hard to imagine your parents without you, so I think wedding photos always carry with them a sort of strange mystique and awe to kids of all ages everywhere. It is a great feeling knowing that Geoff and I are the ones who took those pictures. We’re enabling the kids to get a glimpse into their parents at a different time of life. I love imagining kids looking at these pictures later, and it was so so so so SO great seeing Cameron do that in front of me. >> ends sentimental Carolyn monologue, wipes away tear. >>

So anyway – we love these three guys and Biscuit the dog and June the cat and are so happy to have them in our lives as friends and clients.