Category: Couples

Amanda+Derek in Downtown Raleigh

It has been  while since we’ve shot an engagement session in downtown Raleigh, and we were excited to return to our roots this spring with Amanda and Derek! We were lucky enough to meet them last fall and book them for their wedding this upcoming September and are having a blast getting to know them in between. :) They met at UNC several years ago but only started dating as they were both moving out. ;) Then they lived in separate places for a while until they both settled down together in Raleigh (hence the photos downtown) where they watch a lot of Breaking Bad and Mad Men. They’ve considered getting a dog, but have determined that it’s a little much right now, so we’re working on convincing them to get cats.

Derek also works on a fantastic poster print company he’s founded called Blue is the Land. It started out with him making posters for their house of places that they’ve lived (Amanda’s from Winston-Salem and Derek’s from Schenectady, NY, but they lived together in Chapel Hill and Raleigh after that) and also places they’ve traveled (they go to NYC frequently and were engaged there). Since then, it’s grown quite a bit and now features all sorts of cities! You can even request them. :) They’re super well designed and feature a bunch of the neighborhoods in the cities in a nifty way that we hadn’t seen before but are also pretty sleek and modern at the same time (I swear I don’t work for his company, I just like his design work). You should check it out! Maybe after you view these pictures of him and Amanda being very cute.  May I present to you: the face, the image, the spirit of… Derelicte!

Erin+Nick // Married in Raleigh.

This is the second time this month that we’ve have a portrait session in wedding garb! We love doing shoots like this, so we were excited when Erin contacted us. She and Nick were married in October, but wanted to have some more wedding pictures in their much loved city of Raleigh before taking the plunge and moving to their new city of Durham (which we’ve promised them they’ll love just as much!), and, more importantly, they wanted photos in their wedding outfits with their beloved dog Beaux.

You guys, just take a look at Beaux. He joined us in the second half of the session at a park near their house and I almost died from the cuteness. I think everyone else almost died from exhaustion after hearing me say, “It’s Beaux time!” over and over again as an ode to the Bojangle’s commercials and this adorable Corgi in front of me (sorry guys). He wore a bow tie and ran surprisingly fast for being so low to the ground. And while I can’t say he enjoyed having his picture taken, he did tolerate it once he quickly learned that it will get him bacon treats.

Now, I don’t want to make this session with these two lovely people entirely about Beaux (even though I kind of do because he’s so cute). But Erin and Nick are adorable too! Erin wore her lovely lace wedding dress and Nick wore his grandfather’s tux from the 1930s which is in amazingly immaculate condition. Nick is really into plants (he’s a landscape architect) and specifically urban foliage so we had a good time watching him geek out over plants growing beside some pipes and bricks in the Warehouse District. We can’t wait for these guys to explore the urban foliage and awesomeness that is Durham when they move! And you guys… we are so excited for Beaux to live in Durham too.

Lauren+Justin // Married.

Lauren and Justin were married in March in a small courthouse ceremony in Asheville. :) They thankfully contacted us to take their wedding portraits in Saxapahaw as they’re frequent visitors of the Haw River Ballroom and often walk along the river trails. We said YES! (because Saxapahaw rules, because they listed the Neverending Story as their favorite movie, and because they have two cats and sounded really nice). It turns out that all of those things are true! They are indeed very nice and Saxapahaw is still awesome and so is the Neverending Story (of course). They also weirdly enough live in the same neighborhood as us!

Anyway – we had an awesome time getting to know these guys. They love music and hiking and generally hanging out being awesome (Lauren does graphic design and Justin purchase ordering). Bonus points: Justin is the first person I’ve ever met besides myself that owns Songs in the Key of X: Music from and inspired by the X-Files (hah!). I’m thankful to know that I don’t own the only copy and that I’m only kind of nuts. ;) Please join us in wishing these two a very heartfelt congratulations on their marriage!