Category: Weddings

Leila+Colin // Asheville, NC Wedding

Okay before I start this, it’s important to know that Leila’s name is pronounced “LIE-LA.” We literally started writing it that way in e-mails so I could remember, all caps included. I knew someone who had her named spelled Leila once, but pronounced it “Lee-la,” which is what I had been calling Leila in my head for months when I was corrected by Heather at Gilded Bridal, which is where Leila bought her stunner of a dress. Have you ever mispronounced someone’s name before? Something about the correction makes the mispronunciation even worse. It causes me to overthink it. Then “Lee-la” turned into “Lee… no, Lay-la… no no, Lee-la, yeah, Lee-la. NO. Lieeeeee…laa?” I couldn’t get it right. Until I remembered good old Lyla Garrity from Friday Night Lights. No, her name isn’t spelled Leila, but it’s pronounced “LIE-LA” and I freaking love Friday Night Lights so for some reason I was able to remember it this way because #texasforever and #cleareyesfullheartscantlose. I am 100% impressed that I didn’t call Colin “Rigs” once.

Now that we have that settled, Leila was our beloved former clients Carly+Jay’s maid of honor and we were so happy when she asked us to shoot her and Colin’s wedding in Asheville! It was actually in Swannanoa which is a pretty little small town just far enough outside of Asheville to be very woodsy, yet close enough where I could overdose on cinnamon buns at Posana for brunch. Ideal conditions. Hidden River Events is an incredible venue with a ton of wildflowers, horses, and dare I say the best lighting conditions on the planet (well, in the evening of October 14th anyway). It was beautiful. And Leila and Colin aren’t so bad themselves. Leila is of Palestinian descent and she and Colin met in Palestine doing all sorts of wonderful humanitarian goodness for people over there. They continue to do humanitarian goodness for all sorts of people from their homebase in Washington, DC with their dog Mr. B while watching Seinfeld at the same time. They were surrounded at their wedding by other Palestinians and also a lot of Irish. There were lots of good accents.

Leila and Colin were super fun to work with when we weren’t bringing up childhood traumas such as the death of Artax in the Neverending Story (don’t worry kids, I’ve since researched this heavily and the horse did not actually die, but was given to the actor who played Atreyu and died “much much later, living a good life doing horse stuff”). We are so, so happy to have been their wedding photographers and excited to see them and Mr. B again this spring for another portrait session where we don’t have to bring up the Neverending Story again (but we might because remember the rock guy?!). We love you guys! Thank you forever and ever neverending for having us. Isn’t this wedding purdy?

– Date: October 14, 2017
– Ceremony + Reception Venue: Hidden River Events // Swannanoa, NC
– Leila’s Occupation: Public Health
– Colin’s Occupation: PhD
– How You Met: Palestine
– Interesting Fact: I can do a lot of pushups.
– Honeymoon: Maybe Chile.
– Vendor Credits: Officiant – Jeanne Sommer. DJ+Florist+Coordinator – Hidden River Events. Food – Anne’s Custom Catering. Makeup – Jen O’Leary. Hair – Sarah Carpenter.

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.

Kelly+Steven // Wedding at The Sutherland

Our time with Kelly and Steven was way too short and they spent their wedding day talking to WAY too many people that weren’t us (how rude!) so at some point we’re going to have to visit them out in California and force a long-distance friendship upon them because they love zombies and Game of Thrones. I believe that zombies were mentioned several times in speeches and so they are our people. And it’s wonderful that their general nerddom is widely known, accepted, and loved by their family and friends.

We hadn’t met with Kelly or Steven before their wedding, and I believe that booking them went something like this:
1.) Kelly inquires. Carolyn responds.
2.) Another couple inquires for the same date a few hours later. Carolyn responds to both this couple and to Kelly and Steven, letting them know multiple people are looking at the same date.
3.) Kelly frantically calls 0.025 seconds after the e-mail reaches her inbox, leaving a desperate and panicked voicemail for us.
4.) Carolyn calls Kelly back and she swoops up the date.

It’s always really humbling and wonderful when someone really loves your work and wants to book you, but Kelly and Steven were a whole other level and made us feel so welcome!! To evidence my perpetual undervaluing of ourselves, Kelly said, “I’m so glad you’re here!” while she was getting ready, and I believe I looked around the room and said, “Who, me?” after a 10 second pause. It is SO NICE to be appreciated and to work with clients who treat you like family even though you just met! I’m sad that these two live in California, but I’m happy to feel like we now have friends across the country who also like zombies.

Kelly and Steven are two perfect peas in a pod. They’re nerdy, adorable, and have a height difference that Geoff and I can relate to. They love dancing and chose Eric Hodgden to keep their party going, which is always an excellent choice! They also had the BEST TEAM of flower girls and ring bearers. I did not make one single member of this team cry! And for those who follow our work, you’ll know that I’m always making some flower girl or ring bearer visibly miserable. Not these guys. They were hilarious, but also really helpful, and adorable 100% of the time. There was delicious food and sparkly lights in a tree and a BEAUTIFUL bride and handsome groom, and also a really cute stuffed reindeer. We love you, Kelly and Steven! Thank you for being supportive and AMAZING clients!


– Date: September 16, 2017
– Ceremony + Reception Venue: The Sutherland // Wake Forest, NC
– First Dance Song: “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” – Sleeping at Last
– Kelly’s Occupation: Manager for a power wheelchair company
– Steven’s Occupation: 3D Graphic Artist
– How You Met: Match.com
– Interesting Fact: We love travelling, rescuing dogs, and practicing zombie survival skills.
– Vendor Credits: Pastor – Jeff Babajtis. DJ – Eric Hodgden of All Around DJ Company. Florist – Lyn of Fresh Affairs. Cake – Ashley of Ashley Cakes. Caterer – Vicki with Rocky Top Catering. Hair/Makeup – Makeup For Your Day. Coordinator – Christy Ethridge of The Sutherland.