Category: Weddings

Lauren+Kris // Duke Forest Wedding.

Lauren and Kris had all the necessary things for a delightful wedding: donuts, a jazz band, an ice cream truck, a crazy little biodiesel bus, and a phone full of pictures of their cat Calvin using Snapchat wearing a fedora and a fake mustache. They were married by a friend in a little intimate spot of grass in the middle of Duke Forest surrounded by trees and fabulous early fall light. Then we all went on to the reception at The Cookery that was adorned with little golden dinosaurs sporting air plants that were standing guard over bottles of liquor holding wildflowers. I really wanted to steal all of them and start a tiny gold dinosaur plant army but I couldn’t do that because Lauren and Kris are so nice and I feel like it’s probably good luck for your marriage if you start out with your own golden dinosaur plant army and I didn’t want to rob them of that.

Did we mention the ice cream truck? We did, but we’re going to talk about it again right now because ice cream. At one point Lauren held a glass of wine in one hand and an ice cream cone in the other and looked so ridiculously thrilled with the whole thing and I thought yes, this is what happiness looks like. Everyone loves The Parlour and we do too, especially when they arrive in a pink and white truck, and I had two scoops of the Vietnamese Coffee because it’s my favorite, even though I don’t like coffee at all. And we ate our ice cream as the fabulous Mint Julep Jazz Band played on into the night and everyone had the best time talking and socializing. Thank you for having a delightful and charming wedding, Lauren and Kris, and we hope you’re up in DC starting that tiny golden dinosaur plant army with your cat Calvin.

  • Date: September 23, 2016
  • Ceremony Venue: Duke Forest // Durham, NC
  • Reception Venue: The Cookery // Durham, NC
  • Lauren’s Occupation: Economist for the federal government in DC
  • Kris’s Occupation: Energy analyst
  • How You Met: Graduate school classmates at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment.
  • Interesting Fact: Although they love Durham almost as much as they love each other, the only actual NC native in their family is their okra-loving cat, Calvin (from APS of Durham).
  • Honeymoon: Not sure yet! The front runners are Croatia and Laos.
  • Vendor Credits: Officiant – Zarak Khan. Band – Mint Julep Jazz Band. Florist – Pine State Flowers. Ice Cream – The Parlour Ice Cream Truck. Caterer – Durham Catering Company. Hair/Makeup – Carla White. Coordinator – Gretchen Garrett of Red Bird Events. Ceremony Music – Jordan Nance. Transporation – Greenway Transit. Donuts – Monuts.

Amanda+Jennifer // Weathervane Wedding

Amanda and Jennifer are two of the funnest people. Yes, funnest. Amanda has a really contagious, wonderful laugh, and Jennifer is incredibly funny. Together, they’re happy and laughing and adorable and the funnest. We woke up early and joined them for their brunch wedding (where there was french toast and sausage and eggs and some sort of magical potato hashbrown casserole) which was delightful because Amanda is also gluten intolerant so I could eat their food and also their cake (which was all very, very delicious). Also, brunch is the best, and their favors were mugs that said, “THANKS A BRUNCH” that I may or may not have been drinking tea out of all week because everyone loves a good brunch pun.

They are SO NICE! And their families are SO NICE! And we got to hang out with everyone and celebrate with them and be there for all those special moments like the one where they called their dog boarder in the car on the way to the ceremony to make sure their dogs were okay because it was the first time they had been boarded and they were concerned (spoiler alert: the dogs were fine and well adjusted and had made friends with the people at the kennel). And it was super fun and they had us laughing and entertained all day. Amanda and Jennifer are so good for each other and practically radiate little heart-eye emojis and we love them A BRUNCH.

  • Date: September 18, 2016
  • Ceremony + Reception Venue: The Weathervane // Chapel Hill, NC
  • First Dance Song: “All of Me” – John Legend
  • Jennifer’s Occupation: Massage Therapist
  • Amanda’s Occupation: Social Worker
  • How You Met: Jennifer saw Amanda’s picture in a Meetup group page on-line, and was excited to see a new face. One week later, we met at a charity event and became friends. A year later, we began dating, and were instantly inseparable.
  • Interesting Fact: We have three sweet dogs who collectively have 5 eyes, 10 1/2 legs, and together weigh 20 pounds. Amanda is from Brooklyn, NY and Jen’s niece’s name is Brooklyn! Amanda & Jen love game nights and are slightly obsessed with Sequence & Super Fun Word Game. Also equally love love love coffee.
  • Vendor Credits: Officiant –Rabbi Ken Brickman. DJ – Lenn Fritts. Florist – Southern Season. GF Cake – SugarBuzz Bakery. Mini Desserts – The Weathervane. Hair – Kellie Gates. Makeup – Michelle Clark. Coordinator – Lauren Powell.

Chelsea+Austin // Chapel Hill Carriage House Wedding

Any wedding that has goats and/or paper cranes automatically gets an A+, but when you add in some stuffed animal versions of the stomach-bursting and face-eating aliens from Alien, you reach a whole new wedding level. Then there was hula hooping and one very charming ring bearer and also an entirely gluten free food truck (thanks, Deli-icious!) and a wedding party who looked damn good all in different “costumes” that Chelsea had picked out. Austin shaved his head. The wedding guests sat down in their seats for the ceremony but then got rained out, left their seats, only to come back like 10 minutes later when the rain stopped. There was a bagpiper and an alpaca. And the DJ played “Space Oddity” and “Birdhouse in Your Soul.” There were gummy bears too. The wedding exit involved whipping the bride and groom with Jiu Jitsu belts. And there was not just a regular goat but a baby goat.

Yet, even if the above things hadn’t happened and Chelsea and Austin would’ve just gotten married in a little patch of grass somewhere, it would’ve been just as charming and lovely because Chelsea and Austin are two amazing people. They love each other a lot, and it shows. They’re fun. And happy. But you know what? The goats and everything were seriously awesome so I’m blogging it all.

  • Date: September 3, 2016
  • Ceremony + Reception Venue: Chapel Hill Carriage House // Chapel Hill, NC
  • First Dance Song: “The Book of Love” – Magnetic Fields
  • Chelsea’s Occupation: Whole Foods grocery stocker
  • Austin’s Occupation: Physical Therapist
  • How You Met: College. I asked Austin if he could fix my computer. He couldn’t. I let that slide.
  • Interesting Fact: We both do Jiu Jitsu. We have been together 11 years. Austin is a ninja. Chelsea knows American Sign Language and is a freelance costume designer.
  • Vendor Credits: Officiant –Rabbi Marc Kline. DJ – Kate Steiman. Cake – The Cupcake Bar. Food Trucks – Porchetta, Chirba Chirba Chinese Dumplings, and Deli-icious. Videographer – Alex Maness. Coordinator – Lynn Scott of Happily Ever After. Chapel Hill Carriage House Owner – Brenda Leeper.