Category: Weddings

Edy+Andy // The Barn at Valhalla Wedding

Edy and Andy have been such great supporters of us ever since they booked us, and I feel like they’re our constant cheerleaders. It’s so wonderful when you feel like clients get you! And when they’re comfortable with you, you’re comfortable with them, and all’s right with the world. We’ve had a great time working with not only them, but their adorable son Louie, who loves dinosaurs even more than me and also enjoys bossing people around about as much as I do. We first met Louie at Edy and Andy’s engagement session last year with their superfluff of a doggo named Nacho. We were happy to reunite with Louie and his armada of plastic dinosaurs at their wedding, and to see Edy and Andy again!

This wedding had one of the best floral altars I’ve ever seen, a vivacious bride and groom who are so supportive and caring for one another, and a band called the Harmonica Lewinskies. I daresay that I’ve never heard of a band with such a great name, and I don’t expect I’ll ever find a better one. They were formed by one of Edy and Andy’s close friends who passed away a few years ago, and they’ve since kept in touch with his bandmates who were there to support them as they got married. So not only do they have the best name, but they also have a personal connection to the couple, and everyone felt like family. Edy and Andy were married at the edge of the forest in some of the most beautiful afternoon lighting on a gorgeous day! There was thunder, but no rain, and it was all quite perfect. They danced the night away in the barn with all their family and friends. We’re so happy to have had such a loving and joyful couple as our clients. Congrats, Edy+Andy!


Date: September 1, 2018
Ceremony + Reception Venue: The Barn at Valhalla // Chapel Hill, NC
First Dance Song: “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” – Performed by The Harmonica Lewinskies
Andy’s Occupation: Application Programmer
Edy’s Occupation: Server and hopefully soon student
How You Met: Through a mutual acquaintance in a living room in an apartment in Brooklyn.
Honeymoon: Peru!
Officiant: Audrey MacAlpine
Violinist: Udeshi Hargett
Band – The Harmonica Lewinskies
Florist: Bluebird Meadows
Cake: Martina Russial, Glasshalfull
Caterer: Fords Fluent N’ Food
Hair/Makeup: Jane Rosengarden, MoH
Videographer: Evergreen Era Films
Coordinator: Folie à Deux Events

Victoria+Ben // Wedding at The Cookery

Victoria and Ben are the bee’s knees, especially considering they got married on a July day with zero rain in the forecast, and then it POURED for the one hour that we were supposed to take pictures (no rain at all besides that single hour). Not even the kind-of-raining rain, but like, unshootable-levels of rain. Thankfully The Cookery has a badass bridal suite now that we were able to hunker down in for their newlywed shots! No complaints from Victoria or Ben, who had liquor nearby but, most importantly, each other. ;) Victoria reminds me of a brunette version of Taylor Swift, but she also gets told that she looks like a young Neve Campbell and that’s also very true. I think Geoff and I thought of at least three other attractive women she looks like during the evening, so I’d say she has a lot of good celebrity comparisons. She is adorable and spunky and also an upcoming author which I am SO excited about! She has a young adult book coming up next year which is going to kick all the ass and take all the names. And right beside this incredibly intelligent and creative woman is her equally intelligent and creative partner Ben, who’s a doctor who enjoys music and literature alongside Victoria (particularly Russian literature? but also they love Harry Potter? so I think they enjoy a wide variety of genres).

For their wedding, they were surrounded by their lovely family and friends (one of whom was a bridesmaid who I had as another bridesmaid before, and who we also run into at every Star Wars movie premiere). The best part about the bridesmaids is that their skirts contained a lot of tulle, and they enjoyed putting said tulle over their faces to pretend they were ghosts. They were my favorites. They’d also do this on command, as well as fluff out their tulle to protect Victoria anytime you said, “BRIDESMAIDS, ACTIVATE!” I feel like I need each and every one of these ladies in my life to protect me with their tulle anytime I run into someone I don’t want to see, or when someone strikes up a conversation with me in line at the Post Office. Besides having great bridesmaids (and groomsmen!), Victoria and Ben’s wedding had absolutely gorgeous details – from their Harry Potter themed wedding table numbers to their plastic dinosaurs and vintage purses. It was perfectly them, and very cozy. They decided to have their ceremony inside since it was so hot, and with everything indoors in The Cookery’s warm and dark interior, it did remind us a bit of what Harry Potter wedding venues must be like.

Date: July 29, 2018
Ceremony + Reception Venue: The Cookery // Durham, NC
First Dance Song: “Love” – Lana Del Rey
Ben’s Occupation: Internal Medicine Physician
Victoria’s Occupation: Experimental Psychologist and professional novelist
How You Met: OKCupid, over Rachmaninoff! irl? A coffee shop in Iowa City.
Interesting Fact: The first book we read together (for Valentine’s Day!) was the Kruetzer Sonata by Tolstoy, which is about a man who kills his wife because he’s jealous about her relationship with her music teacher.
Honeymoon: Banff National Park in Canada
Officiant: Dr. Garry Crites
DJ: Jess Dilday (DJ PlayPlay)
Florist: Michelle Duncan (Embellished Blooms)
Cake: Cailey (Sugarland Chapel Hill)
Caterer: Jacob Boehm (Snap Pea Catering)
Hair: Gina (Bella Capelli Salon)
Makeup: Sharon Davis Makeup
Coordinator: Sabrina Seymore Events

Callie // Bridal Portraits.

Callie and I shot these on what can only be described as a bajillion degree day of heat and humidity in central NC. I, however, was sweating much more than she was, as she seemed impervious to sweat. We also shot these inside the butterfly conservatory at the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science in Durham, which is known to add on additional layer of sweat lodge characteristics. Thankfully on this day, it happened to be cooler inside the butterfly house rather than outside, so it kept us from melting into small puddles while we were there. Callie’s hair and makeup held up beautifully and so did SHE! She’s a gorgeous, free-spirited type of lady who’s into her dog and her fiance Chris, who were married on August 11th (so now I can finally post these – yaaaay!). She also has the best biceps and triceps due to Crossfit. She told me she likes to “lift heavy things and then put them down and then lift them again.” Amen, sister. At Crossfit she also became friends with OUR amazing friend Sarah (whose wedding we shot and who designed our awesome bat logo!), so it’s a small world after all. I had an awesome time running around the Museum of Life and Science with her, her dad (who was included in the pictures because it was his birthday!), and the epic dinos. Later we hung out around Satellite Park for some more casual shots. Enjoy the post, and congrats to Callie and Chris!