Category: Weddings

Laurie+Dwight’s Wedding at the Graylyn Estate in Winston-Salem

Laurie and Dwight live in West Virginia, so the first time we Skype-met with them, they held up their obese tuxedo cat… and we held up our obese tuxedo cat… and it was love at first Skype. They’ve gone on to be great clients of ours and we were so thrilled to be able to join them at their wedding at Graylyn Estate in Winston-Salem last weekend! Graylyn is a massive conference center that basically serves as a company meeting retreat. It’s giant and seemingly endless and I think you could take pictures anywhere inside and outside and they’d be awesome. Their reception was held on top of a pool. Yes. On top. They put down a wooden floor with steel support beams on top of their indoor pool in the summertime and leave it up for wedding season, then take it down afterward so the guests can swim (it takes them four hours to take the floor back up). The whole place is pretty fascinating and is kind of a combination of some European castle and the Shining’s Overlook Hotel.

Our fantastic couple is kind of from all over the place (there was an animated map at their rehearsal dinner that illustrated their various points of habitation and I lost track after a little bit). I do know that they met in San Francisco after meeting online. I also know that Laurie is a dentist who then, after becoming an exclusive couple, practiced cavity fillings on Dwight (it was more legit than it sounds, don’t worry). They have a beautiful and supportive network of family and friends who love them (and nicely poke fun at them), and two cats who are excited to have their parents legitimately unionized. We’re kind of jealous and a little bitter that Laurie and Dwight neglected to book us a flight with them so we could go back to St. John, but we wish them a happy and safe experience while they’re there and we’ll only give them the stink eye a little bit when they get back and are tanner than the rest of us.

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Date: May 3, 2014

Ceremony and Reception Venue: The Graylyn Estate // Winston-Salem, NC

First Dance Song: “This Guy’s in Love with You” – Herb Alpert

Laurie’s Occupation: General and Family Dentist

Dwight’s Occupation: Regional Business Manager at Genetech (Bio-Tech Company)

How You Met: OK Cupid Online Dating in San Francisco

Interesting Facts about Laurie and Dwight: Moved from San Francisco to Morgantown, West Virginia.  Live with two cats named after cheeses (Brie and Stilton).  Laurie played college tennis at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA.  Dwight was a federally registered refugee from Hurricane Katrina.

Honeymoon Destination: Caneel Bay Resort in St. John, USVI

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Rev. Lisa Schwartz UUFWS | DJ – A&A DJ | Florist – Artfully Arranged | Cake – Cake and All Things Yummy | Caterer – Graylyn | Hair/Makeup – Trend Setters | Videographer – Lightwater Productions | Coordinator – Erin McLean Events | Transportation – Black Tie Limousine

Nikki+Max Marry at Museum of Life and Science

Nikki and Max! Also known to everyone as Mackey and Nix or Mickey and Nick or a variety of other combinations. I’m pretty sure I arranged their names into my own version quite a few times despite clearly knowing who they are, and so did their officiant, Geoff, and possibly a few other people. I’m not sure why their names were so combinable, but I’m pretty sure they’d be the best celebrity couple ever. Like Nix, or maybe Mixxey. Or maybe Nax or Ikkiax.. or. Hmm.

Anyway, this was our first opportunity to photograph a wedding at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham and I have to say it quickly became one of our favorite venues. Awesome outdoor space, awesome indoor space, a ton of shooting variety, random sculptures of wolves with wings and bug eyes, and a whole lot of creepy crawlers that entertained the guests to no end (in particular was the giant orb spider who didn’t have an enclosure but rather lived on a tree inside the museum and just happened to stay there because that’s where they feed him. That’s right. He technically has free reign. Don’t set down your drink).

We had an awesome time getting to know Nikki and Max in real life outside their Instagram accounts that we’ve been stalking for some time. Geoff also had the distinct pleasure of meeting their cat Mickey (who is kind of like their celebrity combo name but the shelter had already named him when they got him so not really). I was a bit jealous because I had been waiting to meet Mickey for SO LONG and Geoff always gets the “getting ready” animals, so I just had to live vicariously through him through the pictures of Mickey trying to eat their snacks and unwrap their presents. A huge congratulations and thank you to our lovely couple, Nikki and Max!

Date: April 26, 2014

Ceremony and Reception Venue: Museum of Life and Science // Durham, NC

First Dance Song: “Unchained Melody” – Righteous Brothers

Nikki’s Occupation: Neuroscience Graduate Student

Max’s Occupation: Health and Public Policy research fellow

How You Met: Nikki TA’ed a class Max was taking

Honeymoon Destination: Cambodia and Vietnam

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Lori Burgwyn, owner of Franklin St. Yoga Center | DJ – Damien Mass | Florist – Saunders | Cake – Daisy Cakes | Caterer – Green Planet Catering | Hair – Caitie Rumbles | Makeup – BareMinerals | Coordinator – Kelly @ Museum of Life and Science

Kristine+Kevin’s JC Raulston Arboretum Wedding

I met Kristine a few years ago when I did promotional photos for a local veterinarian’s office where she was the receptionist. I liked her a lot because she was holding a bunny since she had cats that wouldn’t be good photographic subjects (I was doing head shots of the office staff with their pets). Fast forward a few years and she was engaged, contacted us, and we met with her and her fiancé, Kevin, and her amazing parents (who have been beyond helpful to us in this entire process). We knew they were incredible people inside and out. They were planning an intimate afternoon brunch wedding at the JC Raulston Arboretum in spring with close family and friends and were making their own cupcakes (!!) since Kristine’s an amazing baker (Kevin’s also an amazing cook and it’s their hope to one day open a restaurant which I would then frequent all the time).

And so finally it came to be that CSP encountered its first black wedding dress since its beginning in 2008. :) Yes! We were pretty pumped about this as we had a Halloween wedding and I (Carolyn) looked for a black wedding dress for some time but finally gave up since in 2010 they didn’t really exist so I was so happy to finally see someone get and wear one. And it was very Kristine and Kevin. :) I can’t really picture her wearing a white dress. And oddly enough, our getting-ready roles were kind of reversed for this wedding too. Kristine wore her hair normally while Kevin got his cut and straightened, so Geoff saw more hair-primping action than I did this weekend. ;) Which was, again, very Kristine and Kevin. Everything was! From their black and red color scheme to the cupcakes that they baked to the tattoo that Kristine got specifically for their wedding to the sandbox that they stood in for their ceremony (Kevin proposed by drawing a circle on the beach in which they stood for his proposal… so they were married in a circle in a sandbox!)… it was all very them. And they had a beautiful day filled with people who meant the world to them and we couldn’t be happier for these two. :)

Date: April 12, 2014

Ceremony and Reception Venue: JC Raulston Arboretum // Raleigh, NC

Kristine’s Occupation: Receptionist at Cat Clinic

Kevin’s Occupation: Delivery driver for Chinese restaurant

How You Met: Kristine went to school with Kevin’s two cousins. Kevin saw Kristine’s picture on Facebook under the “People you may know” section. He requested to add her and she added him back since “he couldn’t be that crazy, she knew his cousins”. They started talking and eventually after a few weeks of talking on Facebook and on the phone, they decided to go on a first date. They agreed to meet at the Food Lion up the street from her and they then would drive to “The Upper Deck” (a bar right up the street). Kristine needed some alcohol to calm her nerves, as did he. Once she actually got out of the car and was facing him, she knew he was the one, and he had felt the same way. It was total love at first sight. After some talking they drove to the movie theater to continue their date. And the rest is history.

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Rev. Barbara Lodge | Florist – The Blossom Shop | Cupcakes – Kristine and her mother | Caterer – Food Lion & Harris Teeter