Category: Weddings

Nicole+Blake’s Reception

We took Nicole+Blake’s wedding portraits (including their first look) at Lake Johnson shortly after they were married. This weekend we were fortunate enough to reunite with them again to photograph their wedding reception in Fayetteville. Here are a few of our favorite black and whites from the evening (usually we don’t do all black and white posts, but why not, right?)! A huge congratulations to Nicole and Blake, and a big thank you to their amazingly kind family for being such gracious hosts!wedding reception in fayetteville (1) wedding reception in fayetteville (2) wedding reception in fayetteville (3) wedding reception in fayetteville (4) wedding reception in fayetteville (5) wedding reception in fayetteville (6)

 

Lindsay+Rishi’s Two-Day Wedding(s)

Hey there, readers! Sorry about the long absence. After this wedding at the end of December, we skipped town to be with our families for the holidays and have only recently returned. We’re excited to share our last wedding of 2013 with you and we’re looking forward to the upcoming Year in Review posts in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned!

So while almost all of you are either currently stressed or were recently stressed about your wedding, Lindsay and Rishi planned two separate weddings over two days the weekend before the holidays. Two ceremonies, two receptions, two different outfits, the whole shebang. So right now we’re declaring Lindsay and Rishi the unofficial queen and king of weddings and that’s that until someone decides to out-do them with three ceremonies in a row (although I can’t guarantee that we’d be able to shoot three ceremonies in a row since we were pretty sore from this). Personally, while I haven’t met him, I hold their cat Bogart personally responsible for their zen-like state in organizing all of this since he looks really put-together on Lindsay’s Instagram account.

Day One was a beautiful Hindu ceremony and day two was a traditional ceremony held at the Umstead Hotel which totally holds up to the rumors about how awesome it is (and how awesome their staff is). There were a lot of sequins. And a little known fact about sequins? They photograph awesomely and all photographers love you when you have sequins (this is a proven, irrefutable fact). There were also little elephants, a grown man who did a lot of karate moves on the dance floor, Randy Bennett – DJ extraordinaire, Christmas lights (also another photographer favorite), some random deer antlers, giant pinecones, and a lot of fun had by all. Thank you to Lindsay, Rishi, and their wonderful and welcoming friends and family, and their ever-helpful bridal party for having us! We had an amazing time. Now I apologize in advance for a super long blog post.

Day One.

Day Two.

Date: December 20th and 21st, 2013

Ceremony and Reception Venue for Friday: The Embassy Suites // Cary, NC

Ceremony and Reception Venue for Saturday: The Umstead Hotel // Cary, NC

First Dance Song: “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe” – Barry White

Lindsay’s Occupation: Special Education Curriculum Designer at Relay Graduate School of Education

Rishi’s Occupation: MBA Candidate at University of Chicago – Booth School of Business

How You Met: At UNC – Chapel Hill

Interesting Bride Fact: The bride’s last name is an amalgam of her parents’ last names, but sans a hyphen.

Interesting Groom Fact: The groom swam with the world’s largest fish, and kicked it in the face.

Honeymoon Destination: Mini-moon in Puerto Rico… honeymoon TBD!

Vendor Credits for Friday: Officiant – Shoba Mehta | DJ – Sitar Player | Florist – Tre Bella Flowers (Becky) | Caterer – Raaga | Hair/Makeup – Salon Blu | Coordinator – Priscilla Erwin of Orangerie Events

Vendor Credits for Saturday: Officiant – Justin Savesky | DJ – Randy Bennett of the Joe Bunn DJ Company | Florist – Tre Bella Flowers (Becky) | Cake – Sweet Memories Bakery | Caterer – The Umstead | Hair/Makeup – Salon Blu | Coordinator – Kelley Ann Ward (The Umstead)

Cari+Will’s Wedding in Saxapahaw, NC

Best things about this wedding:

1. A cat licked my socks. Cari got ready at her and Will’s house. Part of the reason for this was so I could get some pictures of their dog, which I did… but everyone knows that I cannot resist befriending a semi-overweight orange cat, so I soon became best friends with their cat Jack, who proceeded to lick my socks (a sign of approval, I’m sure).

2. A tiny Christmas-town church. Cari and Will were then married in a little church by the Haw River that literally looks like one of those white churches that goes underneath Christmas trees in tiny Christmas towns but nobody’s ever actually seen in real life.

3. Small children meltdown. Family pictures can be a challenging time of the wedding day for a variety of reasons, but this was going incredibly smoothly and went off without a hitch. Our next task was to take a few photos of the ring bearers and flower girl with Cari and Will… which involved a lot of pleading and bribing with lollypops. Some of them bought it for a little bit, but during the last photo one of the ring bearers lost it completely and burst into those really sad little kid hysterical tears… and the next thing we knew, the other ring bearer literally just fell over face first into the ground. It is, perhaps, one of my favorite wedding photos of all time. We are happy to say that the children more than recovered at the reception where they were given sugar, a stage, and lots of spotlights and proceeded to enjoy their time being the center of attention for the first time all day.

4. Sensible attire. Cari wanted pictures in the river with Will, so Cari wore a dress she could move in and flat shoes and came prepared with a fearless attitude toward mossy rocks and we loved it.

4. Temporary tattoos. Their reception had TEMPORARY TATTOOS FOR EVERYONE. This was one of the best things we’ve ever seen at a wedding and one of the most popular. Their tables were random things that meant something to them rather than numbers (a razorback, a Durham bull, canoeing, a guitar, the state of Arkansas, etc), and those random things were on the tattoos. There was a station, and everyone there had a tattoo within 5-10 minutes or so. There was even a temporary tattoo of Geoff’s actual tattoo, the golden spiral, which he still needs to apply so I can get a picture of his tattoo next to his tattoo (he couldn’t roll up his sleeves at the wedding). I had a temporary tattoo of a piano on my arm that Geoff wanted me to use as a prank to convince my mother that I actually got a tattoo but I didn’t want to upset her this close to the holidays.

Date: November 16, 2013

Ceremony Venue: Saxapahaw United Methodist Church // Saxapahaw, NC

Reception Venue: Haw River Ballroom // Saxapahaw, NC

First Dance Song: “Warm Love” – Van Morrison

Cari’s Occupation: Architect

Will’s Occupation: Physician

How You Met: Will and Cari met each other in the fall of 2010. They were introduced by their mutual friend Sarah via G-Chat. Will asked Cari if she could pronounce Gewürztraminer and Cari said “What’s that?” So he invited her to dinner and said he’d bring the Gewürztraminer.

Interesting Bride Fact: Can slalom waterski with no hands.

Interesting Groom Fact: Built an actual igloo and slept in it all night when he was a kid.

Honeymoon Destination: Turks & Caicos!

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Pastor Sue Eldon | Florist – Chapel Hill Florist | Cupcakes – Saxapahaw Bakehouse | Caterer – Saxapahaw Catering Company | Hair – Amy of Syd’s Hair Shop | Coordinator – Cherished Celebrations | Getaway Bus – Greenway Transit