Category: Weddings

Raleigh Wedding Photographer in Chapel Hill: Melanie+Eric

Let me preface this blog post by saying that this was a commitment ceremony rather than a wedding, but “Raleigh Commitment Ceremony Photographer” is kind of a mouthful, so the header says it’s a wedding. :) But a terrific commitment ceremony it was. Just absolutely beautiful. Geoff and I had never photographed anything at Snipes Farm Retreat before, but I can soundly say that it’s my new favorite venue hands down. There isn’t an photogenic area within a mile of the property. Just gorgeous and absolutely perfect for our environmentally-conscious couple, Melanie and Eric. And, to be honest, I ran home after the rehearsal and called Geoff to tell him we totally should’ve had our Halloween-themed wedding here, had we known it existed. It would’ve been perfect! But alas. Anyway, we were super happy and thrilled to shoot here. Roger, the owner, couldn’t have been nicer or more accommodating, and their celebration was stellar. Living in Boston, Melanie and Eric came back down to North Carolina (where they first met in undergrad at UNC) to have their ceremony with close family, friends, and adorable details. I apologize in advance for this super long blog post, but I really couldn’t choose. :)

Date: July 16th, 2011

Ceremony+Reception Venue: Snipes Farm Retreat // Chapel Hill

Officiant: Rev. Robin Renteria

Florist: Bluebird Meadows (Alice)

Videographer: Rachel Julkowski

Caterer: Vilmala’s Curryblossom Cafe

Pies: Scratch (Phoebe Lawless)

Popsicles: Locopops

Dress: Chrissy Wai-Ching

Bluebird Meadows farm did a ridiculously awesome job of the flowers, and Melanie and Eric chose succulent plants to give for their favors (ours are growing on our deck!).

I could not possibly love this photo more, and I’m predicting that my mom could not love this photo less. ;) But hey, I’m a little offbeat, Melanie and Eric are a little offbeat, and together  we all decided that this would be hilarious and/or kinda weird and/or adorable. Or maybe all at the same time. :) When you find a fake cow skull at your venue, you gotta use it, right?

Above: the chocolate chip cookie mix in mason jar favors! Below: the beautiful pies from the bakery of Phoebe Lawless, complete with the tiny clay turtle and octopus as pie toppers. :)

Melanie wore a beautiful handmade purple dress with a tiny succulent plant in her hair, which was so very her and so very them. Best hair ever! Eric wore the vest/tie combo, which, I gotta say, is a great option for guys getting married in the South in the summertime. It looks nice but is much cooler than the full suit.

For those who follow the CSP business page on Facebook, you know I’ve been talking about this for a very long time… and here it is… and it did not disappoint. The Unity Volcano!!! Handmade by Melanie’s talented sister Audrey, the Unity Volcano was seriously epic. I just about died when I saw it. Tiny hand-painted wooden dinosaurs and palm trees, as well as Dora, Melanie’s super fat cat, stood guard over the seriously awesome volcano and waited patiently for the ceremony. :)

Rev. Robin Renteria officiated the beautiful ceremony with grace. What a wonderful woman! This was our first time working with her, and we absolutely adore her!

They chose to pass their rings around in a tiny glass bottle for people to bless or give good wishes to. It’s was a beautiful part of the ceremony.

And here it is… the unveiling of the Unity Volcano. :D

GOOD TIMES. We predict this will spawn multiple copycat Unity Volcanoes which will launch Audrey’s awesome Unity Volcano making career.

After the ceremony, our newly united couple walked down to the lake and had a couple minutes of private time, which is seriously highly recommended. They didn’t even want me with them, which is good. Sometimes couples need that breather in their day.

Best. Guestbook idea. Ever. Melanie made these herself and printed them out after not finding a guest book she liked. They were two-sided and whole punched and fit into a photo album binder. They asked questions such as wishes/advice for the couple, where they should travel, predictions for the future, and you draw pictures of yourself. It kept everyone thoroughly occupied and had me cracking me. Every hour or so I went back and checked on it to read the new ones. So funny.

Above: Drawing of myself and Geoff, done by yours truly. Also, predictions for Melanie and Erick in the future: Robots. And, one of my favorites of the evening: “Don’t be afraid to talk with an accent – it keeps things fresh.” Below: In lieu of a DJ, the couple had multiple games scattered throughout the farm. Everyone had a great time enjoying them and it was totally different and relaxing. And, thankfully, I went home without the Cha Cha Slide stuck in my head.

Fidelma, who brought the rings after the ring passing ceremony up to the front by the volcano, was jokingly being called Gollum by everyone, transporting the rings to Mt. Doom, our Unity Volcano. So, naturally, we had to re-create it. Fidelma, wherever you are, if you have a Facebook account, you need to make this your profile picture for the rest of your life. Also, thanks for being the best sport ever!

And yes, ring shots with Jenga! Geoff’s dream ring shot come true.

This scale is just sitting outside the venue, which to me was a total sign we should’ve had our wedding here. But it’s totally old! I freaked out when I saw it and everyone who didn’t know we’re from Pittsburgh looked at me kinda weird. Pittsburgh has always ended with an ‘h’ except for the time period of 1890-1911, when it briefly dropped the ‘h’. So this scale is old. And awesome!

In lieu of a first dance, they held a Melanie and Eric trivia game! It was hilarious and the answers were off the wall. Grading it was amusing to say the least.

Hey local Triangle peeps! Did you know Locopops can come to your wedding!? They apparently totally can! And had I known this, I would’ve been all over it for our wedding last year! Yet another failure on our wedding that this day brought to light. However, we had fun eating them. Melanie and Eric had pies, brownies, chocolate chip cookie mix, and Locopops… to which Geoff delightfully proclaimed to me, “They have all their dessert bases covered!”

This is my first wedding to end with Chinese Wish Lanterns instead of sparklers, and I must say they are gorgeous! You must be a decent amount away from any other land or airport due to the fire and the flying and the flaming things made of paper going high into the sky, but it’s pretty!

Congratulations, Melanie and Eric! We hope you had a great trip to the mountains and love the pictures upon your return. :) Have a lovely life in Boston and we hope you visit us someday again in the south!

 

Raleigh Wedding Photographer in Greensboro: Lindsay+Zac

This was a total breath of fresh air wedding! Lindsay and Zac, who were married at a new venue in Greensboro called Adam’s Place (a private property that’s been recently renovated to accommodate outdoor ceremonies and receptions), held a stunning wedding. What was so great was that they chose all bright, vibrant colors instead of a single color or two, and it just had such a happy feel about it. :) I met these two only very recently, but in the short time we’ve known each other it’s clear that they are amazing people with a wonderful group of supportive family and friends. We had a great time working with their wonderful bridesmaids and groomsmen as well! The ceremony was held outdoors and it was hot… and I mean hot. As in, both Geoff’s camera and my camera overheated during the ceremony (no, neither stopped taking pictures, thank goodness, but the red warning light was totally on and the LCD screen was blank for about five minutes). There were a few moments where I was prepared to black out. Maybe it’s because I’m from the north, as no one in the wedding party (even Lindsay with her heavy and gorgeous dress) broke a sweat. But the ceremony was beautiful and lead to an even more beautiful reception. Let me tell you – outdoor receptions in the evening in NC are just beyond beautiful (when the weather’s nice, of course). The lighting was perfect and they danced on the patio. It was super low stress and everyone was so nice. Lindsay and Zac took off at the end of the night and headed to Jamaica for their honeymoon. Enjoy their adorably detailed wedding!

Date: July 9th, 2011

Ceremony+Reception Venue: Adam’s Place // Greensboro, NC

Officiant: Rev. Rodney Wright

Florist: Roxie’s Florist

Ceremony and Reception Decor + Floral Arrangements: ABBA Design

Coordinator: Tonya Anderson

DJ: Nick Anderson

Is this not the happiest looking wedding ever!? So happy. :) I love the inside of this tent!

Lindsay and Zac left at the end of the night to their guests throwing white petals out of these little rainbow tubes. :) A cute idea!

Digging the seer-sucker suits on these dudes. Nice to see something a little different. All the guys rocked the look.

A wedding dragonfly! Add it to the list of CSP wedding animals. ;)

The ring bearer is so. ridiculously. adorable. Look at that belt.

Another couple of golfers! They had tees (above) as some of their favors and brought along a golf ball for the ring shot. I apologize for the excessive amount of ring shots that follow, but it was a really good location for ring shots. ;) And you all know how I love them.

Lindsay is sooo stunning and gorgeous and all things beautiful. Love the hair, love the dress. Very different and pretty. :)

Thank you so much to Lindsay and Zac for having us and to their families for being extra supportive and awesome. :) We loved your wedding and hope you had a great time in Jamaica!

Raleigh Wedding Photographer in Morgantown, WV: Abi+Ryan

So the big reason for us to be back in Pittsburgh finally came: Abi+Ryan’s wedding in Morgantown, WV at the brand new WVU Erickson Alumni Center! :D Neither Geoff nor I had met Abi or Ryan before their wedding, but had rather talked via phone and Facebook for about a year. Now – are you ready for the six degrees of Kevin Bacon? They found me through Abi’s mother Diane, who found me through her best friend Jane, who is the mother of Sarah who is the best friend and bridesmaid of Abi and also the sister of Sean, one of Geoff’s groomsmen/old buddies/roommate from RIT. Still following? Good. ;) Abi and Ryan live in Virginia but went to school at WVU were they met in church. Abi is a neo-natal ICU nurse and Ryan is a police officer. They chose to get married at the Erickson Alumni Center to honor their school and the place where they first met, and it was a gorgeous venue! They were married inside and had the ceremony site flipped to their reception site during their cocktail hour. It was a good thing it was inside too as the temperatures were killer that day and we probably all would’ve melted. ;)

We were so thrilled to be recommended and even more thrilled to be chosen to do their wedding in West Virginia. Geoff and I drove down after our time in Pittsburgh and were happy to finally meet the beautiful couple and their wonderful families, as well as reconnect with our friends Sean and Mylissa. It’s always such an honor to do an out of state wedding and we had a great time! Thank you so much to Abi, Ryan, Diane, Jane, and their families for being wonderful and supportive. We were so happy to be a part of this!

Date: July 3rd, 2011 (Diane’s birthday!)

Ceremony+Reception Venue: WVU Erickson Alumni Center // Morgantown, WV

Officiant: Pastor Donald Dick

Cake: Wedding Cakes Plus

Florist: Kelly’s Floral Designs

Linens: Elite Bridal and Events

Steel Drummist: Richard Maurer

Coordinator: Debra Mullens

DJ: Ken Maisel

The little bee in Abi’s bouquet (to the left) is an old family heirloom, and the lace on her bouquet is from her mother’s wedding dress. :) I love little incorporations like this!

So our greatest challenge for this wedding was doing the portraits at 2pm which, in the summer, is basically high noon. Not only was it hot, but it’s bright with no particular direction to the sun. We did some outside, but went inside pretty quickly to avoid the heat and the harsh light. However, I really love the pictures we did outside despite the high-noon sun! I was kinda super proud since that’s the hardest time of day to shoot in and the hardest type of light to shoot in… so this is the little part of my blog where I brag. ;)

The WVU Alumni Center had beautiful places indoors to shoot. Super gorgeous. Speaking of super gorgeous, Abi was stunning and Ryan was just as equally handsome. They are an adorable team and a beautiful couple to boot. :)

Above: Pre-flipped ceremony room. Below: Post-flipped reception room. :) Ta-da!

At this point during the reception the light was gooooood outside! Diane noticed some down time during the reception and grabbed us all to go outside and these are my favorites of the day. Can’t beat good lighting.

Hello, wedding ducks! So far CSP animals include several engagement cats, engagement and wedding dogs, engagement seagulls, and (unfortunately), plenty of engagement and wedding spiders. But this is our first time with wedding ducks. :) They were adorable.

There was a good ‘ole switcheroo played on the poor guy that caught the garter as they switched out the girl that caught the bouquet for the… best man. ;) Then the wedding got the party started and it was an awesome reception!

Above to the right is Jane dancing with her daughter Sarah… and below to the left are our wonderful friends Mylissa and Sean. ;) Hahaha.

Thank you so much for having us in West Virginia to photograph your wedding, Abi+Ryan! We had a wondeful time and are so grateful to have met and worked with you and your families. We hope you enjoyed your honeymoon and love the pictures!