Category: Weddings

Amy and Dan are a lovely couple who did not let a few tornadoes spoil their outdoor wedding. :) How great is that? Yes, Amy and Dan were to be married in an outdoor ceremony at the Arrowhead Inn in Durham, NC at high noon when the weather channel was predicting, I kid you not, a “100% chance of severe storms.” That’s not a very good percent. :D But we got there and took pictures of Amy getting ready and, miraculously, despite them repeatedly announcing tornado warnings on the radio, it was merely overcast and their wedding was held outside at high noon against all odds. :) We were even able to take family and friend photographs AND the newlywed pictures afterward! It didn’t rain until the reception luncheon (when the lights went out briefly), but that was really all that happened. They were so lucky!

Their venue and their vendors couldn’t have been more wonderful, and neither could Amy and Dan’s fantastic family and friends. Amy’s family traveled in from Japan and they were married by Dan’s brother, a high school principal. It was all very sweet and low-key, just like the beautiful couple themselves. :)

Date: April 16, 2011

Venue: The Arrowhead Inn, Durham NC

Flowers: Special Event Florals, Nancy Dawson

Guitarist: Randy Reed

Officiant: Walter Finnigan

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Amy is the definition of a blushing bride… not only because she is getting married, but because she is pregnant. :) Amy and Dan are expecting a baby girl in August!

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This family is a family of cameras. I think everyone there had a camera, large or small, video or still. Below and to the right is our handsome groom, taking photographs of his lovely soon-to-be wife getting her hair done. :) Amy is a high school music teacher trained in classical singing, but she is hoping to one day become a photographer as well! And we will most certainly welcome her into the ranks because she is a wonderful person. :)

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Amy looked gorgeous! Very beautiful, natural, and happy. :)

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Proof that, even as tornadoes ran rampant through parts of Raleigh, the sun did come out that day (during their first kiss!) for perhaps a few seconds:

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I can’t resist me a willow tree. ;)

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Amy and Dan held a beautiful indoor luncheon for their wedding reception inside the Arrowhead Inn (the innkeepers are lovely and make EXCELLENT food!).

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In conclusion, I had a wonderful day with you, Amy and Dan, and wish you the best of luck in your life and marriage! I do hope that I get to meet that baby girl soon and of course see you again. :) Thank you and congratulations! I’ll leave you all with these wise words of wisdom…

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We were not only excited to shoot our first wedding of the year (Geoff did an excellent job second shooting this wedding with me), but we were also excited to see two of our very good friends get married, meet their AWESOME families, and have an excellent time… all of which we did. :)

For those who missed their abbreviated backstory on their engagement session post, Daniel was my sanity-saving best friend back at my old part time job before I went full-time with photography. He was pretty quiet when I first met him, but I gradually realized that the person singing really really really loud across the room from me was the same guy, and so I made an effort to get to know him since he amused me so frequently. Then I found out he likes the New England Patriots. This put a thorn in our friendship as I was constantly made fun of and harassed when I wore my Steelers jersey to work, but then again, making fun of each other is pretty much the foundation of our friendship, so it worked out pretty well. Until I found out that he was planning a Patriots themed wedding. And to be honest, I didn’t think he was serious (it can be kind of hard to tell when you’re trying to take someone seriously while they drink SunnyD out of a glass boot).

As it turns out, he was serious. A few weeks later Geoff and I had the privilege of meeting his absolutely lovely fiancé who is equally as wonderful and hilarious as Daniel (I had no doubts) to discuss photographing their wedding. Since then, the fabulous Mary Ann and I have also become close and we enjoy getting our butts kicked by our husbands when we go bowling. Daniel and Mary Ann are truly a couple that we love being around because they are exactly like each other to the point where it’s highly amusing and adorable at the same time (you’ll see here in a few minutes). They’re also some of the nicest people in the world, not to mention both of them being super cute and easy to photograph. :)

And you know what? Their Patriots themed wedding was awesome!!! There, I said it. I dislike the Patriots as much as they dislike the Steelers, but honestly, this was so well done.  Their centerpieces, colors, cake, and everything else worked perfectly and it was a beauuuutiful wedding. And they used some of their engagement session football shots in the save the dates and wedding programs (all football ticket themed), which was such a cute idea. YOU GUYS ARE ADORABLE. Also, their families were the best. THE BEST. Thank you all for being so kind, open, and helpful.. I hope all of you enjoy the pictures. And of course, we love you, Mary Ann and Daniel!

Date: March 5, 2011

Venue: Rand-Bryan House

Cake: Tier Bella

Flowers: Belinda Hobson

Dj: Mike Morse

Officiant: Bishop Jason Johnson

Musician [Singer]: Vanessa Durand

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Below is by far my favorite picture of the day, period. Better than all the portraits, better than all the details and dance pictures combined. The ceremony officiant asked anyone who might object to their marriage to speak now, and they turned their heads in unison and gave everyone the same look at the same time… and I really don’t think it was planned. It also captures both of their sarcastic sides beautifully. ;)

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All the congratulations in the world, you two… We hope you’re having a great honeymoon and love the pictures when you get back! :)

this is totally way past due, but considering i just sent out all of my thank you cards for the wedding yesterday, it should say something about how crazy our lives have been since we got back from costa rica. :)

we had a ton of compliments on our invitations, thank you cards, and wedding programs and i’d like to highlight derica justice of bon bini print and design for doing such a wonderful job with our wedding stationary!

we are very picky people and wanted our wedding invitations to be different. we browsed a lot of wedding websites looking for examples of halloween invitations, but they were usually pretty cheesy. we wanted a kind of vintage, elegant, gothicy type of look. we had a few ideas, but weren’t really sure how to put it all together. we found derica’s work online and met with her soon after. she took our ideas and ran with them, creating our awesome invitations by hand and designing all of it herself. we had a great time working with her and couldn’t be happier with her work. everything was the best quality and she took utmost care in making sure we were happy with everything. she is awesome!

here are some of the pictures i took of our stationary (minus the leftover programs which are packed away in one of 12 large tupperware containers full of wedding decorations that are still sitting untouched in our basement) followed by an interview with derica about her business. :)

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1. Tell me a little bit about your business.

Bon Bini Print & Design was created for individuals who want a unique invitation design experience not found in a store or online. It specializes in outside of the box wedding & event invitations! Bon Bini allows clients the ability to create an invitation or stationery from the ground up and customize any elements of the design all at a reasonable price. We love to design for everyone’s stationery needs from complete wedding designs including save the dates, invitations, and programs to personal stationery needs such as thank you cards. Carolyn and Geoff’s Halloween invitations are the perfect example of the invitations we love to create!  Something you won’t find anywhere else!

2. How did you start making invitations for weddings?

The first wedding item created was for my own wedding over 4 years ago. I decided to design and print my own programs so I could include all the ideas I wanted without the outrageous price tag. Shortly thereafter, I had a co-worker getting married who could not find her perfect invitation, so I offered to create some designs and she loved them! From there, the word started to spread about my designs and the Bon Bini business was born.

For those curious about the origin of the Bon Bini Print and Design name, I admit it was of the hardest steps in creating my own business!  Bon Bini, pronounced “Bon Beh-knee,” means welcome in Papiamentu, which is the native language of the ABC Islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao). My love for the islands of Bonaire (where I honeymooned) and Curacao (my favorite place to vacation!) and my love for stationery were combined to create the name Bon Bini Print & Design.

3. How do you go about creating designs for invitations?

The design process all depends on the clients: what they want, any design they have in mind, etc. For clients with a specific design, we meet to discuss their ideas, what they like/dislike, and then from there I create several samples. For clients without a specific design in mind, we find inspiration in other elements of their wedding, their personalities, or some of their favorite items. From there, I create a few samples to get the design process started and then allow the clients to pick their favorite elements from each design to combine into one perfect invitation!

4. What is the most difficult aspect of invitation design and creation?

The most difficult aspect is pinpointing the uniqueness of each client in order to provide a special design that reflects them and their event. I love individualizing and customizing invitations to match my clients’ imaginations! Instead of creating the same exact invitation over and over again, I work with my clients to express their own inner designer, however deep it may be buried!

5. What do you like best about creating stationary for weddings?

The final product, of course! I love seeing a design come to fruition in all the stationery items for a wedding. It is exciting to see how one small design in a save the date or invitation can branch out into all the stationery items for wedding (i.e. programs, thank you cards, and table numbers). It is also a great feeling to see the excitement in a bride when she finally has the perfect invitation for her special day!

**We love you, Derica! Thank you so much for creating our perfect wedding invitations! And for all of you out there who are curious, Derica does out-of-state weddings as well! So please visit her website and ask if you have any questions.