Andrea+Bobby’s Wedding in Georgia

Andrea and Bobby kindly asked us to photograph their wedding in Madison and Athens, Georgia on Bobby’s family farm. How did we get so lucky to accompany this amazing crew of people into the more southernly south? We photographed Betsy and Jeff’s wedding in Chapel Hill a little over a year ago and Andrea was Betsy’s bridesmaid. :) We remembered Andrea and how lovely she was and we were SUPER excited to photograph their wedding in Georgia! And we were excited that Betsy and Jeff would be there for us to continually harass/talk to. But then we discovered upon arriving that most of Betsy’s bridesmaids were there too because they all went to college at UGA and we never mentally put this together! So YAY for this being a whole bunch of bridesmaids we already knew and loved and we had a seriously good weekend with these guys (you might also recognize the Hunger Games wedding pin which seems to be a theme with this crew. The odds can never be too much in your favor on your wedding day).

And there were cows! And adorable flower girls! And chickens! And rain that we kept miraculously dodging! And s’mores and pre-wedding campfires and I ate too many Reese’s. :) And of course, there was Andrea and Bobby, who made absolutely no huff or puff all weekend about anything and were an oasis of calm wonderfulness and absolute southern hospitality. You could never meet two nicer people who were ecstatic about getting married and truly knew and understood the whole reason being the giant party they were throwing. We are so thankful we were able to be with them, and we wish them so much love and joy in their lives!

Date: May 10, 2014

Ceremony Venue: Bobby’s family farm // Madison, GA

Reception Venue: East West Bistro // Athens, GA

First Dance Song: “Fishing in the Dark” – The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Andrea’s Occupation: Pharmacist – UNC Hospitals Pharmacy PGY1 Pharmacy Resident

Bobby’s Occupation: Pharmacist – Barney’s Pharmacy PGY1 Community Resident

How You Met: First day of chemistry class freshmen year (began dating halfway through sophomore year during organic chemistry)

Interesting Facts about Andrea and Bobby: Our first date was at Georgia Theatre. Bobby likes to sing to himself, me, or the dog (Wyatt) in the mornings. I do things like pick up stray cats and bring them home (Colby the Cat). We like to play on the farm, do craft projects, raised chickens in our bathtub until they were bigger, and enjoy cooking dinner together.

Honeymoon Destination: Will be going on a honeymoon after Andrea’s second year of residency (most likely to Alaska)

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Rev. Sam Mixon | DJ – Kevin Cheeks of Dawgtown DJ | Florist – European Floral Designs | Cake – Sweet Afternoons | Caterer – Annette Eaton for the farm reception and East West Bistro for the formal reception | Hair/Makeup – Mitzi Everette of the James Madison Inn and Spa

Beth+David’s Wedding in St. John, USVI

Ohhh boy oh boy oh boy. Not sure where to begin here, so I guess I’ll just start from our introduction to Beth and David. :) When we were photographing Kelly and Danny‘s wedding in the Outer Banks, Kelly introduced the four of us because we all lived in Durham and because we all have cats. Carolyn found out that Beth had six cats and instantly fell in love with her. We proceeded to photograph the wedding, and Carolyn proceeded to go over and talk to Beth about cats during mini breaks in the reception shooting. We all kept in touch after the wedding, met each other’s cats, and Beth introduced Carolyn to the joy/obsession of growing succulents. They’ve since moved into our neighborhood and it’s been amazing have friends so close by with so many cats who cook really good food for us. :)

We are extraordinarily lucky to have met them and to call them our friends and for Beth to work at a place that has US Virgin Island housing perks. :) We are also incredibly thankful, beyond words really, that they asked us to join them and photograph their very small intimate 6-person wedding on Trunk Bay in St. John. We kinda maybe sorta flipped out a bit when we were asked… and tried not to email back TOO quickly and use TOO many exclamation marks, but we failed. On our week-long trip, we were joined by Jeff and Diane, their good friends and best man/matron of honor, who were amazing trip companions and very handy people to know when Carolyn injured or hurt herself in various accident-prone ways.

We sat in the hot tub on our deck every night overlooking the stars, swam with sharks, stingrays, sea turtles, barracudas. We all happily drank a lot of amazing island drinks, got a great deal of hiking exercise, drove on the left side of some very dangerous roads, received really intense sunburn in exchange for some much needed vitamin D, went on a boat trip to the British Virgin Islands where we saw, from afar, the mansion of the inventor of Miracle Gro. :) We came back with amazing memories and are so, so, thankful to have been there. It was beautiful watching our friends get married and I’m still in shock at our good fortune to have been there.

Date: March 4, 2014

Ceremony Venue: Trunk Bay // St. John, USVI

Reception Venue: Waterfront Bistro // Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI

Beth’s Occupation: Marketing researcher

David’s Occupation: Forester

How You Met: At a Halloween Party in Richmond, VA (Beth was Margot Tenenbaum and David was a Mormon. Our first date was a road trip to Montreal!

Interesting Bride Fact: I love costumes, and I actually enjoyed wearing the flare when I worked at T.G.I.Fridays in college.

Interesting Groom Fact: David is a professional forester (which is sort of weird in and of itself) who is also allergic to most tree species in the southeast.

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Anne Marie Porter, St. John’s Barefoot Minister | Florist – Susan Campanella-Pratt at Passon Flower | Hair and Makeup – Tyler Meyil and Jenny Patino at Drift Away Salon | Bride’s Wedding Gown Belt – Diane Winner

Kaylene+Brandon’s Wedding in Asheville, NC

Kaylene and Brandon decided on a destination wedding for their friends and family who all traveled long distances to celebrate with them, and they could not have picked a better venue or city. Asheville is full of awesome views and even more awesome food (we were able to eat lunch in an all-gluten free restaurant which put Carolyn into the best food coma of her life). We’re happy to go there every time.

This wedding gave us the first of working with identical twins which was both very entertaining and very confusing (Geoff is hoping that they have and continue to play pranks on lots of people… thank goodness he doesn’t have a twin). I was walking down the street with Kaylene’s sister Renee and the bridal party when someone at a restaurant called out, “Hey Kaylene!” and Renee had to go back and say, “Kaylene’s not here, I’m her twin sister!” and I asked how many times that happened to which she replied “all the time”… so then I didn’t feel so bad. I had to ask a few times which one was Kaylene and which one was Renee, but eventually things cleared up once Kaylene put on her wedding dress (although I did feel throughout the night that I was getting an awful lot of pictures of the same person… even though they were actually two people).

There was also the added entertainment of the groom’s cake being a giant, larger-than-life sculpted version of their beloved dog, Stella, equipped with little tiny snarl teeth made out of fondant. The crowd watched in horror and fascination as they cut Stella into bits and then stood around staring at the cake remains. Kaylene posted a picture the next day of Real Life Stella being held up to Cake Stella’s head and it was semi-disturbing at best but still amazing.

We had an amazing time getting to know Kaylene and Brandon and their awesome family and friends who took us in with open arms and were super nice and accommodating all day. We loved spending this time in Asheville with all of you and Cake Stella.

Date: September 1, 2013

Ceremony and Reception Venue: The Crest Center and Pavilion // Asheville, NC

First Dance Song: “I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You”

Kaylene’s Occupation: Physician assistant

Brandon’s Occupation: Marketing consultant

How You Met: Working at summer camp in Florida

Interesting Bride Fact: She is obsessed with pugs.

Interesting Groom Fact: He brews his own beer.

Honeymoon Destination: Northern California

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Ralph Millard, father of the groom | Band – Sweetwater Junction | Florist – Kimberly Hyder with Two Buds and a Blossom | Cake – Short Street Cakes and Tiffany’s Baking Company | Caterer – M7 Events (part of Crest Pavilion) | Hair/Makeup – Lola Salon | Day-of Bridal Attendant – Sara Fields