Mallory+Ryan // Duke Chapel Wedding

Mallory and Ryan’s wonderful winter wedding closes out our 2016 wedding season! We couldn’t have ended the year with a better couple. Super sweet and wonderful people, they wished every kid on campus good luck with their finals as they walked by during their pictures and thanked us for our patience several times during the day even though there was literally nothing to be patient with because they were so fantastic and cooperative. So we lucked out for last wedding of the year! We also lucked out with the weather. It had been 30 degrees for a couple days prior to this, and the forecast was predicting rain. It did not rain (yay!) and it was in the 60s! Actually, no, it was supposed to be in the 60s but it had to have been colder than that. But the point is that it wasn’t as cold as 30, and we weren’t wet.

This beautiful wedding was held at Duke Chapel and Bay 7 and it was all so, so pretty. Mallory wore a stole that belongs to one of her mother’s friends, and the bridesmaids wore the best shade of green. Their bouquets all had pine in them and so everyone smelled like a Christmas tree. Bay 7 had put up all the lights around campus, and everything was absolutely dreamy. I hear there were animatronic elves displayed somewhere in the hotel where Mallory got ready, but unfortunately we missed those (or fortunately, depending on your opinion of animatronic elves). But there were Santa hats and reindeer ears passed out at the reception, and Geoff delightfully bit off the head of a gingerbread man there as well. This wedding got everyone in the spirit and was just lovely. Thank you, Mallory and Ryan, for sending 2016 off in styyyyle.

  • Date: December 17, 2016
  • Ceremony Venue: Duke Chapel // Durham, NC
  • Reception Venue: Bay 7 // Durham, NC
  • First Dance Song: “How Sweet It Is” – Performed by Affirmative Groove
  • Mallory’s Occupation: International Programs Coordinator at NC State
  • Ryan’s Occupation: Assistant Director of the Duke Parent’s Program
  • How You Met: Ryan and Mallory met a little over 3 years ago after Mallory moved to Minnesota to work at a small liberal arts college. One of their mutual friends introduced them at a young professionals happy hour that the college hosted, and things took off from there!
  • Interesting Fact: Our first date included sushi and a baseball game, and those continue to be two of our favorite things.
  • Honeymoon: German Christmas Markets & Madeira, Portugal.
  • Vendor Credits: Officiant – Rev. Bruce Puckett. Band – Affirmative Groove. Florist – Lyn Graves of Fresh Affairs. Cake – Cinda’s Creative Cakes. Caterer – Angus Barn. Hair – Caroline of Careaux Cartier On Location Wedding|Event Hair & Makeup. Videographer – Jaired Sullivan and Jesse Ashe of Carolina Story Film Co. Coordinator – Karen M. Stone Wedding Consultant and Director, and Jeane Batten. Duke Chapel Director – Blanche Williams. Bay 7 Director – Angel Nicholas.

Caroline+Dana // Married at Duke Chapel.

We’ve had a great time getting to know Caroline and Dana… the only couple to ever bring fake mustaches, noses, and glasses disguises with them consistently on every shoot we’ve had together. Dana is a redhead, our most favorite of hair colors, and Caroline almost sounds like Carolyn, so we liked them from the beginning (turns out later that having your name almost sound like the bride’s gets pretty confusing really fast and I did a lot of “fake-out” waving that day to people I thought were calling my name).

They had a stellar crew of vendors, venues, bridesmaids, groomsmen (the best man was the brother of Laura, our bride last year), and everyone pulled together to make it a pretty spectacular day. It was cold but sunny, and despite taking pictures outside where everyone but the guys had exposed shoulders, everyone was a real trooper and a joy to work with. Caroline and Dana are fun. They enjoy bantering with other people, and bantering with each other, and bantering in general. I think they were amused at my horror when Magnolia leaves started getting caught underneath the tulle in Caroline’s dress and she dragged-screeched them across campus (no wedding dress should ever make that noise, and I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from, but I was pretty sure that we all might either be in imminent danger from a dragon… or perhaps I was actively breaking Caroline’s dress). When her dress wasn’t screeching (don’t worry, we made it stop before she walked down the aisle), they had a great day. And when I mean “had a great day”, I really mean it. Neither Caroline or Dana seemed stressed or worried once (if they were, they didn’t show it), and literally seemed to be having a fantastic time all day. And it was contagious. Here comes the joy.

Date: January 31, 2015

Ceremony Venue: Duke Chapel // Durham, NC

Reception Venue: Bay 7 // American Tobacco // Durham, NC

Caroline’s Occupation: Lawyer

Dana’s Occupation: Office Manager at NC State University

How You Met: Through our mutual (and awesome) friend Will, who worked in Caroline’s office a few years back. We went from being friends to being more than that over dinner at the Raleigh Times and a concert by the band Schooner at Kings.

Honeymoon: Kauai, Hawaii

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Rev. Christi Dye | Band – Groovetown | Florist – Tre Bella | Cake – Edible Art | Caterer – Angus Barn | Hair/Makeup – Makeup Culture | Coordinator – Kelley Ann Ward with A Southern Soiree | Hotel – Washington Duke Inn | Stationary – Sweetpress Studio