Olivia+Gunnar // Raleigh Elopement

Olivia and Gunnar eloped in Raleigh in mid-November and had their closest family and friends in from out of town to stay at a big house in Raleigh to celebrate with them. Olivia and Gunnar are originally from Alabama but recently moved to the area for jobs, and we’re so glad they did! They are awesome people who are super sweet and like key lime pie. And I automatically trust anyone who loves key lime pie. They enjoy cooking together and are pretty into food. But, so is their dog, and upon returning from a honeymoon in Ireland where they brought home chopsticks from one of their favorite restaurants there, their dog dug through their bag and ate said chopsticks. You can’t with ’em all. They told us of driving through Ireland on the wrong side of the road which sounded terrifying, and they told us about black pudding which sounds totally disgusting, but beyond that, Ireland sounds really great and it’s still high on our list of places to visit someday (just without the black pudding maybe). At home, Gunnar likes video games and building computers and doing techie things, and Olivia likes all things true crime and watching movies (and we all agree that Pet Semetary definitely should not be remade as it’s perfect in its original form). We had a great time meeting their families at their elopement in Raleigh, and then a great time on a slightly drier day photographing them in Durham. Thanks for finding us, Olivia and Gunnar, and may you have many more chopsticks someday that your dog doesn’t eat. Congratulations!

Jessi+Alec // Durham, NC Elopement

It was a pleasure to meet and work with these guys on an elopement-style session! Jessi and Alec got married at the courthouse and celebrated with family later in the week, but they wanted photos in all their garb downtown prior to the festivities, and we were happy to oblige. They are such a sweet couple, and into all things science. They met at an observatory (I believe Alec proclaimed himself the King of the Observatory at one point, which is a truly amazing and wonderful title) and have been having outdoorsy and sciencey adventures together ever since. They also like good music and movies and can ride a rented bike downtown like nobody’s business. It’s not easy to get on one of those things wearing a significant amount of tulle or a suit, but they managed quite well. We hit up all their favorite local spots in Durham (shout out to Viceroy for being nice enough to let us take a few inside!) and got to know this awesome pair. Congratulations to Jessi+Alec!

Cortney+James+Georgia // Family Session

We have a special place in our heart for Cortney and James! We photographed their wedding nearly 8 years ago, shortly after our own wedding, and during a time of my life when I was quite sick with a mystery illness. Both Cortney and James are chiropractors, as well as Cortney’s dad, and their family was aware of my various medical problems because I was in the emergency room several days before their wedding, but released without a diagnosis (something that had happened multiple times that year, despite every test being run under the sun from both Duke and UNC). Cortney’s mom Paula convinced me to go see Cortney, and since then she diagnosed and solved not only that illness, but many, many more random illnesses to come. I am the queen of having completely oddball stuff go physically wrong and not having any conventional doctor be able to solve it, and Cortney has fixed me every single time. Gluten intolerance? Cortney! Random things that went wrong throughout my whole system as a result of gluten intolerance? Cortney! Shoulder problem that was repeatedly misdiagnosed by several orthopedic doctors? Cortney! Random stabbing pain in my brain after receiving a cortisone shot from another ortho? Cortney! She has diagnosed and fixed so many things, and I truly would be a hot mess of medication without her, instead of not being on any meds at all. So basically, Cortney is my lifeline, and I love her and owe my physical wellness to her badass wealth of knowledge.

In addition to being our chiropractic heroes, Cortney and James are also dear friends and neighbors. They have a dog named Buddy who is very fluffy and smiley and who I desperately have tried to befriend so I can pet. But alas, Buddy is quite shy, and despite meeting us repeatedly, usually hides behind James or Cortney when he sees us. However! We had a true breakthrough during this session by simply giving him dog treats. Turns out, Buddy is won over with food, and suddenly became our best friend and dog model. I was able to pet him a lot, and I was happy (we’ll see what happens next time we see Buddy out and about, but we’re hoping he remembers). We also attempted to win over their adorable human child Georgia (18mo), who was never quite as convinced about us as Buddy was despite a wide variety of coaxing tricks. But this was probably because she just woke up from a nap (to be fair, I am exactly the same way). However, she came out of her shell when walking buddy and being tossed in the air. Next time we’ll try giving treats to her too and see if it works. Georgia is an excellent, A+ dog walker who also enjoys dandelion puffs, baby dolls, the Lion King, spotting bunnies across the street, trolls, Buddy, and her mom and dad. Cortney and James woke up the next day to Georgia running around saying, “Carolyn! Geoff! Carolyn! Geoff!” so we must’ve made quite the impression on that sweet little lady. We love this entire family to bits.