Leila and Colin have quickly become two of our favorite people, and they’re so stupidly easy to work with that our job looks/seems/feels like the easiest job ever when we’re with them. They’re giggly and laugh a lot and look really good and also have a dog named Bobby (Mr. B/Chicken Boy). Bobby is from Bulgaria (we had a cat from Russia last month, and now are looking forward to our stint of foreign pets), and also appeared at their wedding in Asheville last year. Bobby wasn’t sure how he felt about Leila at that point. He is very close with Colin, and was, perhaps, somewhat jealous when Leila entered the picture, holding a truly cat-like grudge in a totally benign situation. However, we are proud to announce that since the wedding, Leila and Bobby’s relationship has turned a corner when Colin had to travel for work, leaving Bobby alone with Leila for a week. Bobby then realized that Leila was ALSO nice, and would ALSO feed him and walk him and cuddle with him, and now Bobby has truly accepted both of his parents and is 100% supportive of their marriage (thank goodness). This photo session was a celebration of Leila and Colin’s love for each other and also their enduring and endearing relationship with Bulgarian Bobby. All three of them are moving to Boston shortly, which I think should inspire a new sitcom called Bulgarian Bobby in Boston, which I would surely watch. We’re so glad to have photographed this crew yet again, and glad that Leila hasn’t texted us to tell us that Bobby got sick after eating a chicken bone found on the roof of a garage during the session, so we’re going to assume he’s okay.
Winter weddings are always so lovely and this one was no exception. Elizabeth and Catherine, whom you may remember from their engagement session last spring, were married during a late morning ceremony at The Cotton Room in Durham in December. Their old rugby coach officiated, and they were surrounded by family, friends, and just a little bit of snow. :) It’s pretty rare to snow around here, and even more rare to snow during the day (for some reason our snow frequently comes in at night). Oftentimes the snow is actually ice. This snow consisted of large, puffy, beautiful flakes that added a bit of magic to the day, even though the snow didn’t stick. It nicely complemented the gorgeous winter decor of lit trees and candles and it all felt very warm and fuzzy.
Elizabeth and Catherine did a first look that they were so excited for after keeping everything about their outfits secret from each other for months. They also gave out adorable T-Rex and Narwhal printed glasses as their wedding favors that I’ve been drinking from ever since (I wash it in between drinks, don’t worry). The placecards were little pieces of round wood that Elizabeth engraved by hand, and everywhere you turned there were adorable pictures of them as children (these are my favorite things to look at during weddings). They had a lovely wedding and have a lovely marriage, and we couldn’t be more excited to see these two wonderful people get married. Congrats, Elizabeth and Catherine! We couldn’t have ended our 2017 season on a better note.
– Date: December 9, 2017
– Ceremony + Reception Venue: The Cotton Room // Durham, NC
– First Dance Song: “Ho Hey” – The Lumineers
– Catherine’s Occupation: Community Organizing (State Director)
– Elizabeth’s Occupation: IT Audit (Manager IT Audit, Data Governance)
– How You Met: Rugby!
– Interesting Fact: We have Broadway season tickets at DPAC as Catherine is an avid Broadway fan. E does crossfit and talks about it incessantly. Catherine likes to take long silent bike rides alone while listening to podcasts about TV. We are also huge wine fans and are taking a wine tour in Spain!
– Honeymoon: Spain
– Vendor Credits: Officiant – Sarah Deane // DJ – Ali Kaba // Florist – Petal & Oak // Cake – Cinda’s Creative Cakes // Caterer – The Cotton Room // Hair+Makeup – Evanna Coe & Jennifer Panther // Coordinator – Ari Ball
These two! We heart them. They ran around some parks in Durham with us and told us lots of hilarious stories and were really fun to be around when we saw a really creepy/suspicious guy running creepily/suspiciously around some creepy/suspicious historical buildings filled with creepy/suspicious stuff and also probably ghost children. Abbi and Olivia are from the middle of Pennsylvania but live down here in NC now, and they wanted a rustic sort of engagement session with the whole rustic building thing and vibe and a field. And I know of this great field in this one park. But then we got there and the field had been cut down for the winter and we were just left with that dude and the ghost children. They took it all in stride and commented how it also looked like the set of The Conjuring.
Before we got there, we explored yet another park that was wonderful and woodsy with their two year old pup named Maizee. Maizee is an adorable free spirited doggo who wore a lovely flower collar and was in love with Geoff. Also in love with treats. Also in love with life and running and being a doggo. It was cute.
Abbi and Olivia are really cute too. Like, really cute. Also, they got injured more on this engagement session than we’ve ever had anyone get injured before, but mostly because they enjoy running into each other at high speeds. They are really fun and Olivia can throw things really far. She has a history of throwing things (discus, javelin, hammer) and then she threw a pinecone for us and it went super far. Abbi grew up in a military family and has lived in a bunch of states. They like to fish and are outdoorsy and are really wonderful lovely people who are getting married up in PA next year, and we wish them all the best. We hope Olivia throws a bouquet REALLY REALLY FAR and everyone has to go chase it a long distance.