Molly+John // Merrimon-Wynne House Wedding.

We had a long distance Facetime consult with Molly and John many months ago for their wedding down here in Raleigh, NC and have been so excited to shoot their wedding ever since. They were planning from afar in Washington, D.C. and somehow managed to snag the best team of vendors, all of whom have a special place in our wedding vendor hearts. When we showed up on their wedding day and finally met Molly and John in person, we were amazed at how they immediately opened up to us. They both have great senses of humor and kept us all laughing all day, and everyone had a great time. Fun fact: this was our second wedding with a bride who has an identical twin sister, and I only confused them once initially (of course it helped that Molly put on her wedding dress shortly after I got there). John, while not having an identical twin, does have an amazing head of hair that was admired by many that day. Together with their families and DJ Randy Bennett, the dance floor was officially torn up (figuratively) and ice cream was eaten (literally) and we conquered our first Merrimon-Wynne House wedding. Congratulations to the wonderful Molly and John! Thank you for having us be a part of your day!

  • Date: August 26, 2016
  • Ceremony Venue: Dinwiddie Chapel at Peace University // Raleigh, NC
  • Reception Venue: Merrimon-Wynne House // Raleigh, NC
  • First Dance Song: “I Want You Back” – Jer Coons & Jackson 5
  • Molly’s Occupation: Senior Director of Operations for Nothern VA Chamber of Commerce
  • John’s Occupation: Creative Strategist for VIVA Creative
  • How You Met: Elon University
  • Interesting Fact: We love to dance. We love sports (John is a huge Wiz fan and Molly is a huge Tarheels fan). We love to travel. We have a really interesting dating story. We did four years of long distance – reconnected at a friend’s wedding (good story!). We both love God and our families more than anything.
  • Honeymoon: Maui, Hawaii
  • Vendor Credits: Officiant –Reverend Ray Warren. DJ – Randy Bennett of Joe Bunn DJ Company. Florist – A Watered Garden. Cake – Sugarland. Caterer – Catering Works. Hair/Makeup – Jamie Sturdevant & Shana McLoud. Videographer – M2 Productions. Coordinator – Sally Oakley. Ice Cream – Two Roosters.

Lindsay+Rishi’s Two-Day Wedding(s)

Hey there, readers! Sorry about the long absence. After this wedding at the end of December, we skipped town to be with our families for the holidays and have only recently returned. We’re excited to share our last wedding of 2013 with you and we’re looking forward to the upcoming Year in Review posts in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned!

So while almost all of you are either currently stressed or were recently stressed about your wedding, Lindsay and Rishi planned two separate weddings over two days the weekend before the holidays. Two ceremonies, two receptions, two different outfits, the whole shebang. So right now we’re declaring Lindsay and Rishi the unofficial queen and king of weddings and that’s that until someone decides to out-do them with three ceremonies in a row (although I can’t guarantee that we’d be able to shoot three ceremonies in a row since we were pretty sore from this). Personally, while I haven’t met him, I hold their cat Bogart personally responsible for their zen-like state in organizing all of this since he looks really put-together on Lindsay’s Instagram account.

Day One was a beautiful Hindu ceremony and day two was a traditional ceremony held at the Umstead Hotel which totally holds up to the rumors about how awesome it is (and how awesome their staff is). There were a lot of sequins. And a little known fact about sequins? They photograph awesomely and all photographers love you when you have sequins (this is a proven, irrefutable fact). There were also little elephants, a grown man who did a lot of karate moves on the dance floor, Randy Bennett – DJ extraordinaire, Christmas lights (also another photographer favorite), some random deer antlers, giant pinecones, and a lot of fun had by all. Thank you to Lindsay, Rishi, and their wonderful and welcoming friends and family, and their ever-helpful bridal party for having us! We had an amazing time. Now I apologize in advance for a super long blog post.

Day One.

Day Two.

Date: December 20th and 21st, 2013

Ceremony and Reception Venue for Friday: The Embassy Suites // Cary, NC

Ceremony and Reception Venue for Saturday: The Umstead Hotel // Cary, NC

First Dance Song: “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe” – Barry White

Lindsay’s Occupation: Special Education Curriculum Designer at Relay Graduate School of Education

Rishi’s Occupation: MBA Candidate at University of Chicago – Booth School of Business

How You Met: At UNC – Chapel Hill

Interesting Bride Fact: The bride’s last name is an amalgam of her parents’ last names, but sans a hyphen.

Interesting Groom Fact: The groom swam with the world’s largest fish, and kicked it in the face.

Honeymoon Destination: Mini-moon in Puerto Rico… honeymoon TBD!

Vendor Credits for Friday: Officiant – Shoba Mehta | DJ – Sitar Player | Florist – Tre Bella Flowers (Becky) | Caterer – Raaga | Hair/Makeup – Salon Blu | Coordinator – Priscilla Erwin of Orangerie Events

Vendor Credits for Saturday: Officiant – Justin Savesky | DJ – Randy Bennett of the Joe Bunn DJ Company | Florist – Tre Bella Flowers (Becky) | Cake – Sweet Memories Bakery | Caterer – The Umstead | Hair/Makeup – Salon Blu | Coordinator – Kelley Ann Ward (The Umstead)

raleigh wedding photographer: cortney+james

this wedding is total proof that november weddings are awesome and should not be dismissed as cold or dreary! cortney and james, two super nice and wonderful people, met in chiropractic school and are soon opening up their own business in durham. when i first met them to discuss their wedding, cortney and i found out that we grew up and went to school not too far from each other in pittsburgh and that she went to high school with geoff’s best man for our own wedding! small world!  they are two of the sweetest people i’ve ever met and had great families and friends (i was very popular with the pittsburgh side of the family). ;) they had a beautiful wedding day with the temperature in the low 70s and the leaves just starting to change. their vendors were also fabulous! and, to start making things easier to read, i’m going to begin listing the vendors and their links below to make things a little easier on the eyes.

date: november 13, 2010

venue: 1705 prime

hair: citrine salon

hotel: renaissance by marriot, north hills

cake: sweet memories bakery

flowers: julie liles floral and event design

dj: greg ramsey of the joe bunn dj company

officiant: reverend barbara lodge

musician: harpist elizabeth munch

citrine salon chapel hill

geoff, being a good assistant by sitting on the couch in hair salons on his phone. ;)

citrine salon chapel hill citrine salon chapel hill citrine salon chapel hill

gotta have the jimmy john’s!!

renaissance by marriot north hills bride getting ready renaissance by marriot bride getting ready bride makeup bridesmaids getting ready

cortney and james opted to see each other before the ceremony, or have “first look” pictures. their ceremony was late in the day and the sun set directly afterwards, so it was a great choice to get pictures in before the sun set. also, it helps calm the nerves to see each other beforehand and makes for a much more relaxed day!

first look photos wedding photographs first look

hahaha this picture cracks me up every time i see it. cortney’s, “soo, what do you think??” pose. she was GORGEOUS! she wore a flower in her hair taken from her mother’s wedding day hat and had a beautiful dress that fit her style so well. and i can’t compliment the flowers enough… but maybe that’s because i pretty much had the same ones! ;) so beautiful and perfect for their day.

first look wedding photographs

we had a super handsome and sweet group of gentlemen.

raleigh wedding groomsmen

bridesmaids silver shoes

groomsmen socks 1705 prime bridal party

and look at these good looking ladies!!

raleigh wedding bridesmaids

i am so in love with the following series of couple shots that i feel the need to emphasize how awesome november is for weddings.

raleigh wedding photographer raleigh wedding photographers

cortney is so pretty and james is super handsome and together they will make the most attractive team of chiropractors ever!

1705 prime wedding raleigh raleigh november wedding 1705 prime wedding raleigh red socks and shoes wedding north carolina wedding photographer

1705 prime is one of the best wedding venues in the raleigh area, in my humble opinion. the outside is very southern/old school while the inside is very modern/hip and the food is delicious and wonderful. their staff and wedding coordinator was nothing but fabulous. we have a great time every time we shoot there. we’ll be returning in february for another wedding and i’m definitely looking forward to it.

1705 prime wedding wedding guests

rev. lodge married us in october and we had a nice little reunion. :)

reverend barbara lodge 1705 prime wedding 1705 prime elizabeth munch harpist 1705 prime 1705 prime wedding 1705 prime wedding sweet memories bakery nc 1705 prime first dance

raleigh wedding photographer

the mother of the groom, left, made the fantastic cookies seen on the right for the couple’s cookie table. for those of you who don’t know, it is standard pittsburgh tradition to have a cookie table at your wedding. this doesn’t take the place of the cake, but it’s more like a candy bar sort of thing. if you get married in pittsburgh, you must have cookies. that’s pretty much all i can tell you in terms of history/significance, haha. anyway, the “best cookie ever” was a delicious gluten free cookie that i could actually eat! and it really was the best cookie ever –  i chowed down on these all night!

mother son dance

cortney’s parents moved to raleigh, but her dad still operates his own chiropractor business back in pittsburgh 3 days a week. he was hilarious!! we had a great time talking about the ‘burgh and making fun of geoff for going to valley high school. booo vikings! ;)

father daughter dance 1705 prime reception 1705 prime wedding 1705 prime wedding reception 1705 prime sweet memories bakery 1705 prime wedding reception 1705 prime wedding reception wedding reception

oh hey! it’s just me, your photographer, in your photo booth.

joe bunn dj company photobooth

wedding reception

1705 prime wedding

congratulations and much love to cortney and james for having a beautiful wedding with great friends and family! best of luck in life and your business!