I used to teach with Jen back when I first moved to North Carolina and she was the best: a great teacher, a supportive coworker, and I was so happy to have met a new friend. When I quit teaching, she remained my friend and actually modeled for me when I started my photography career, agreeing to be pictured in the middle of some grass in a bright plastic purple chair without complaint. ;) Over the years we remained in touch and we knew she started dating this guy named Chris who seemed pretty great based on his Facebook profile (how else do you judge people?). When we finally got the chance to meet him, we were SUPER EXCITED to see that he was every bit as amazing and hilarious and personable as Jen… plus he had a pretty epic beard. Geoff isn’t known for striking up conversations with people he doesn’t know well, and I believe him and Chris sat at a wedding for a good twenty minutes discussing their beards when they first met. Plus Chris didn’t seem disturbed when I told him about my affinity for reading mountaineering disaster books.
Now we’re so excited to be their wedding photographers! They’re getting married in Asheville next year and we couldn’t be happier to be there with them as we love them both a whole lot. It’s that thing where you love your friend, and then they get a boyfriend and you’re not really sure what that person will be like… and then you meet them and they’re just like your friend and so it’s like having two of the exact same friend now so it’s like friendship amplified? It’s awesome. They are perfect for each other… they love the outdoors and nature and beards (Chris’s is longer than Geoff’s now) and they have an adorable one-eyed dog named Gunner who loves water, sticks, and the woods and is scared of cats and children. We hiked through the woods to take their engagement pictures in the fall (yay!) and down to the water. We occasionally stopped Gunner from running gleefully around in order to take his picture for a minute or two, then let him loose again. He only found one unidentifiable bone, so… that’s a plus.
