The first time I met Lyla she was a very sleepy and chill baby and now she has the energy of one thousand highly-caffeinated hummingbirds. Harper, her older sister, is also extremely energetic but concentrates most of her energy in two areas: jumping and changing outfits. She would just…disappear and change her outfit. She changed her outfit no less than 7 times during the session and I told Clare I’d need to go home and apologize to my mother, because I did the same thing when I was Harper’s age, except that I would put the clothes I just wore for 5 minutes into the dirty laundry basket instead of hanging it back up because it really hadn’t been worn, causing my mom to do excessive laundry until she realized what was happening. I’m sorry, Mom. I am glad I’m not alone though; I’m glad some other kid out there is rapidly changing outfits throughout the day as the mood strikes them. I think Harper has a future career in fashion of some sort, and Lyla has a future career as a high-powered CEO for some very cute company like Sanrio or some other business involving sparkles and animals, OR she’ll fulfill her dream job, which is to become Taylor Swift. Both girls are on the path to success and how can they not be when they have Clare and Dan? I love this family and I love their color and pattern-filled home and I love their British accents and for introducing me to a British marshmallow called a Flump. Thank you for letting me be a little part of your life.
You guyyys, meet Beth and Darrin! Beth is the absolute mastermind behind Early Bird Photo and also serves as the photographer for Chapel Hill, Durham, and Chatham Magazines because she’s brilliant. She also sews (she made the kickass dress with pockets she wears in the second half of this session!) and reads and likes to tell you about their dogs and is a total joy. She’s outgoing and easy to talk to and there was a lot of lamenting on both of our parts about the struggles and joys of growing your hair out, cutting it back off again, only to grow it out once more. Darrin, meanwhile, likes to ferment stuff. He ferments a lot of things! Apparently there’s a garlic habanero sauce that is fermented that sounds like I might be tempted to eat it with a spoon but then that would also be a mistake. He also enjoys gardening and cars.
They have two dogs: Willow the Sweet and Fearful, and Rooney the Cutest Dog Butt. Willow spent literally 100% of her time with us actively running away in fear or hiding behind her parents and shaking. We photographed her from far away, did not make eye contact, and did not approach, but it was still SHEER TERROR and she hated every minute of it (hope she doesn’t leave a Yelp review). Rooney, however, is indeed the Cutest Dog Butt, and is fluffy and small and extroverted. He was not fearful despite being a tenth of Willow’s size.
We documented this joyful family of 4 together at all of their favorite spots around town to celebrate Beth and Darrin’s 6+ years together, and now we have four (well, maybe three) new friends. Thanks to Pie Pushers, Letters Bookstore, and Bull McCabe’s for permission to shoot some photos inside!
These guys are my favorite beard+pixie cut combo besides ourselves. They are us, but they’re way smarter and can lift heavier things. They also have a dog and live in South Carolina. Everything else is exactly the same. I’d adopt them if I could, or be adopted by them, or at the very least sew ourselves into one giant footie pajama and walk around together all the time. They are Elizabeth+Rich, and there they are on their engagement session when we first met them. Now they are back and getting married. And, of course, they had the absolutely brilliant idea of turning it into a food tour wedding. They really like food and food tours and so why not have 30ish of their closest peeps and family get together in Durham for a food tour wedding? THERE IS NOT REASON NOT TO DO THIS.
They were married at The Boiler Room in the American Tobacco Campus among a lot of industrial pipes. Then we went outside and Elizabeth educated us about how the land is moving so that’s why the tiny door at the ATC campus fake lunch counter is so tiny. There was a complicated, sciencey name for this that I’v since forgotten, but it was neat. Then we went to Bull City Burger and I ate a pimento cheese burger and fries while almost crying with appreciation (everyone loves pimento cheese). We all moved on to Alley 26 where there were cocktails and cheer and a fancy salad. Next stop was The Durham where they rented the rooftop and had a bunch of apps including the dozen or so deviled eggs that I ate entirely by myself. We all admired the view of a chilly downtown Durham from the roof, all decked out for the holidays. Then we all walked to the infamous bull (since you have to show people from out of town, it is practically a requirement), and onto Criterion from there where there was cake and coffee and sparklers. It was one of the most darling and endearing weddings we’ve ever had the pleasure to shoot. Chill, calm, friendly, and fun. A most miraculous way to end the year. Congratulations, Elizabeth and Rich, and onward to 2019!
Date: December 16, 2018
Ceremony Venue: The Boiler Room // Durham, NC
Food Tour Stops: Bull City Burger and Brewery, Alley 26, The Durham, and Criterion
First Dance Song: “You for Me” – Blossom Dearie
Rich’s Occupation: Mechanical Engineer, Professor of Physics at Coastal Carolina University
Elizabeth’s Occupation: Professor of Art History at Coastal Carolina University
How You Met: The old-fashioned way: through mutual friends (Ted & Jillian, our witnesses!) at a dinner party in Manhattan (in 2011!)
Interesting Fact: We can’t think of anything, so here is some random trivia: We have an almost 16-year-old mutt named Riesling who is probably curled up on the sofa under a blanket right now. E’s brother and sister-in-law are flying in from Bosnia for the wedding. They win. R used to drive big-rig trucks while he was in college. E was a cheerleader in high school and was voted “most spirited” in her senior class (she still gets 5/5 every semester from her students in the category “enthusiasm for the subject matter”). E spills things (a lot)… there’s a really funny story about our second date. Oh, and neither of us were sure that our first date was actually a date when we planned it. But it was. After it was over, E was so smitten she walked 10 blocks in the wrong direction before she noticed she was going the wrong way.
Honeymoon: Since adventure travel is the norm for us, we thought we’d do something out of the ordinary. We are spending a week at a destination spa in Santa Fe, NM, for all the yoga, cooking classes, and massages we can stand!
Officiant: John Baltes (E’s brother)
Ceremony Music: Tim Fischer (friend)
Florist: Mahtab Pedrami (friend)
Cake: Mad Hatter’s
Caterer: Taste Carolina Gourmet Food Tours
Hair/Makeup: Rock, Paper, Scissors