Making Fools of Ourselves: 2015.

Welcome to our 5th annual Making Fools of Ourselves blog post! Yet another wonderful installment to show you just how gross we end up looking on wedding days. Here are more out-of-focus pictures of me looking totally bewildered and overwhelmed, and more photos of Geoff looking perfectly content and calm. More hairstyle changes than you can shake a fist at, more dog wrangling, and more awkward looking yoga poses in a corner while we wait for someone to bring us food. We’re not going to pretend we look good. We don’t. The light’s bad. The backgrounds are bad. We’ve been on our feet for eight hours trying to pose twelve drunken wedding party members and all we’ve eaten is a protein bar. But this blog post serves as proof that…. Geoff… can… stand in for my light metering?… and that I….need a step stool sometimes? I don’t know, you guys seem to like it.

Laura+Josh // Married

We first met Laura and Josh online as we Skyped with them from their place in Brooklyn, NY. Later, as the wedding got closer, we met with them on their family’s property where the wedding ceremony would take place. They thought I’d be taller. I thought they’d be taller (even though they were still taller than I am). Geoff’s tallness seemed accurate to everyone. These guys are real and authentic. They knew what was going to be “them,” and what wasn’t. Nixing a first look that they thought would be too staged, they opted rather for just kind of running into each other in the hallway of the house. In lieu of a wedding party, they had a group of friends dubbed The Special Helpers from all parts and periods of their life, but with no assigned clothing choices for the wedding and with all sorts of different assigned tasks (that they preformed amazingly – especially the ones wielding fake swords to guard Laura and Josh after the ceremony). They wanted a wedding with their close-knit family and friends involved. Many people played a special part, and the wedding was all about family and community.

Josh’s dad is a Rabbi and, strangely enough, was Laura’s childhood Rabbi despite her not ever meeting Josh until much later, in New York, and online. It’s kind of amazing to see that whole storyline come full circle with Josh’s parents discussing what she was like when she was a little girl at the wedding reception of their son. There was a ton of joy, a lot of laughter, and even (my favorite) Locopops. :) We were so thankful to be able to a part of Laura+Josh’s wedding!

Date: August 17, 2014

Ceremony Venue: Private Residence // Chapel Hill, NC

Reception Venue: Judea Reform Congregation // Durham, NC

Laura’s Occupation:  Dancer, dance/yoga teacher for kids and adults, and a graduate student in Education.

Josh’s Occupation: PhD student in Anthropology and Jewish Studies at U Michigan

How You Met: OkCupid in Brooklyn…but it turned out that Josh’s dad was Laura’s childhood rabbi!

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Rabbi John Friedman | DJ – Harren Hunicutt | Florist – Heather Cook | Dessert – Locopops | Caterer – Boxcarr Farms (Austin and Dani) | Hair – Malinda Crump | Makeup – Nikki Johnson | Coordinator – Shind!gs (Heather Cook) | Photobooth – Celebration Photobooth (Paul Syros) | Sound for Ceremony – Brian Pate Entertainment | Dishware – China Dolls | Rentals – American Party Rentals

Katie+Geno’s Engagement Session

Katie and Geno are two beautiful and wonderful people who have one of the most ridiculously silly dogs we’ve had the pleasure of meeting. They recently got engaged and, both being from Pittsburgh, PA, are having the wedding up in the ‘Burgh, but wanted their engagement session to reflect where they currently live down south. We had planned on shooting in Raleigh until an event being held in the exact spot they wanted to shoot in spoiled our plans, so we traveled up to Wake Forest instead to shoot a bit of their session at their place and downtown. Bentley, their very southern dog, accompanied us and spent his time alternating between being adorable and barking at Geoff (it was Bentley’s birthday so he could do what he wanted). We all ran around Wake Forest and got to know each other and how awesome and sweet Katie and Geno are, and how much fun they have together, except when Katie is watching the Hunger Games at night and the screaming occasionally keeps Geno awake. :D We wish these guys the very best for their wedding up north and we were happy to be a part of their engagement down south!