Raleigh Wedding Photographer in Stem, NC: Jenna+Josh

Jenna and Josh’s wedding was one of those super chill, relaxed, southern, backyard weddings that makes a northern girl like myself want to say “ya’ll.” There was BBQ, a little friendly dog, the cutest flower girl in the world, and homemade sweet tea that Jenna and Josh bottled themselves. They were married in front of huge North Carolina pines in Stem in the backyard of Josh’s parents’. Then they ate, danced, and played cornhole on the gorgeous property until the stars came out (and then they danced some more in the car port).

Jenna and Josh have been wonderful clients this whole year – having me do their engagement photos and pictures of the adorable Jack and Lola (their dogs) – and I was happy to see their wedding finally arrive. Josh works in the narcotics department for the police, and Jenna is a 911 operator. Together, they are a super sweet and nice couple with equally super sweet and nice family and friends. Enjoy their southern wedding!

Date: September 10th, 2011

Ceremony and Reception Venue: Private Residence

Officiant: Pastor Ronnie Bradford

Cake: Judy Kendrick

DJ: Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment

Florist: Lisa’s House of Flowers

Decor: Lorna+Fran Perry and Rhonda+Bobby Walters

They had a lovely little space between two trees where they attached a large rope and had pictures hung up with clotheslines across it. There is nothing better than seeing little kid pictures of people who you didn’t know when they were a little kid. :) These cracked me up! Little adorable Jenna and Josh grew into very beautiful Jenna and handsome Josh. :) Loving Little Jenna’s hair clip and Little Josh’s rad Ninja Turtle sweater!

Congratulations, Jenna+Josh! We hope you had a wonderful honeymoon and wish you nothing but the best with your new family (yourselves and the dogs… which, obviously, were already family… but, well, you know what we mean). ;)

Raleigh Wedding Photographer in the Outer Banks: Lori+Hassan

We weren’t really supposed to shoot this wedding initially, but we were sure glad it happened that way. :)

I did Lori and Hassan’s engagement pictures in January, which, at this point, seems like eternities ago. Her engagement session inquiry email to me stated, “We’re planning a destination wedding and will most likely pick a local photographer there for the big day.” That’s totally cool and happens a lot. So I went about taking engagement pictures for them in downtown Raleigh on the coldest winter morning ever! I remember shaking, I remember Wrigley, their adorable dog, shaking, but them being very good sports. Well, low and behold, they received their engagement pictures back and decided to book Geoff and me for their Outer Banks wedding. We were super excited, thankful, and honored.

Since their engagement, I’ve photographed their dog and Lori’s bridal portraits and feel like I know them quite well. I wasn’t nervous, they weren’t nervous, and the whole wedding was smooth sailing at the Outer Banks. Well, we were slightly nervous the week before when Hurricane Irene hit the coast and flooded their reception venue under 4 feet of water. But the town of Manteo did a fantastic job of cleaning up, and 108 Budleigh looked brand new. :) It was heart wrenching to see the damage done to some of the areas on the drive in (both structure damage and crop damage).  But all in all, Roanoke Island fared quite well… much better than expected… and the houses had little to no outside damage. Thankfully, it was all very beautiful on their wedding weekend and everyone was thankful. Lori and Hassan enjoyed their beautiful Outer Banks wedding and we were so happy to be there with them to celebrate.

Date: September 4th, 2011

Ceremony Venue: St. Andrews by the Sea Episcopal Church // Nags Head, NC

Reception Venue: 108 Budleigh // Manteo, NC

Officiant: Rev. Phillip Glick

Day-of Coordinator: Karen Kelly, Coastal Event Coordinators

Cake: Linda Bradley

DJ: Don Vaquera, Soundwavz Entertainment

Catering: Lisa Ortega, Ortega’z Grill

Florist: Monica Witt

The newspapers from before Irene hit were still in the newspaper display case.

Thanks to Geoff for second-shooter, as usual. ;) He took a bunch of these photos, including the candid on the right that made me laugh when I saw it… Lori’s dad is fixing his suit jacket I’m pretty sure… but it kind of looks like he’s ready to knock Hassan out. ;)

There are no pictures from the wedding ceremony as St. Andrews by the Church does not permit photography except for the bride entering and exiting. Here is our incredibly lovely bride and handsome groom exiting their ceremony. :)

Lori and Hassan requested their newlywed pictures to be at the Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse in Manteo near 108 Budleigh, their wedding reception. It’s an adorable little lighthouse that looks like a cottage stuck out on a pier. Very cute!

I have been waiting to do groomsmen cigar pictures for a long time. Yessss.

The next day Geoff and I hit the beach for a short period and hiked up Jockey’s Ridge (last picture). I love out of town weddings as it kind of feels like I’m on vacation, even though I’m working. :) Barely noticeable is a Toy Story band-aid on Geoff’s hand in the picture below… proof of him being bit by the hotel’s pet Cockatoo in the lobby. It was kind of hilarious except that there was a decent amount of blood. But not so much that a Toy Story band-aid couldn’t fix it. ;)

Thank you, Lori and Hassan, for bringing us out to the coast with you! Thank you, too, to the wonderful, polite, and super nice bridal party and family. You were all so great to work with!

Raleigh Wedding Photographer in Durham: Martha+Justin

How much do we love Martha and Justin? Let me count the ways:

1. They took us to Chicago for their engagement session.

2. Martha likes to send me links about glow-in-the-dark cats.

3. They agreed to a Back to the Future themed wedding… but somehow that fell through.

4. They are smart: Justin is an astrophysicist and Martha is some sort of developmental biologist who holds some sort of job studying fish hearts (sorry, Martha, for butchering your official title… all I can remember are fish hearts).

5. They wanted to have their final consult over pizza… and any couple that wants to have a consult over pizza is a-okay with me (gluten-free for me, of course).

There are lots of other ways, but we all know I’m bad with math and science, so I’m going to stop at 5 because that’s a reasonable number. May we now present to you Martha and Justin’s wedding! It was full of sciencey goodness, rolling heads, blue shoes, and lots of salsa dancing. Read on, friends!

Date: September 3rd, 2011

Ceremony Venue: Immaculate Conception // Durham, NC

Reception Venue: Kirby Horton Hall at Duke Gardens // Durham, NC

Day of Coordinators: C and D Events

Catering: Durham Catering

Non-Bouquet Florist: Dan and Ethel Vogel

Bouquet Florist: Flowers on Broad Street

Transportation: Jason Clark

Cake: Daisy Cakes

Hair/Makeup: Posh the Salon // Durham, NC

DJ: Cortland Williams

How pretty is our Martha? I loved her hair and veil. It fits her spunky personality perfectly. She’s beautiful! Also, digging the blue wedding shoes.

Their wedding centerpieces were fantastic. They laid pieces of different fabrics down the tables as runners, but the fabric was patterned and gave the tables a sort of antique-y feel. They coupled these with wild flowers in mason jars and old-timey science books. Yes, there was Solaris and Space Odyssey. It was an adorable and very tasteful way to incorporate their love of science. :) Later (a few pictures down), you’ll see their computation guest book and the little tubes that Martha took from her lab to fill with M&Ms as favors, haha. Brilliant!

Martha’s wedding ring is a sapphire and we loved Justin’s tie!

The stories behind the pictures below: Martha and Justin had a regular first dance, but they also had a choreographed dance. You see, Martha and her family are super good salsa dancers. Martha’s family frequently make fun of Justin for his white-boy dance moves, so Martha’s been teaching him. I’d say he’s doing quite well.

While it ended in tragedy, it was the best cake cutting ever while it lasted. Note Martha’s head in the middle tipping a little too far to the right… then it’s gone. Martha came up to me afterward and said, “So what does that mean?” and I said, “Good luck?” :) Justin was very concerned.

Geoff and I excessively documented the little boy below throughout the afternoon, as neither one of us can resist a kid playing a Gameboy in the middle of a wedding. The following are pictures of this adorable ring bearer being completely in the zone while everyone dances away around him.

Loved the streamer exit, Martha’s dad’s exit, and Geoff’s awesome picture below to the right. :)

We love you, Martha and Justin! I’d say good luck and that we’d hope to see you in the future but we have a pizza date in the near future… and I hope that you both find jobs in Raleigh and get used to the total lack of public transportation so that Justin doesn’t get too sad and convince you both to move back to Chicago. It’s warm here! And we like you guys a lot!