Kate+Parag // Indian-Fusion Wedding at The Rickhouse

Kate and Parag have never met a curry they didn’t like. And it’s a good thing too as their wedding ceremony food was some of the best we’ve ever eaten. They had an American buffet with barbecue! They had an Indian buffet with curry and some other stuff I couldn’t pronounce but was absolutely delicious! They had cake! They had puddings! They had a sundae bar! They had a tater tot bar! This is the first wedding (and potentially only wedding in the foreseeable future) where we literally left so full that we did not eat nachos when we got home. That’s right. No nachos. I don’t know how to explain to all of you the significance of that, only to say that we’ve shot at least 200-some weddings at this point, and we eat nachos after ever single one. So their food was good. SO good.

And Kate and Parag are also SO GOOD. They are perfect for each other and make each other laugh often. Kate has a wonderful set of perfect teeth so it’s good that Parag keeps her laughing so we can admire them. This was their second wedding to each other. Their first was a traditional Hindu ceremony, and this was their American and Indian fusion wedding. Kate sent me the pictures from their first one which were amazing, and Kate wore a really incredible nose ring that was so large it defied the laws of gravity. Their Indian-fusion wedding was lacking in the nose ring department, but it made up for it with amazing henna designs in the shape of little elephants and brilliant colors sprinkled all over their ceremony and reception. There were traditional Indian dances and American popcorn next to the Durham Bull’s old baseball field. The little kids dismantled their incredible floral altar during the reception and threw repeatedly threw the flowers down Parag’s suit jacket, and they danced away the night with their fabulous family and friends. We are thrilled to have been part of Kate and Parag’s awesome fusion wedding, and so glad they came down from DC to celebrate in Durham!

– Date: September 30, 2017
– Ceremony + Reception Venue: The Rickhouse // Durham, NC
– First Dance Song: “There She Goes” – The La’s
– Kate’s Occupation: Graduate Program Coordinator at George Washington University
– Parag’s Occupation: Director of Pharmacokinetics at the National Institutes of Health
– How You Met: Online! Back when OkCupid was a thing.
– Interesting Fact: This is our second wedding! We had a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony this past June – Kate wore an enormous clip-on hoop nose ring. Parag wore Aladdin shoes. It was baller.
– Honeymoon: India and Thailand
– Vendor Credits: Officiant – Rev. Sue Hudson. DJ – Alex from Vox DJ Company. Florist – Tre Bella Florist. Cake – Edible Art Bakery. Caterer – Southern Harvest Catering Company and Raaga. Hair/Makeup – Bella Trio Studio. Videographer – Elegant Imagez. Coordinator – Kelli from The Perfect Plan. Lighting – Get Lit. Photobooth – ZimZoom.

Caroline+Dana // Married at Duke Chapel.

We’ve had a great time getting to know Caroline and Dana… the only couple to ever bring fake mustaches, noses, and glasses disguises with them consistently on every shoot we’ve had together. Dana is a redhead, our most favorite of hair colors, and Caroline almost sounds like Carolyn, so we liked them from the beginning (turns out later that having your name almost sound like the bride’s gets pretty confusing really fast and I did a lot of “fake-out” waving that day to people I thought were calling my name).

They had a stellar crew of vendors, venues, bridesmaids, groomsmen (the best man was the brother of Laura, our bride last year), and everyone pulled together to make it a pretty spectacular day. It was cold but sunny, and despite taking pictures outside where everyone but the guys had exposed shoulders, everyone was a real trooper and a joy to work with. Caroline and Dana are fun. They enjoy bantering with other people, and bantering with each other, and bantering in general. I think they were amused at my horror when Magnolia leaves started getting caught underneath the tulle in Caroline’s dress and she dragged-screeched them across campus (no wedding dress should ever make that noise, and I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from, but I was pretty sure that we all might either be in imminent danger from a dragon… or perhaps I was actively breaking Caroline’s dress). When her dress wasn’t screeching (don’t worry, we made it stop before she walked down the aisle), they had a great day. And when I mean “had a great day”, I really mean it. Neither Caroline or Dana seemed stressed or worried once (if they were, they didn’t show it), and literally seemed to be having a fantastic time all day. And it was contagious. Here comes the joy.

Date: January 31, 2015

Ceremony Venue: Duke Chapel // Durham, NC

Reception Venue: Bay 7 // American Tobacco // Durham, NC

Caroline’s Occupation: Lawyer

Dana’s Occupation: Office Manager at NC State University

How You Met: Through our mutual (and awesome) friend Will, who worked in Caroline’s office a few years back. We went from being friends to being more than that over dinner at the Raleigh Times and a concert by the band Schooner at Kings.

Honeymoon: Kauai, Hawaii

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Rev. Christi Dye | Band – Groovetown | Florist – Tre Bella | Cake – Edible Art | Caterer – Angus Barn | Hair/Makeup – Makeup Culture | Coordinator – Kelley Ann Ward with A Southern Soiree | Hotel – Washington Duke Inn | Stationary – Sweetpress Studio

Jeff with a “J” and Karen get married at Snipes Farm in Chapel Hill

So when we booked client Jeff we thought it would be confusing until we realized that I could just refer to my Geoff as “Geoff with a beard.” Then we found out that Jeff also had a beard. So there were two bearded Geoffs/Jeffs. Then we decided we could refer to them by Geoff with a “G” and Jeff with a “J” but on the actual day of, this pretty much went out the window and we resorted to just having both of them respond whenever I said “Geoff!/Jeff!” and reacting based on process of elimination to whether or not I was having them pose or move out of the way/get me a glass of water.

I didn’t meet Jeff or Karen until the rehearsal, and Geoff didn’t meet either one of them til their wedding, but it was like INSTANT BEST FRIENDS (they either feel the same way or are totally freaked out that I just wrote that). Karen spent a majority of her middle school years seeing the same embarrassing ska bands that I did and has since moved on to stalking Pearl Jam (me tooooo!). Jeff likes bowling and baseball and has a beard and those are the only three requirements that Geoff bases his friendships on, so they were set. They live in D.C. which disappoints us a lot or else we’d be inviting ourselves over to their place a lot but we’ll have to settle for the occasional Facebook, “Hey, what’s up?” and remember how much this wedding totally ruled.

First Dance Song: “You Are The Best Thing” – Ray LaMontagne

Karen’s Occupation: Account Executive

Jeff’s Occupation: Research Consultant

How You Met: We met thanks to two of our friends (a couple themselves and both are part of the wedding parties).  Our first date was a double date with Dave and Alyssa just over 4 years ago.

Interesting Fact About Karen: Loves going to Washington Nationals games – go Nats!!

Interesting Fact About Jeff: Enjoys hunting for vinyls to add to his collection

Honeymoon Destination: CALIFORNIA!  THE TRIP WILL BEGIN IN SAN FRANCISCO, END IN LOS ANGELES, AND INCLUDE PLENTY OF ADVENTURE IN BETWEEN.

Date: September 15, 2012

Ceremony and Reception Venue: Snipes Farm // Chapel Hill, NC

Officiant: Thomas Schott (Jeff’s dad)

DJ: TJDJ Music // Tim Hazell

Florist: Tre Bella // Rachael

Cake: Scratch Bakery // Karen Caffrey

Caterer: Beau Catering // Beau Bennette

Hair/Makeup: Carla White

Coordinator: Orangerie Events // Liz Cantey and Elise