This was a seriously amazing start to 2015, and if it’s any indication of the weddings to come this year, we’ll be in wedding heaven.

Lisa and Curtis are amazingly cute together, and I think that even if it were 110 degrees instead of 45, they still would’ve been just as cuddly. The story of how they met is pretty stellar, and had a big impact on their wedding reception. Lisa and Curt are swing dancers, and Lisa originally saw him during class one day. Curt is blind so he didn’t see Lisa, but he left quite an impression on her and she remembered him. So when they later showed up on each other’s OkCupid accounts as the top match, they each had encouragement from mutual friends to pursue each other, and they are now living happily ever after. :)

Of course, since swing dancing played a big part in their meeting and in their current lives, they wanted to incorporate it in their wedding. Lisa and Curtis hired Peter Lamb and the Wolves, a popular jazz band in the area whom we absolutely love working with, to play at their reception. But not everyone knows how to dance to live jazz of the upbeat variety and they wanted all their guests to have a great time, so they brought in their swing dance instructor Richard Badu (who was also the instructor for our other swing dancing clients Deb+Carey), and had him teach a mini swing lesson to all of their guests before the reception. Richard is an amazing dancer whom we’ve had the pleasure of watching before, but it was great to see him teach! Then it was even more amazing to see all of their guests not only participate, but have some of the most fun we’ve ever seen at a wedding reception. They rotated partners every minute or so, so almost all 120 guests met all the other 120 guests, danced with them, and had a great time. As a result, they had an amazing reception with some incredible dancing (there was a lot of kicking and spinning and Geoff and I had to dodge quite a few limbs in the process of taking pictures). This was a seriously great way to get all of their guests involved, and we loved every minute of it. There’s something so fun about watching people who can actually dance.

Anyway, it was a fantastic day, and we absolutely love Lisa and Curt who were amazing wedding clients for us, and we know they’ll have a long and happy life together dancing the night away. :)

Date: January 3, 2015

Ceremony and Reception Venue: Haw River Ballroom // Saxapahaw, NC

First Dance Song: “Blue Moon”

Lisa’s Occupation: Program Evaluator and Improvement Advisor

Curt’s Occupation: Economics Professor (Game Theorist)

How You Met: Lisa originally saw Curt swing dancing, but then decided to pursue him when he was her top match on OkCupid.

Interesting Fact: Curt is blind. Lisa loves that this fact provides an excuse to hold hands with him ALL the time. They dislike sitting across a table from each other, because they can’t touch without spilling something nor make googly eyes without touching. With only one breath of helium, Lisa can sing the Lullabye League’s Welcome to Dorothy perfectly. Without helium she still gets a B+.  Curt has come in second place at The Monti Story Slam five times. We think he is the most non-winningist winner. Curt has a much better sense of direction than Lisa. She often relies on him for driving directions.

Honeymoon Destination: Still considering the location of a summer getaway.

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Rev. Robin Renteria | Band – Peter Lamb and the Wolves | Florist – Paper flowers by More Paper Than Shoes | Cakes – Guglehupf | Caterer – Saxapahaw General Store and Catering | Hair/Makeup – Kenny Parrella | Coordinator – Cameron Ratliff and Patricia Gallivan (Saxapahaw General Store) | Paper Moon – Dappsy | Wedding Sash – GlamHouse

Mary and Jerem live in Chicago with their calico cat Ella who is one of those adorable two-faced cats where her fur is split down the middle of her head with two different colors. She tried to be a part of the wedding festivities but decided in the end it would be too much of a hassle to make the flight and instead held down her parents’ fort in Illinois. She was, however, part of our Skype consultation with Mary and Jerem, and she must’ve given them her cat-paw of approval because we booked them shortly after (the longer I’m making this paragraph the more delusional and crazy-cat-lady-like I’m seeming, but it’s Friday so give me a break).

We were so excited to finally meet Mary and Jerem in person and work with them on their phenomenal wedding at the ever-amazing Haw River Ballroom! These two have a lot of passion for each other and just about everything else they’re involved in, and it’s evident by how much work they put into this wedding. It’s also evident by the present that Jerem gave Mary the morning of the wedding. When they met, they went on a date. On that date, Jerem received a fortune cookie fortune that said, “Stop searching forever, happiness is just next to you.” Mary, of course, was sitting next to him, and he showed her the fortune. They laughed. Little did she know that Jerem then pocketed the fortune in his wallet and carried it around. For years. Years! He had known that she was the one and kept it with him, only to frame it and give it to her on their wedding day. What! This is romantic movie material right here you guys. Mary cried every time she looked at the frame, and cried every time someone mentioned it to her while she was getting ready (sorry if you’re crying right now again, Mary).

Anyway, their wedding was amazing and these two clearly have a lot to be thankful for. We’re thankful that we had the opportunity to work with them and know them as beautiful and generous people. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to leave you here to look at their pictures while I sneak into Mary’s closet, steal her wedding dress, and wear it around my house every day for the next few months.

mary-jerem

Date: April 5, 2014

Ceremony and Reception Venue: Haw River Ballroom // Saxapahaw, NC

First Dance Song: “Let’s Stay Together” – Al Green

Mary’s Occupation: Attorney (public defender 4 lyfe!)

Jerem’s Occupation: Commercial film editor

How You Met: The old fashioned way: online! OkCupid, baby. Fun fact: Jerem was Mary’s very first online date, ever. Mary was Jerem’s second. Weird, right?

Interesting Fact About Mary+Jerem: We are almost always one of the first couples to start dancing at any wedding. Jerem is a pretty incredible dancer. Mary..less so, but has SO MUCH ENTHUSIASM.

Honeymoon Destination: Belize! We hear there is no snow there. Which is VERY IMPORTANT to those who have survived Chicago’s winter.

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Rev. Robin Renteria | DJ – Blake Burney | Coordinator & Florist – Heather Cook of Shind!gs | Cupcakes – Sugarland Bakery | Caterer – Saxapahaw Catering Co | Hair – Sarah Nathan | Makeup – Rene Lofland

Best things about this wedding:

1. A cat licked my socks. Cari got ready at her and Will’s house. Part of the reason for this was so I could get some pictures of their dog, which I did… but everyone knows that I cannot resist befriending a semi-overweight orange cat, so I soon became best friends with their cat Jack, who proceeded to lick my socks (a sign of approval, I’m sure).

2. A tiny Christmas-town church. Cari and Will were then married in a little church by the Haw River that literally looks like one of those white churches that goes underneath Christmas trees in tiny Christmas towns but nobody’s ever actually seen in real life.

3. Small children meltdown. Family pictures can be a challenging time of the wedding day for a variety of reasons, but this was going incredibly smoothly and went off without a hitch. Our next task was to take a few photos of the ring bearers and flower girl with Cari and Will… which involved a lot of pleading and bribing with lollypops. Some of them bought it for a little bit, but during the last photo one of the ring bearers lost it completely and burst into those really sad little kid hysterical tears… and the next thing we knew, the other ring bearer literally just fell over face first into the ground. It is, perhaps, one of my favorite wedding photos of all time. We are happy to say that the children more than recovered at the reception where they were given sugar, a stage, and lots of spotlights and proceeded to enjoy their time being the center of attention for the first time all day.

4. Sensible attire. Cari wanted pictures in the river with Will, so Cari wore a dress she could move in and flat shoes and came prepared with a fearless attitude toward mossy rocks and we loved it.

4. Temporary tattoos. Their reception had TEMPORARY TATTOOS FOR EVERYONE. This was one of the best things we’ve ever seen at a wedding and one of the most popular. Their tables were random things that meant something to them rather than numbers (a razorback, a Durham bull, canoeing, a guitar, the state of Arkansas, etc), and those random things were on the tattoos. There was a station, and everyone there had a tattoo within 5-10 minutes or so. There was even a temporary tattoo of Geoff’s actual tattoo, the golden spiral, which he still needs to apply so I can get a picture of his tattoo next to his tattoo (he couldn’t roll up his sleeves at the wedding). I had a temporary tattoo of a piano on my arm that Geoff wanted me to use as a prank to convince my mother that I actually got a tattoo but I didn’t want to upset her this close to the holidays.

Date: November 16, 2013

Ceremony Venue: Saxapahaw United Methodist Church // Saxapahaw, NC

Reception Venue: Haw River Ballroom // Saxapahaw, NC

First Dance Song: “Warm Love” – Van Morrison

Cari’s Occupation: Architect

Will’s Occupation: Physician

How You Met: Will and Cari met each other in the fall of 2010. They were introduced by their mutual friend Sarah via G-Chat. Will asked Cari if she could pronounce Gewürztraminer and Cari said “What’s that?” So he invited her to dinner and said he’d bring the Gewürztraminer.

Interesting Bride Fact: Can slalom waterski with no hands.

Interesting Groom Fact: Built an actual igloo and slept in it all night when he was a kid.

Honeymoon Destination: Turks & Caicos!

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Pastor Sue Eldon | Florist – Chapel Hill Florist | Cupcakes – Saxapahaw Bakehouse | Caterer – Saxapahaw Catering Company | Hair – Amy of Syd’s Hair Shop | Coordinator – Cherished Celebrations | Getaway Bus – Greenway Transit