Amy and Jon “…are Californians who hail from Los Angeles but we are not snooty and we hate juice fasts.” :) I can’t speak for the juice fasts, but they certainly aren’t snooty and are up for practically anything. They’re happy-go-lucky people who just happen to be really really pretty. Despite moving back to California this month (this time to the San Francisco area), they wanted to have engagement pictures taken in Durham since it means a lot to them. They moved here when Jon decided to attend business school, and together they adopted their first puppy and got engaged. So even though they’re moving back, they’ve come to really love Durham and see it as a big part of their relationship. They wanted nature, tall trees, skylines, American Tobacco views, and urban city backgrounds. So we ran around the Eno! We hopped around downtown! We did all this without anyone contracting poison ivy and only running into only ONE instance of urine around an elevator! :D You can’t ask for a more successful session than that. ;) So with these pictures we bid a fond farewell to Amy and Jon and wish them the best of luck returning to California. Durham will miss you!
Way, way back in February of 2010, we photographed our 5th wedding ever of Dottie and Jon (ignore the ill-fitted blog post pictures, they’re leftover from an old blog formatting, but here it is!). Ariana was the maid of honor, and Matt was the best man. They talked and danced and were generally adorable, so Geoff and I were under the impression that they were already dating. We found out recently that it was actually the first time they were meeting. :) Awesomely, we have pictures of it, and now here we are, five years later, photographing their wedding. It is not only awesome to be a part of their first meeting, but it’s amazing to know that they’ve followed us all this time and asked us to be a part of their wedding day as well. They’re lovely, talented, beautiful people and we’re so honored to be a part of their lives! Plus, we got to see Dottie, Jon, and their families (including their 3 year old son!) again after five years, so it was a great reunion for me and Geoff too. :) I’m not going to write too much as I’m trying to make my posts a little bit shorter (next to impossible), but enjoy the pictures, feel the love, and enjoy the first kickoff to our 2015 wedding season!
- Date: March 28, 2015
- Ceremony and Reception Venue: The River Lodge at River Landing // Wallace, NC
- First Dance: “The Luckiest” – Ben Folds Five
- Ariana’s Occupation: Freelance musician and cello teacher
- Matt’s Occupation: Bioprocessing Associate at Humacyte
- How You Met: At our Best Man/Maid of Honor’s wedding. If I remember, you guys were the photographers?
- Interesting Fact: We bonded over our love of music. Mostly The Beatles.
- Honeymoon: The Earth.
- Vendor Credits: Officiant – Pastor Mac Schafer | Band – Davis Messina Band | Florist – W Designs and jaGG Classic Wholesale | Cake – Uprising Bakery | Caterer – Mad Boar Restaurant | Hair – Keisha Mangum of Clip TeaZe Salon | Makeup – The Makeup Team of NC | Ceremony Musician – Victoria Walls, Piano
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