These guys. They’re like us, only they don’t have two cats. But sometimes they borrow their friend’s cat, so they’re basically us. Gretchen and Jason are two of our favorite people. We first met Gretchen doing weddings as she is a fabulous wedding planner. She owns her own business called RedBird Events (go check her website out!) and if you hire both us and Gretchen, you may come across us whispering in a corner somewhere. And it might look suspicious, but really we’re just planning our Halloween parties and comparing notes on costumes. When we finally decided to hang out together in real life, we met her husband Jason for the first time. He showed up wearing this shirt, whose image has been my go-to Facebook timeline image every November for the past several years, and so we loved him immediately.

Interesting Fact about Gretchen+Jason: “Gretchen and I have both dislocated the same knee. It’s our left one. I don’t mean this as a collective shared knee, but that we’ve both dislocated our own knees. Although, now I’m wondering what a shared knee would look like. Assuming we were actually physically joined together at marriage into something like conjoined twins, I’m wondering where we’d connect and how it would look. I’ll ponder this a bit more today.”

Now we are lifer friends and we enjoy their company. Jason does a mean Morrissey impression during RockBand, and Gretchen sings adorable songs that she writes about Star Wars, so they’re kind of my favorite band when you put them both together. Here are some options for their future album cover:

We were so honored to be asked by Sara and Sam, two amazing photographers behind McCormick and Moore Photography in Holly Springs, to shoot some promo shots for them as well as an updated couple session in and around their house. They have four cats so we said absolutely (we would’ve said yes anyway, but sometimes I need the blog to sound dramatic). We got to meet some of the cats (including, briefly, Lady Esmeralda von Poofington, the best cat name of all time), and we also got to teach Sara and Sam how to appropriately name the plagues and diseases that you’re spreading through the world in the board game Pandemic (it’s no fun unless you name them). They like a lot of games and a lot of good tv. Sara likes reading and making jewelry, and Sam likes cooking and the numbers 6 and 28. But when they’re not being awesome at home, they’re being awesome out taking pictures of families, pets, and kids at their photo business, and we couldn’t be happier to be asked to take pictures of these two photographers!

Cat feet Woman and her cat Couple playing board games Cat walking Pandemic board game Couple sitting in kitchen Couple playing board games Couple sitting on couch with cat Cat sitting on back of couch Cat stretching on floor Portrait photographer Sara McCormick portrait photographer Sara McCormick Cats Couple cooking in kitchen Couple cooking in the kitchen Man cooking in the kitchen Cat pawing at back door Man cooking Cat looking out back door Couple snuggling Couple sitting in grass Holly Springs portrait photographers Couple portrait in Holly Springs Couple walking up a hill Couple sitting on bench Cat looking out back door McCormick and Moore Photography Couple standing in garden Couple standing in field Photographer with camera Couple in field Couple standing in field Couple walking Couple hugging Anniversary couple photos Engagement photographer nc McCormick and Moore Photography Man standing in field with camera Couple hugging Photographers Couple walking by creek Couple walking by creek Carolyn Scott Photography Couple walking in woods Couple standing in woods Couple walking out of woods Couple walking out of woods

Nicole+Blake // Married!

We had the pleasure of meeting Nicole for the first time several years ago when she was a bridesmaid at a wedding, and now we are so happy to reunite with her gorgeous self and her amazing  husband Blake! They were married a couple weeks ago at the courthouse and are having a reception in January. Like a ton of our couples, they met online (we should start submitting commercials to Match.com, etc. to receive royalties) and had their first date with some friends at the Carolina Ale House where they instantly clicked. They were married a few months later and now both reside in Raleigh with their adorable dog Lily (despite living in North Carolina, Blake still adamantly cheers for the South Carolina Gamecocks, but begrudgingly agrees with that Lily the dog is an NC State fan along with her mother).

These were to be mostly their engagement photos with a few pre-wedding photos thrown in for good measure before the reception. We did a first look with them in their wedding attire after they changed (Blake hadn’t seen her wedding reception dress yet!) and couldn’t have asked for better weather for a girl in a sleeveless wedding dress. :) It was chilly but the sun was out, and there’s not much more you can ask for this time of year! Lake Johnson has special meaning for them so we happily joined them by the edge of the water for these pictures… and were photobombed by a heron. :) Congratulations to the new husband and wife team, and we’re excited to share their reception with you in a few months!

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