Monthly Archives: May 2009

Highgrove Estate Wedding & Reception (Bridget + Thomas)

Bridget was one of my most excited brides about her wedding photography and had booked me over a year and a half ago. She and Thomas were married at Highgrove Estate and I must say… she could write a book on how to plan the perfect wedding. Every single detail had it’s place and her hard work and planning paid off to create a unique, fun, and elegant event! I’ve never been to a wedding where they had mimosa’s! I must admit that I was just as excited as her the night before and barely got a good night of sleep. We both arrived at 6:15am. :)

Although it usually takes me at least a week or two before I’m able to post any image teasers from any wedding, I made a promise to Bridget to get a few images up before her honeymoon so that she could enjoy them while she was kicking back in Aruba with her new husband. I’ll be updating this post as I have more time to thoroughly go through all of the images. I’m sure it will end up being one of my longest blog posts to date…

Congratulations you two… and promise me to PLEASE stay off the computer a little bit and relax. THAT is what I’m asking in exchange for these teaser pics…The wedding planning is officially over. Woohoo! Leave the hard work up to me now… :)

Hair/Makeup – Elizabeth Tolley
Flowers (Bouquets) – Fresh Affairs
Flowers (Centerpieces) – Fifty Flowers
Cake – Cinda’s Creative Cakes
DJ – All the Right Grooves


wedding makeup
wedding jewelery
wedding dress shoes
wedding highgrove stairs
wedding highgrove
groomsmen ring bearer
groom wedding
wedding bouquet
flower girl bouquet
flower girl wedding
wedding first kiss
wedding group photo
couple wedding fun formal
wedding flip flops
bride groom cutting cake
reception groom
wedding brothers dance
wedding reception dance
bridal portrait
wedding couple first dance

4 comments

Bridget K. - July 8, 2009 - 7:36 pm

Craig!! I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU once again for everything that you did to capture our day. I will truly cherish the photos you took for a very long time. We have gotten so many compliments on them, and you were truly a standout amongst all of my wonderful vendors. Everyone says it, but all of you helped make it one of the best days of our lives. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!!!

Hair/Makeup – Elizabeth Tolley
Flowers (Bouquets) – Fresh Affairs
Flowers (Centerpieces) – fiftyflowers.com
Cake – Cinda’s Creative Cakes
DJ – All the Right Grooves (Bethany)

Katherine B. - May 29, 2009 - 10:21 pm

These are absolutely beautiful!! Bridget definitely had a reason for being excited to see these!!! ;) It is awesome to see all of her hard and tedious planning all come together, the wedding turned out gorgeous! So much attention to detail, just so elegant…Congrats to she and Thomas!! :)

Melissa - May 29, 2009 - 4:44 pm

LOVE them!! I love the one with Bridget and Thomas walking on the grounds of High Grove and the one of B on the stairs…goregous!!! haha look at the one of me laughing at Molly, she was absolutely adorable! Can’t wait to see the rest. Congrats to Thomas and Bridget and enjoy your honeymoon to Aruba! :)

Aeriel (monstorb) - May 29, 2009 - 4:30 pm

These look great! The whole day (esp. Ms. Bridgette) looks amazing!

The Raleigh Downtowner “Tying The Knot Downtown Raleigh”

Ok… I was able to meet with Leigh and Duncan today and hand them their high resolution digital negatives disc in person. The reason I wanted to do this was because I had a special surprise in store. As my wife will attest, I am pretty sneaky when it comes to surprises… I usually resort to a “fake out” of some sort where I try to lead you down the wrong path so that the surprise totally catches you off guard.

After talking awhile about Leigh and Duncan’s fabulous honeymoon in Jamaica they mentioned what a great reception venue Cafe Luna was and how much they liked the catering manager Ryan. I offered up that I thought that I had read something about them in the magazine the Raleigh Downtowner. They seemed interested and took the bait as I brought over a copy of the most recent issue. They were floored when they saw one of their favorite images on the front cover! You can pick up your own copy right now in downtown Raleigh and soon, you’ll be able to download the .pdf from their website.

I told them that I had been contacted by the magazine just a few days after their wedding with a request for images. They told me they were writing an article about “tying the knot” downtown. I told them I might have a few images that were unique to Raleigh and might fit perfectly.

They ended up using 6 of my images and selected a very happy couple for the front cover! The other couple was Mac and Kim from a wedding last year. Their ceremony was at The Longview Center. The Raleigh Downtowner chose an image of them riding in the Raleigh Rickshaw’s as well as a fun image I composed of them trying to escape from “Jaws” at the North Carolina Science Museum. To get the Rickshaw images I actually rode in one of the rickshaw’s and hung out the side to get some unique perspective shots from front and behind.

I wasn’t expecting to get my hands on the final magazine so soon, but I just happened to see the final copies as I was doing some photography for Restaurant Week yesterday. I had grabbed a bunch and arranged to meet up with Leigh and Duncan.

Leigh left with a smile from ear to ear and was bragging to Duncan how she was going to run around downtown snatching up a bunch of copies. She was beaming about the fact that she was going to be able to show it around the office to her co-workers. Duncan threw his hands up and remarked how he was never going to hear the end of it from their aunt and grandma. Thank you SO much to Crash at the Raleigh Downtowner for making someone’s wedding all that much more special!

I love my job…


raleigh downtowner
raleigh monthly magazine
raleigh downtower
tying  the knot downtown
wedding magazine photo

4 comments

Michelle Robinson - May 21, 2009 - 10:53 am

That is so awesome, Congrats! The photographs are beautiful and I love the one on the front cover.

Lia - May 15, 2009 - 10:43 am

If I had actually read the post before commenting…obviously the did use several of your photos. Wow.

Lia - May 15, 2009 - 10:40 am

You told me about it, but it looks so much cooler now that I actually see it! It looks like they used several of your photos. Awesome!

Joyy - May 14, 2009 - 1:35 pm

AWESOME!!! How cool to see your work featured. I’ll take an autographed copy :)

Cafe Luna Wedding and St. Mark’s Chapel Ceremony (Leigh + Duncan)

This wedding reception from Cafe Luna and the preceding ceremony at The St. Mark’s Chapel is one for the books. I’ve been really excited to post the photographs and I have a lot! The best way I describe the two venues that they chose is that they were warm and inviting. The chapel was located as part of the Mordecai Historic Park and we also took a few fun formals and portraits in the Ellen Mordecai Garden nearby.

After the ceremony was complete guests and the bridal party were transported (by a very photogenic red trolley!) to one of my favorite local restaurants called Cafe Luna. Ryan H. had been the catering manager there for 5 years and she’s a really sweet person. As usual she was on top of everything to make sure the reception went off without a hitch. I love photographing in wedding reception locations that have a lot of yellow. It can create some really beautiful ambient light.

I have some more info to share and will be revealing a special surprise soon but for now I’ll let the photos be a testament to how beautiful and intimate this wedding turned out to be.


st marks wedding chapel
groom groomsmen tux formal
wedding dress portrait
Leigh looked beautiful! I set her in front of a forest green building at the ceremony site for this photo.
bridesmaid maid of honor
I like to have fun with the formals and create a fun atmosphere so the bridemaids and the bride can be themselves around each other.
unique wedding formal photo
bouquet daisy rose hydrangea
bridal gown portrait
bridal portrait casual
A few more shots of Leigh looking radiant.
wedding church
I liked the juxtaposition of the cross in the background and foreground.
small church wedding
Although I didn’t have a lot of elbow room I loved the size of this wedding and took this photograph from the balcony.
bride groom altar
group family photo wedding
It’s not often that ALL of your friends and family are in one place so I’ll sometimes try to get at least on photo to represent that.
bride groom trolley
Quite possibly my favorite photo of the entire day. I had an idea of what I wanted this to look like and they worked with me perfectly to get the shot!
candy wedding favor chinese take out box
Wedding guests were encouraged to create their own “take-out” candy wedding favors using custom printed chinese take out boxes. What a great idea! That’s the last thing I needed was a candy buffet tempting me.
wedding cake flower
wedding toast glasses
Catching these unplanned moments is so much fun…
father daughter dance photo
I REALLY loved the composition of this photo with an ecstatic father of the bride and an emotional mother of the groom in the background. It really shows the connection between two different families.
mother son dance photo
bridesmaids dancing wedding reception
… a true ladies man
father of the bride funny
cafe luna wedding reception
Outside Caffe Luna in downtown Raleigh. I love all of the “moon” themed design inside and out.
bride groom police car
On the run from the law? Notice the police car in the background… I thought we were busted for sure!
downtown raleigh wedding
A perfect ending photo.

5 comments

Aunt Julie - May 11, 2009 - 12:56 pm

Best wishes for a long and happy life together. These pictures are very original and gave Becky and I a look at your special day. Thank you for sharing.

Aunt Becky - May 11, 2009 - 12:48 pm

These pictures are beautiful! So much thought went into the posing of these pictures. Much better than the usual stiff pictures. Makes us feel as if we were there. Good luck to Leigh and Duncan!

Jeanette Cosper - May 11, 2009 - 11:28 am

What a fantastic job you did in capturing such a beautiful moment. Your love for photography shows – Leigh & Duncan are very lucky to have a person like you to be a part of their memorable day.

Leslie Elizabeth Matthews - May 10, 2009 - 8:03 pm

hey there, your photos of leighs wedding were awesome! you do some very nice work!

Leigh Warwick - May 10, 2009 - 3:56 pm

Craig,

You did an amazing job and these pictures are fantastic. I can’t wait to see the rest of your work. Thank you so much for your hard work with Duncan and I.

Leigh Warwick