KPO Photo at the Carolina Inn Bridal Fair

This past Sunday I spent the day at the Carolina Inn catching up with some of my favorite wedding professionals and meeting with a lot of folks with wedding fever. The Carolina Inn Bridal Fair is the only show we do each year because it is truly a site to behold. The already stunning hotel is decorated to the hilt and top wedding professionals in the area bring their best work to inspire people who are planning a wedding for 2010 or 2011. Here are some of my favorite images from the show.

On the left is the Old Well Ballroom and on the right is a stunning table designed by La Fete Weddings.

After the forced postponement due to the snow storm, it was great to see the show so busy! This was the view from the Chancellor’s Ballroom.

On the left are flowers from Tre Bella and on the right is a table by An Elegant Affair. I saw a lot of kelly green, black and white and fun lighting. So different from the brown and blue craze of the past few years!

On the left is a floral design that mimics a wedding cake by Purple Puddle. On the right is a tea table designed by Floral Dimensions.

And, finally the KPO Photo table at the show. See you again next year! Thanks to Bea Miller of Floral Dimensions for the flowers. And a HUGE thanks to Julie McCay and Ashleigh Collins and their team at The Carolina Inn who do an incredible job year after year!

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Our Last Wedding of 2009

We had a wonderful last wedding of the year on Halloween. Fearrington Village was in full Halloween mode, the weather was warm and even the moon was in rare form to celebrate the wedding of Margo Ginsberg to Sam Straus. Some people refer to this couple as high school sweethearts, but that’s not accurate. They did know each other in high school through mutual friends, mainly Nick (their Best Man). They sat at the same lunch table (”The Table”) for two years along with much of their wedding party. Many of their friends from East Chapel Hill High School were in attendance at the wedding.

But it wasn’t until after high school that Sam and Margo fell in love. In January 2002, Sam visited Margo at Salem College where they watched a video in a dorm room. That night, she walked him out to his car and they had their first kiss and the rest, as they say, is history.

You can get the full story of their lovely wedding/ masquerade ball in the SLIDESHOW below. Congratulations, you two! Thanks for helping us finish up our wedding season in style! We have also created a GALLERY of all their images where you can buy prints and other products.

The Devil is in the Details

Lauren Murphy and Eric Dixon had each been at Duke for more than 3 years before they were introduced. Perhaps Eric had stood behind her in line at Chick-fil-A, maybe Lauren had sat across from him on the East-West bus, but who can know if such coincidental encounters ever occurred? It seems the fates were taking their time to draw the two together.

But on a chilly Halloween night in 2003 Eric and Lauren found each other. Lauren, dressed as a stunning Genie, and Eric, in a less-than-fearsome child-sized Gladiator costume, were both invited to the same Halloween gathering. In their remaining semester at Duke, Lauren and Eric were inseparable. They enjoyed every minute of each other’s company, and they did all they could to make up for both the years it had taken them to meet and the short time they had remaining. Shortly after they graduated, they reluctantly parted ways.

Lauren returned to Washington DC to begin her career at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and later made the move to New York City to work with the Whitney Museum of American Art. Eric returned to California to ski and toy with the idea of writing, and later spent time in Europe working with the Center for International Environmental Law. While geographical distance kept them apart, they never stayed out of touch for long, and each always remained in the other’s thoughts.

After Eric was admitted to UCLA School of Law, the two decided that 3000 miles wasn’t enough to keep them apart. Through the constant connection of cell phones, and flexible sharing of travel duties, Lauren and Eric nurtured the bi-costal romance that still thrives today.

On October 10, 2009 they made their union official. They were married at 6 p.m. at The Duke Chapel followed by a beautiful reception at The Carolina Inn. I think their story is told best in the SLIDESHOW below. We have also posted a larger selection of their wedding photos in their GALLERY. It is from this gallery that you can purchase prints and other products.

Here is what Lauren had to say about her photos, “Everyone LOVES the slideshow and just thinks the images are stunning. There are SO many to choose from but I think my favorite is the kiss on Chapel Drive. It turned out perfectly!!”

Wedding Vendors:
Floral Design: Fresh Affairs
Reception Venue: The Carolina Inn
Reception Musicians: Deanna Jones Orchestra
Cake Design: Sweet Memories
Videographer: Reel Life