Baby Bird

Celia Pyle and Ben Whited are both accountants, which means they have a lot in common. Now they have even more in common as on the weekend of June 12th, 2010 they were wed at Fearrington Village while surrounded by family and friends. They had planned a garden ceremony but the weather had other plans for them. One of the wonderful things about Fearrington is that even their rain site, the garden terrace, is gorgeous. Of course, right after the ceremony the sun came out so we were able to do their portraits with the rolling hills and cows in the background.

You will see an obvious bird theme to this wedding as Celia’s childhood nickname is baby bird. How great that their reception site is home to many families of barn swallows? You can see their wedding story by clicking on the image below. To see the WHOLE STORY visit their gallery.

Dark clouds were rolling in as we arrived at Fearrington. The cows didn’t seem to mind.

Ben adjusting his bow tie, was quiet and pensive beforehand. Celia was giddy.

The wedding took place in front of the large, stone fireplace in the garden terrace. How nice that even though it is raining all the guests had a dry, comfortable place to sit and the ceremony still took place amid the lush greenery.

It stopped drizzling right after the ceremony. Everyone was in a jubilant mood as the sun came out.

The two Pyle sisters and their husbands.

The sun had just set as Celia and Ben entered the barn for their first dance. You can tell they love to dance together!

Baby birds as cake toppers. This was the most beautiful cake I have ever seen at Fearrington! You can see more photos of it in the wedding story above.

And some real, live baby birds nesting in the barn entryway.

Celia’s dad had the idea of stringing up even more lights on the barn ceiling. Paired with the incredible flowers it was a gorgeous reception.

The happy couple had many moves which thrilled their guests.

This was the first time I have seen a groom carry his bride all the way out of the reception for their farewell. Congratulations, Ben and Celia!!!

I heard back from Celia about her wedding story. This is what she had to say, “The pictures are fabulous!! You captured all of the funny and fun moments I remembered (and the ones I didn’t get to see!) I cannot thank you enough for all that you did on that rainy Saturday ”

And her mother, Sue, said, “You hit it out of the park, Kristin! You captured the emotion of the day. We’re delighted!”

Mr. and Mrs. Doctor

Two doctors marry. They are blessed with three beautiful children, a girl and two boys. Their daughter grows up playing soccer and then attends Duke University. She also becomes a doctor. Then, on May 30, 2010, she marries another doctor. Thus the cycle begins again!

John and Lauren tied the knot in a shady grove at Fearrington Village. Lauren’s bridesmaids wore purple and John’s groomsmen were in the classic- tuxedos with a black tie. The ceremony was followed by a cocktail hour in front of the barn and a reception inside with music by The Maxx, a wonderful band I have seen several times. I don’t think the band had ever witnessed such a crazy, fun group of dancers!

To see their WEDDING STORY just click on the slideshow below. You can scroll down further to see some the highlights. If you want the WHOLE STORY visit their WEB GALLERY.

Sarah got this great shot of the engraved rings with her macro lens.

Lauren was one of the most relaxed, smiley brides I have ever worked with. But right before she walked down the aisle she took a moment.

This is my favorite area in Fearrington for ceremonies. It is quiet and shady and accommodates many guests.

The stately crew.

Their friends insisted on a special entry to the barn.

After their first dance folks were seated to eat. I saw that the sun was beginning to set so I asked Lauren and John to come out to grab a few quick photos. Earlier in the day the cows had been out of site and now they were back. Everyone wants photos with those cool cows!

Spontaneous crowd surfing!

I heard back from Lauren about the photos. Here is what she had to say, “The pictures are AMAZING!!! Completely negated all hopes of productivity these past two days Thanks so much, for everything!”

Great Idea for Tables

This past weekend we completed the wedding story of Lauren Simel and John Lewis. We have been photographing them since last year when I met them on the Duke Campus for their engagement portrait. Then, Lauren came to the studio last month for her bridal portrait. Lauren had a great idea for using all these great images in her wedding reception decor. She chose her favorite images from both sessions and had them changed to black and white and and printed to 4 x 6 inches. She then put them in beautiful, pewter frames and placed them on each of her reception tables. It really tied the room together and the framed images could then be used for gifts. They also enlarged their favorite image to 8 x 10 inches and placed a large matt around it so that wedding guests could sign their well wishes. This matted print was surrounded by a family history of framed prints. This display was the first thing guests saw when they entered the reception. I just love it when I can collaborate with a client on such a fun project!


Here are two of my favorites of the newlyweds. More to come, soon!

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.

Coffee Table Album Layout

Regan and John Trent were married on April 4, 2009 at Fearrington Village. Their package came with three mini albums, an 11 x 14 canvas print and a coffee table album. We finished the first two items right after the wedding, but they needed some time to come up with their list of favorites for their album. I just finished the layout for their 10 x 10 inch book. These are my favorite four spreads. You can see the whole album HERE.

July 4th Wedding

On July 4th, 2009 I celebrated the independence of this great nation with a great group of folks at the wedding of Melanie Falco and Ryan Melcher. They had a lovely afternoon wedding at Fearrington and danced well into the night in the barn. Wow, could this crew dance! You can see their fancy footwork at this SLIDESHOW of the best images from the day. Or, if you prefer to view all their images they also have an on-line GALLERY. Below are my three favorite imges of Melanie and Ryan.



After sending out the slideshow and gallery to Melanie and Ryan I heard back:
Hey Kristin—I just looked at our slideshow and gallery for the past few hours!!! We LOVE all of the pictures. We are so very happy with them. Thank you so much for really capturing our wedding day for us. I cannot stop looking at them!

Caroline Loves to Dance! Luckily, so does Josh.

I was so pleased to be back with the Swain family as they celebrated the wedding of Caroline to Josh Strehle on June 27, 2009 at Fearrington Village, North Carolina. This was one of the most joyful celebrations I have ever been to! I think this SLIDESHOW says it all:

We have also created a GALLERY of all of the their wedding images, including Caroline’s BRIDAL PORTRAIT.

I sent this slideshow to Caroline this evening just so she could get a sneak peek before I went live and she had this to say:
OK, I’m not even halfway through and I am laughing and crying and SOOOO happy!! I will give you an update when I finish!!!
In the next email she said:
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the pictures, Kristin! I look like a smiling, dancing fool in all of them, and that is SO ME!! Yes, please go ahead and upload…I approve!!
Thank you so much Kristin, for all the memories you captured so perfectly!!!

And with that, I am off to the beach for the week with the kids. Scott is out of town on a delightful trip to Croatia instead of in front of the computer, so KPO Photo will be closed until July 27th. Enjoy!!!

Remember to Breathe

The title of this blog post refers to the first photo in this series. Imagine it is two hours before your wedding and you have been planning and dreaming and working for this day for years. The dark skies outside are threatening to dampen your perfectly imagined garden wedding. The zipper on Becca Harrison’s dress, (even though it really did fit and she is wonderfully trim) just didn’t want to go up. Her mom and best friends struggled behind her to get the dress closed. Then, Becca remembered to breathe. She had been holding her breath due to the stress. I just love the look of relief on her face. Congratulations to Becca and Ian Chodos!
See their GALLERY.
See their SLIDESHOW of the best images set to music.


Quite often a couple chooses to see each other on the day of their wedding before they walk down the aisle. Reasons differ from wedding to wedding but Ian and Becca chose to do this so they could get all of the portraits out of the way and also to sign their Ketubah. In Jewish weddings, this is the wedding contract between the bride and groom. It is always a great moment!






Becca’s mom, Cora, decided to go the extra step of having the barn professionally lit. It really was beautiful!

Here is what Becca had to say about her photos, “We LOVE the photos from our wedding. You truly captured the laughs, commotion of all those kids, energy, people etc. It’s just going to be hard to pick which ones to include in our album. The slide show is so sweet and the wedding best are also a great group of photos. Thanks for everything Kristin. I couldn’t have imagined anyone but you taking our photos on our wedding day that we’ll cherish forever. I will definitely recommend you.”

Becca Harrison Chodos