“Nothing but 5 star reviews so far on any of the pages I've seen for good reason! Working with Nikki is wonderful. She photographed our elopement with a week's notice, and in that short time she was professional, communicative, organized, energetic, not just on time but early, etc. etc. etc. We are so lucky she was available and she made our special day easy and fun! I can't wait to call her for our next special occasion! “ — Kirsten

I don’t think I could ever express how thankful I am for my clients. Kirsten contacted me after our mutual friend, Lauren, referred me. It’s kind of funny because Lauren had actually told Kirsten that she should do a boudoir session with me, and Kirsten looked at my website and realized that I did both wedding and boudoir. Hilarious, I am glad she chose me for her wedding photos.

Kirsten and Seppe tied the knot on December 12th. They loved the idea to have their wedding date be a double number—read “12/12.” To be honest, I love that detail, too! Since they decided to elope in Durham, NC, they knew they only had a limited time to actually tie the knot at the courthouse. If you are not familiar with Durham County protocol, they only perform marriage ceremonies 1 hour per day. They break it up to do a 30 minute window in the morning, and then a 30 minute window of opportunity in the afternoon. Kirsten and Seppe chose the afternoon slot, and we met in downtown Durham prior so that we could take advantage of the beautiful snow that graced the city a few days before.

We trotted around near the American Tobacco Campus and even made a pitstop at the beautiful Trosa Tree Lot. Afterwards, we headed back to the courthouse where the couple met two of their dear friends so that they could have witnesses for the ceremony. Later, they enjoyed a nice drink at Ponysaurus, which, is always a fun place to go regardless of the occasion. Oh, and before they left to go to Pony, they sent out a blast email with a photo of them together at the courthouse stating what just happened. By the way, this is an awesome way to elope, just saying!

Congratulations Kirsten & Seppe! I wish you many years of happiness together. Thank you for your trust in me for this wonderful wedding of yours!

Can we talk about the best home, garden, and family ever?! Yes, it's time. What I am about to show you is eclectic, modern, and shows so much southern vintage flare--shot both on film and digital. The parents are both small business owners in the good ol' city of Durham, NC, and still find time to clean their house. This session showcases some new parent vibes along with old family traditions.

Rachael and Chaz have been known to go against the grain, but in style and dreams. Millie, their 5 month old, will definitely grow up a firecracker and will inevitably be the cool kid on the block when she is older. Georgia, their lifelong pup, is completely smitten with the newcomer and she even is seen sporting a flower collar--courtesy of one of Rachael's small businesses, Tre Bella Florist. Chaz from Chaz's Bull City Records  decorated the halls with old school posters of his favorite bands--which we get to see more of when we enter his record store later to document his family. My favorite? Nirvana.

Seriously, you have to swoon with me on this! Love how modern this sweet family is! Oh, and for added measures of awesomeness--this session is featured on Beyond the Wanderlust and Oh. My. Stars.!! You can find their original blog post here.

When your couple tells you that in their travels they make it so that they visit ALL of the breweries together and collect the cute beer mugs from each of them--then you kind of have to give them an awesome engagement session! Marina and Dustin are tieing the knot next October at the beautiful Mayton Inn in Cary, NC, which I think would be perfect for their personalities! Have you been to the hotel?! It's a beauty and has a charm that no other venue can resemble.

Most of our engagement session took place in various areas of downtown Durham, like the Durham Hotel, Alley 26, and even 21C Hotel. We timed our photography session perfectly as we headed to the parking lot that overlooks downtown Durham and the sun set just over the horizon--how lucky were we?!

The kicker? These images were shot on film and I about screamed once my images were developed; I was so happy and I know you will understand why in a few brief seconds. There is something so dreamy about film, the colors are just so true to life and just plain magical. It was amazing to see Marina and Dustin's personalities shine through with each and every image. I had to give them something unique and totally them; after all, their favorite band is Blink 182 and they are pretty much my dream couple right about now, so yeah, there's that.

All film images were processed by Richard Photo Labs.