Laurie and Ivan’s July wedding at The Cotton Room in Durham, NC was truly so dreamy! This couple was SO happy to finally get married after moving their wedding multiple times because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Thankfully, they were finally able to gather and celebrate their love in this gorgeous, historic venue. 

Laurie and Ivan live out of town, so it was Laurie’s mom that did all the booking for them. Often this can make us  nervous if we haven't talked to the couple at all — we like to make a connection before the big day — but let me tell you… These two lovies are the actual sweetest and a total joy for us to work with! Honestly, the energy in the room that day reflected their energy — everyone was so full of celebration and love for these two. They were radiating! It was a treat to witness and photograph.

Back in May, Pittsboro United Methodist Church had their ribbon cutting ceremony for their new space and Ashley was there to photograph the joyous occasion for them! Their pastor, Sara Beth, has always been wonderful to work with; Ashley shot an Easter Sunday service for them in the past. It was exciting for Ashley to be there to see this beautiful new space be opened and blessed for worship together.

Not only did she get to photograph the ribbon cutting, but also the first worship service held in the space! It was really sweet to see people come together during pandemic-times to celebrate this special moment for their church family.

Wow, y’all, this family… Where do we even start?! The Davisson family is one that Ashley has photographed over and over again since their wedding. She has had the joy of photographing ALL of the kids' newborn shoots, all their holiday minishoots, their sunflower sessions, and she has even photographed their aunt's wedding and families. Y’all, on top of that, she even photographed their babysitter with her fiance! To say Ashley feels a real sense of history with this group is an understatement. This family newborn shoot for Baby H was just icing on the cake!

Toward the end of last year, Becca had the pleasure of meeting this cute trio and capturing their family Christmas portraits. They had the best time exploring the grounds of the North Carolina Museum of Art together.

Pro tip: When you’re shooting toddlers, keep it moving and keep it fun! Sunny, James, and little gentleman H did just that! The Banks family snuggled, played, and gave me lots of sweet interactions to capture for their family shoot. Also, can we talk about how adorable they all look in their winter-themed sweaters?! We can’t get enough!

Y’all, we are SO EXCITED to share this one. It involves a first for Ashley… Being surprised with photographing a surprise proposal! Eeee! 

Casie Hall is a regular around here. Ashley knows her from when she found Story Photographers and reached out to us for her first wedding, years back. Ashley had a quick connection with Casie and they became friends after that. Over the years, Ashley has shot her family and, over this time, she has become really good friends with Casie! Y’all may recognize her as the owner of Three Oaks (who we love around here). With Ashley and Casie both being small business owners, they’ve of course done a lot of meeting, talking, and growing together. It has been really cool for Ashley to watch their relationship grow from client, to friend, to good friend over the years! So, this surprise shoot with her was especially exciting for Ashley.

Last year, when we did our pandemic pre-sale special for the 2020 Fall Short Stories, we discovered we had a good amount of interest in a Durham mini shoot afternoon. It was really cool to add a new location like that after all those years of holding fall mini shoots in Raleigh. Ashley had both new and returning clients for this shoot day in Durham. It was so fun to have a different set up for this afternoon of minis that we decided to have another fall mini shoot day in Durham for this year's Fall Short Stories!