This blog post is incredibly special to me because this is my brother and new sister-in-law’s Durham, North Carolina elopement! This day wasn’t supposed to happen the way that it did but the theme continues and thanks to Covid-19, Cookie and Blaine had to change up their plans for their wedding. Their celebration was originally supposed to be in May in Portugal where Cookie’s family is from but things unfortunately had to change. In record time, they ended up planning and putting together a sweet ceremony with immediate family in Cookie’s parent’s backyard and asked Sam and I to capture it. I got to do my older brother’s engagement photos back when I was just starting my business which was a lot of fun so getting to also capture Blaine and Cookie meant a lot to me!

I have spent the last couple years getting to know Cookie better (yes, that’s her name — isn’t it great?!) and she truly is the kindest, most wonderful soul. Whenever I tell people about her, I always say, “She’s literally the nicest, sweetest human.” Haha! And it’s true. She is so intentional, warm, bubbly, and just a joy to be around so to have her in the family now is a huge blessing and gift!

Getting to spend the morning capturing her and Blaine separately as they got ready was so relaxed and was so special to see the emotions and moments unfolding. Capturing family obviously feels a little more personal and even though this was the first time I was meeting Cookie’s parents and siblings, I honestly don’t think there’s a nicer family in the world. I immediately saw where Cookie got her heart from.

While the day wasn’t what it was originally supposed to be and everyone was probably mourning a little bit that they weren’t able to be in Portugal, it was still such a sweet, beautiful day. In every way. And getting to capture it alongside Sam was an absolute blast (you can watch his video at the end of this post!). I am SO thrilled and happy to see these two married! Congrats Cookie and Blaine!

Durham Wedding Photos | Destination Elopement