Jessie and Justin Married in Downtown Durham

Jessie and Justin had a low-key wedding at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in downtown Durham. And they had a lot to say about the planning process in this interview, so take it away J and J! Thanks Allie Mullin for the great assisting!

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1. What was most important to you in planning your wedding?

For us, it was all about the people. Our number one priority was to design an event that allowed us to spend as much time with our guests as possible. Never again in our lives will we have all of our favorites in one place, so we wanted to make sure that we were present and really able to soak it all in. Also, we wanted good food and drink. That was important, too.

2. What did you learn about yourself and your relationship in the process of planning the wedding?

We make a pretty damn good team. I am a planner, and the hubs is really good at getting stuff done in the most efficient way possible.

Also, wedding-planning made us practice that whole “stay true to yourself” adage. There’s a lot of outside noise and pressure surrounding weddings these days, so we worked really hard to  keep the wedding process (and one another) in check.

3. What was the biggest challenge?

Balancing priorities: mine, his, and our families’.

4. What advice do you have for other couples out there?

Relationship advice? Be kind. Wedding advice? No one’s going to remember the color of the corsages or what brand of Pinot you decided to serve. So don’t sweat the small stuff. Seriously. All the things just don’t matter in the long run.

5. What was your favorite moment from the day?

Me: There were so many amazing moments. The actual getting married part is definitely up there. Also I loved watching the hubs’s face during the surprise toast from his BFF.

Him: “Marrying her.”

6. What factors other than photos went into your decision on a wedding photographer? Why did you decide to pick me?

We wanted to choose someone local so we could support a fellow Durhamite. I was drawn to Justin because of his social justice work in the area.

7. From booking to delivery of images and seeing the results, what in your mind made it the right choice for us to collaborate? Did anything surprise you?

After we had an intro meeting, it was very clear that we would have fun working with Justin. That was really important to us. Justin was competent, responsive, helpful, and friendly throughout the process. I was also confident that Justin had an eye for the types of images that we really wanted.

We wanted photos that make you feel something when you look at them…that capture the little something extra going on. I liked how Justin documents activity and facial expressions in his photos- he captures feelings in an image.

I had no idea how wonderful our photos would be. I was sure they would be great, but Justin did a phenomenal job of highlighting the most important moments (and not necessarily the “big” moments). I was (and still am) blown away, and am so grateful that he decided to work with us.

8. What’s next for you as a couple?

Settling back into normal. 🙂