Elyse & Brian’s Durham Elopement
The tiny wedding trend of 2020 (brought about by COVID of course) has continued into 2021. Our latest wedding was a small and sweet Durham elopement for Elyse & Brian. They were married by Magical Weddings by Carly in the backyard of a big Durham farmhouse, with just half a dozen guests present.
Elyse is a friend of mine that I got to know at The Locality, a women’s co-working space in downtown Raleigh. Elyse is a talented web designer, so hit her up if you need to take your web presence up a level!
One other thing to know about this wedding: they had a piñata. More events should incorporate piñatas, right? New rule: at least 1 wedding a year should have a piñata.
Let’s start with the gorgeous purple and gold cake (from Capital Cakes) and wildflowers (fresh from Weaver Street Market).
Before the ceremony, Elyse & Brian had a first look on the front porch. He’d seen Elyse’s awesome jumpsuit before it was finalized, but seeing the finished look on the actual wedding day is still special! And yes, Elyse rocked a white wedding jumpsuit and it was perfection!!
Then we headed to the backyard for the ceremony. Like so many couples this year, they set up a simple recording so they could share with the friends and family who weren’t able to attend. The level of adaptation from couples in the last year has been inspiring!!
I always love when the ceremony includes the guests in some way – whether it’s by asking for their blessing, having the couple turn to look out at everyone, or simply acknowledging the important role they’ve played in the couple’s lives. It’s a really sweet gesture.
With a kiss, some tears, some laughter, and some applause, they were married!!! And the post-ceremony hugs began.
Masked up and back inside to warm up a bit and sign the marriage license…
… then after group photos, it was time to break out the wedding piñata. Seriously this should be so much more of a thing.
After the piñata was busted we headed back in and set up this last supper style group photo. I think that cake will be enough to go around, but who knows, maybe after I left it turned into a battle for the last slice.
And now, some portraits of the newlyweds 🙂
They finished off their portraits by cracking open celebratory beers from Trophy Brewing: a Trophy Husband for Elyse and a Trophy Wife for Brian. Perfection.
Thanks for letting us be a small part of your sweet elopement you too!! And cheers to being married in 2021 🙂
We believe that love is bright and colorful, and your wedding photographs should be bright and colorful too.
Kivus & Camera are Raleigh Wedding photographers who create bold, colorful, magical memories of your wedding day with beautiful, artistic portraits AND enthusiastic, genuine moments. Your unique love story deserves to be told through unforgettable, breath-taking photographs that stand out from the crowd. Kivus & Camera love creating that magic. After all, as past bride Courtney says, we’re photography sorcerers.
And though we call ourselves Raleigh wedding photographers, we definitely photograph Durham weddings, Chapel Hill weddings, Cary weddings, etc. We’re all over the Triangle area, and we’re happy to head to the beach or mountains and even to places outside of North Carolina! Just let us know where your love story is headed.
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