Jonathan + Tiffany tied the knot on April 16, 2016 in an afternoon wedding at The Cotton Room in Durham, NC. From tears of joy shed during the ceremony to a hilarious dance-off between Tiffany’s niece and Jonathan’s cousin during the reception, the range of emotions during their day kept me on my toes and made for a fun wedding to photograph.

Read the Q&A with this sweet couple, featured below, to learn more about their wedding inspiration and photography experience! To view all of the photos from their wedding and order prints, please visit their gallery on my online print shop!

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1. What are some of your favorite things about your partner? How were these attributes expressed using or leading up to your wedding?

Jonathan: Two things quickly come to mind. One, Tiffany is one of the most consistent people I’ve ever met. She always stays calm and rarely gets frazzled. I always know what her mood will be, which is something I don’t take for granted. That was really important during the planning and execution of the wedding, because there were several times I felt like I was going to have a mini-breakdown, and she remained her usual cool self. The second thing I appreciate is her sense of style. I fully trust her to decorate our house (and even buy most of my clothes for me) so that made the wedding decorating easy for me. I was able to sit back and completely let her take over, and she rocked it!

Tiffany: Jon is extremely organized. When we first started planning our wedding, he created a timeline for what needed to be completed and set deadlines. This helped to keep me in check as I am much more relaxed in my approach towards decision making, I always seem to think I have more time than I actually do! Jon is also much more social than I am, he finds it very easy to talk to new people and make connections. I appreciated that when meeting with vendors, he was able to comfortably meet with many individuals and made great decisions in the people that we chose to work with.

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

Jonathan: I think I wanted both of us to be comfortable and proud of the wedding. We’re not the kind of people that like being the center of attention, so leading up to it I was wondering what the day would feel like. We picked a venue we felt comfortable in, picked vendors (including Courtney P.) we were comfortable with, and added personal touches so that we could really own the day. And of course, I wanted Tiffany to be really proud of it, because she worked hard to make it just right.

Tiffany: It was important to me that we were comfortable on our wedding day and that stress was kept to a minimum. We had many issues leading up to that day from a grooms men’s luggage being lost to our rehearsal dinner being cancelled two hours before our reservations. We had to let go of the need for everything to be perfect and simply rolled with the punches. Everything worked out beautifully in the end.

3. Are there any details or moments from your wedding that are particularly special to you? (E.g., you wore your momma’s dress, your partner unexpectedly serenaded you, there was a double rainbow all across the sky…)

Jonathan: When we first talked about what our wedding would look like, we wanted it to be really small and intimate. The more we thought about it, we realized how few chances we’ll have to get our family and friends together for a happy occasion. I’m really happy we had that realization. My favorite memories will be having so many really special people in the same place having fun. Oh, and of course, my cousin doing a dance-off to Sandstorm with Tiffany’s niece.

Tiffany: I have so many favorite memories from that day. I kept the bridal suite very intimate, it was nice being surrounded by the women that had supported me throughout my life. My sister and niece helped me with my makeup and a family friend did my hair. My favorite part of the ceremony was definitely the moment I realized EVERYONE around me was sobbing, it was definitely surprising to see everyone get so emotional!

4. Now that you have tied the knot (and survived!), what advice do you have for other couples taking the plunge?

Start planning early! A lot of things will sneak up near the actual date that require a lot of time. More importantly, I’d tell people to not be afraid to give up some control. There are so many little things that need to get done from table settings to sending in the marriage license, they can’t all be done by one or two people. It was really fun incorporating our family into some of the decision making process.

5. What is the first thing you want to do with the images? Wallpaper the hallway? Internet fame?

Just look at them and laugh, and relive the memories. Pick our favorites out to hang up. We’re also excited about sending them out to family.

6. What is next for you as a couple? Any big plans?

We just got back from our honeymoon in Florida and are starting to look at buying our first house together next year. Hopefully that will be as much fun as the wedding!

7. Anything else you’d like to add?

Tiffany and I had been together over five years, and living together for over four when we were married. A lot of people have asked if anything has changed since our big day. I didn’t think it would, but it has. It would have been hard for me to believe I could have felt a stronger connection to her on April 15, 2016, but by the time our wedding was over and we were driving away on April 16, 2016 I felt like our bond had grown exponentially. There really was something uniquely special about making life-long promises and commitments to one another in front of loved ones that just makes the relationship feel that much greater.

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Tiffany + Jonathan, thank you so much for inviting me to document your day! You absolutely pulled off your wedding vision of having a meaningful celebration that felt intimate but included more friends and family that your original plan. 🙂 I loved every moment and hope that you cherish these photos for years to come!