Una + Sam tied the knot in Chapel Hill on April 29, 2017 in their colorful, spirited non-traditional Rigmor House wedding.
These lovebirds met as high school sophomores (shout-out to Mr. Reed and his outdoor ed class for bringing them together!) Fast-forward several years, when Sam proposed over a game of scrabble. Una said yes, naturally.
I loved everything about this Rigmor House wedding- from the lush ferns (grown by Una’s dad for months!) to the fire alarm snafu during dinner, which prompted Una to borrow a firefighter’s helmet for magic-hour portraits while everyone else evacuated the building, laughing and drinking, unfazed by the turn of events.
It doesn’t hurt that Sam has a glorious man-bun, either, or that Una makes the world’s best/scariest faces. All. The. Time.
This spirited couple sat down and talked with me about their Rigmor House wedding in their own words. Read about their experience below, and get ready to laugh! 🙂
1. What are some of your favorite things about your partner? How were these attributes expressed during or leading up to your wedding?
Sam : Una is my perfect other half. She is calm where I am high stress and high stress where I am calm. We balance out each other’s goofiness and seriousness. But most importantly, we compromise frequently and willingly, but we don’t ever let each other stop being our individual selves, and that was reflected beautifully and perfectly in our vows.
Una: Well crap, I don’t know how to compete with what he just said! But I love that Sam expresses his emotions with fullness and integrity and that he is so comfortable in his own skin. I love that he loved planning this wedding as much as I did, and that we did it together.
2. What was most important to you in planning your Rigmor House wedding?
Keeping it low-key, stress free, and enjoying the process of planning! (It only happens once!)
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…).
Una: The morning of the wedding I woke up and went downstairs to eat toast and happened to glance out the window to see my parents digging up ferns in our backyard. TOO FUNNY. Isabelle, a family friend and our wedding planner, had spotted them weeks before and knew she wanted to use them for decoration. My mom made our wedding cake and I cherish that labor of love. She had never made a cake that large, much less a wedding cake, and it was beautiful (and DELICIOUS.)
Another sweetness was during the parent dances, which I expected to be chill dancing until my dad started spinning me around the dance floor. It was such a silly and fun moment.
Sam: I would add that our officiant (who is also a best friend from college) wrote the most simple but touching speech for the ceremony. And, since it was 92 degrees and people were melting in their chairs, it was thankfully short! And also the fire alarm – we can’t forget that! We always joked that as long as no one died at our wedding we would rate it a success, and we saw it as a good omen that the alarms do indeed work! (And no one died, so, success!)
4. Now that you’ve tied the knot (and survived!), what advice would you give to other folks planning their wedding?
Forget about the tiny details; if you’re worried someone is going to side-eye your napkins or something, know that they are going to side-eye no matter what. If you’re on a budget, scratch that, because you are on a budget, pick the things that really matter to you and go cheap on the rest. We knew we wanted a live band, so we splurged on them (they. were. AMAZING.) and in exchange, we spent $50 on my dress.
5. What is the first thing you want to do with the images? Wallpaper the hallway? Internet fame?
As a wedding gift, a friend of ours who frames art professionally is doing a few chosen photos. We are really looking forward to hanging those. And of course, we are going to make an album to be placed somewhere in our house that is easily reached for a nostalgic perusal.
6. What’s next for you as a couple? Any big plans?
Una: I finish graduate school next May and we delayed our honeymoon until after I finish. Since most of my extended family lives in Ireland, and Sam has never met many of them or traveled to Ireland, we are planning a long-awaited summer trip!
7. Anything else you’d like to add about your Rigmor House wedding or experience working with me?
While I was pretty sure from the photos alone that Courtney would be a perfect fit for us, after we met I was sure of it. She listened to our thoughts and nailed everything we wanted while also capturing wonderful moments we would never have thought to ask for. We spent zero moments worrying about photography once we booked her, and we couldn’t have had a better experience. Our wedding was joyous and loving and so much fun, and our photos reflect that.
Are you a low-key couple looking for a photographer to capture your own silliness and joy on your big day? Check out my 3 wedding photography packages and drop me a line– I’d love to hear from you!
A shout-out to our fab vendors who made this day possible:
Photography Assistant: Katy Hall
Coordinator: Isabelle Congleton
Officiant: Ethan Sagin- Sam’s college friend
Bride’s Dress: Rainbow’s End
Bride’s Shoes: Modcloth
Cake: Ann Walsh, bride’s mother
Florist: Isabelle Congleton; ferns by Larry Sammon, bride’s dad.
Dessert: Chapel Hill Restaurant Group
Catering: Chapel Hill Restaurant Group
Band: The Finns
