Nina and Dugan had a beautiful wedding at Washington Duke Inn in Durham, NC. They met through Nina’s late brother, Dominic, who passed from brain cancer on March 17, 2013 so they had an “in honor and remembrance” for him, the blue hydrangeas at the back of the aisle are in honor of her brother, as his favorite color was blue. It was one of the most touching moments we’ve witnessed.
The Meeting…
They’ve known each other since she was in 8th grade and he was a sophomore in high school. They met through Nina’s late brother, Dominic, as Dugan and him were best friends. Fast forward to February of 2012. It was the day after her 24th birthday and she was downtown Raleigh celebrating with some friends. Out of the blue she got a text from Dugan asking if she was out celebrating and if he could come join. She obviously said yes, for the first time and 30 minutes later Dugan joined her. Later on in the night she asked Dugan to be her Valentine, since Valentine’s day was three days away. That Valentine’s day night they hung out and talked for hours and like they say, it was pretty much history from there!
The Proposal…
It was a beautiful fall day downtown Chicago, it was his first time in the city and they embarked on site seeing adventures. They made their way to Cloudgate, better known as the bean. They took some reflective pictures, had someone take a picture of us, sensing his frustration she started to move on and he agreed to one more picture. When she was starting to put the camera away Dugan said “babe, look at that little kid back there” and pointed behind her. She turned around and didn’t see anything, she said “what kid? I don’t see a kid.” She looked a little more and when she turned back around Dugan was down on one knee. The whole world stopped for her, she could not hear or see anything else, just Dugan. He pulled the ring out of his pocket and started to tell her how they are best friends and how they’ve grown so close and he has fallen in love with her, she doesn’t really remember much because the whole time she was saying “shut up. what are you doing? stop it. shut up.” She literally was in shock! He then asked her if she would marry him and of course she said yes!!! They hugged and kissed and that is when her hearing “came back” and the entire park started cheering and clapping for them. Some people came over to them and said “congrats, do you want us to take your picture?” and Dugan said “no, I have a photographer!” and she said WHAT?!!!!! The whole time throughout the proposal they were being photographed! Mr. Sneaky Dugan had hired a photographer to capture the whole thing so they could have the memories forever. They spent the next 30min taking pictures throughout Millennium Park.
The Crew…
Venue | Washington Duke Inn
Photographer | Brian Mullins Photography
Florist | TreBella
Cake Artist | The Art of Cake
Band | Six Stylez
Brides Hair/Makeup: Rodney Robledo
Bridesmaids Hair | Makeup For Your Day
Bridesmaids Makeup | Irene Walker
Calligrapher | The Oblique Pen
Ceremony Musicians | Arioso Strings
