With today being rainy weather, it only seems fitting to blog Leah and Patrick’s wedding. This is one of those weddings that will always stick out in 2012 …. so many reasons why, it would be impossible for me to name them all. Even though Leah and Patrick had amazing details for their wedding, it wasn’t about that…. it was about them, two people coming together in life… committing themselves to each other in front of their closest family and friends. They let nothing stop that moment from happening…. not even rain. I remember my heart dropped when I woke up that morning and saw that there was a 40% chance of rain… I knew this was going to be an outdoor wedding and that Leah and Patrick had put SO much in to their special day. To think rain might ruin that truly bummed me out. Throughout the day, I remember praying and praying that the Lord would hold off the rain for them…. but, the Lord had different plans. The whole day the rain threatened us… but stayed away… UNTIL the ceremony… then it decided to grace us with it’s presence. It was then when Leah and Patrick decided to continue their outdoor ceremony. At first I freaked out… I had never shot an outdoor wedding IN. THE. RAIN. But thanks to my amazing hubby (he held an umbrella over me the whole time) and our awesome third shooter, Kimbrali, everything went smoothly. If you would have asked me before the wedding, would I rather have no rain during their ceremony or have it raining…. I would have picked no rain, of course. But now….. now looking back, their rainy ceremony was my most favorite moment of their day…. I wouldn’t go back and change one thing. So it brings me back to what I said earlier…. they let NOTHING stop that moment from happening. Leah didn’t care that she had to walk down the aisle holding her dress…. or that the rain would take her curls out… they didn’t care that their bridal party would have mud squish through their toes… They didn’t care. It wasn’t about that… it was about them. Their moment. Even if I captured just a glimpse of their day…. I think you all will see how truly special it was.
Leah and Patrick decided to do a “First Look” and see each other before their ceremony…. I asked her to share her thoughts : :
“I will never forget walking down the aisle in the field behind my parents’ house in the drizzling rain, with the mud creeping between my toes and my eyes fixed on the handsome man that waited for me at the end of the aisle were we said “I Do”. But I will also never forget walking down the sidewalk hours before when the sun was still peeking through the clouds and seeing my almost-husband waiting for me, just the two of us (because in that moment- your photographer might as well be invisible). There were cares and bits of stress about the details of the day coming together that still lingered in my mind, but in that moment when I locked eyes with my groom, those worries didn’t seem to matter.
I think the reason that when I arrived to our ceremony and I saw it was drizzling rain and threw all of my planning and worrying over the weather out of the window was because of the quiet moments I had already spent with Patrick earlier that day. Being able to hold one another, joke and maybe steal a few kisses reassured me of the real purpose of that day and the man I was pledging my life to. The details, the favors, tablecloths, flowers, all of it are wonderful and beautiful and help to make your wedding uniquely yours. But in the moment when you see the man you are about to promise “forever” to- you realize that is more beautiful than any song you play or decoration you spend weeks making. Being able to have those rare, precious moments alone on such a crazy whirlwind glorious day gave me perspective and peace over whatever else happened that day.
(Not to mention the fact we wouldn’t have any decent photographs had we waited until after our ceremony and taken them all in the rain!)”
Leah and Patrick, I can’t imagine not being apart of your wedding…. You could have chosen any photographer…. but you chose me, and I am truly thankful and humbled. Keep loving each other the way you did on that sweet, rainy day.
Also, a
HUGE shout out to
Kimbrali who was our 3rd shooter. She is such an amazing person with huge amounts of talent!!!
ENJOY!!! XOXO
Patrick left all these super sweet sticky notes around their house for Leah… i die.
Leah and Patrick bought their first home together… so of course I had to get some shots of them on their front porch.
.jpg)
leah and patrick and their friends were just as awesome as these images make them seem. loved shooting with you aj.
You had a GORGEOUS year!! So excited to watch your 2013.
Freaking amazing! You have so many beautiful images here.
I just absolutely love you. You dont capture happy and passionate photos like this without those emotions starting from you. It’s been a wonderful year for you!!!