I love weddings! Watching two people come together as one is beautiful. I enjoy getting to know the couples as well. It is intriguing to watch and learn how they communicate with each other and their stories of one another. I recently photographed a wedding for Gail and Stephen! It was a beautiful and intimate ceremony.
Gail and Stephen were married at their church in Westerville, Ohio. It was a beautiful church to have an intimate wedding! Gail was telling me about how their church has a book for each member to write in. She said that she had written a chapter in the book about being single. The crazy but awesome part is that just a few short weeks later, she had met Stephen. How amazing is that!? I think that the book was a pretty good idea!
Gail and Stephen picked out the most beautiful and radiating colors for their wedding! I truly felt like spring was around the corner! The colors were coral, watermelon, and peach. These colors just radiated happiness. Also, Gail decided to wear pink tennis shoes! What a fabulous choice! Gail knew it was her day and decided to be bold in her options of shoe wear! Brides, remember one thing; it is your day. Do not let anyone tell you any different. Gail is the perfect example of this.
A trend that many people have been seeing couples do is doing pictures before the ceremony. The bride will do a first look with her soon-to-be husband. Then you have other couples who will get pictures after the ceremony. There is no wrong or right way. You want to do whatever is right for the couple. Anyway, Gail and Stephen decided to do a first touch. That is when the bride and groom get to hold hands before the ceremony, but they can not see each other! Or maybe just a simple touch! Stephen was the one who was very adamant about not seeing Gail before the ceremony. He wanted to make sure his first look was when he watched her walk down the aisle to become his wife. Doesn’t that melt your heart? I know it melted mine! He had put so much thought into it!
There are many traditions when it comes to weddings. Have you ever heard of a unity ceremony that takes place during weddings? Well, unity ceremonies represent couples coming together as one! There is a lot of fun and unique ways to do this! A few examples are a tree-planting ceremony, tying the knot ceremony, or a sand ceremony. The sand ceremony is what Gail and Stephen decided on. Each poured in their sand, which represented themselves coming together to become one. Then their pastor poured in some sand to represent God in their relationship. After the ceremony, everyone headed over to Everal Barn for the reception! It was gorgeous. Gail and Stephen picked a beautiful reception space. They were able to incorporate a lot of personal touches as well.
When we got to Everal Barn we were ready to begin the festivities! However, we had to take pictures first! Even though they did a first touch you still have to get pictures. That is because during the first touch no one else is with them. Except for me, of course, but I had to capture that moment! That is what makes a first touch so special too! Anyway, we got to the reception and took pictures of the lovely couple. We captured some shots of them together with their friends, wedding party, and family! Luckily for us, it did not rain until the second we were done with pictures! How crazy?! I do not know about you, but I have heard that rain on your wedding day is good luck!
As the night came to an end I reflected on the whole day. There is one part that I have to share with you. At the reception, Gail and Stephen did an anniversary dance. The DJ says a year and all of the couples who have been married less will exit the dance floor. The goal is to see how long a couple has been married and then have them give the bride and groom advice. During this time, when they reached the end of the dance, there were four couples on the floor who had been married for 40 years! Woah, that is amazing. It reminds me that even with all of the negative things that impact our lives, love is so much greater! I send my best to the bride and groom! May you live a long and happy life together!
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