The summer has been a busy one. I have been photographing tons of adorable newborns and kids and haven’t had a moment to share a few images that mean quite a lot to me.
For me, this past summer has been the unofficial Summer of Love. Four very important couples in my life were married. I was extremely grateful to be there and photograph all of them side-by-side with my amazing mother (more on her soon). I know I continue to parenthetically refer to a future post regarding my mother’s amazing talents as a photographer and her inspiration in my life. I promise I will be doing that soon, very soon so please stay in touch. Nonetheless, my mom and I sweated our way through four wonderful weddings taking turns as lead photographer when we were either 1) too exhausted to continue or 2) crying our faces off and therefore not able to look through a viewfinder. Incidentally, both of those scenarios happened often.
I come from a fairly large family. I think I have something like 34 first cousins (no we are not Mormon) and I know many if not most of my second and third cousins. We are tight as families go. That feels like an understatement. Basically, I don’t know of an extended family who has more fun than we do and I mean that. I’m so thankful for every single one of them and all their craziness. Here’s a little bit about who tied the knot this summer, I will post more images soon.
Victoria & Michael
One of my closest cousins in age, (he has me beat by nine days) is Michael aka Mikey. As long as I can remember I’ve called Mikey my favorite cousin but truly in my family Mikey is everyone’s favorite cousin. He has the biggest heart in the world, hands-down the most loving and caring smile (the kind where you can see it in his eyes), and he is the strongest, most inspiring person I know. I love him dearly and it was a great honor to see him get married this summer to his love, Victoria. He burst into tears upon seeing his new bride and was a snotty, slobbering beautiful mess and I love him for that. Their wedding was chock-full of heartfelt and emotional speeches, sweet moments, and tons of kids and family. It was a wonderful day that celebrated a couple who’s miraculous union was definitely orchestrated by the stars.
Emily & Greg
The youngest couple in this group of newlyweds ironically have been together the longest. Emily and Greg have been dating for like ten years but they are in their twenties. It’s amazing. It’s like the stories you hear about really old married couples who met when they were six and married at 15. That is (almost) Emily + Greg. In fact, Greg has been around so long that in Emily’s family of five girls I almost believed that Greg was the 6th kid and only brother. He fit in to that family like white on rice. Greg was just always there, meant to be there. When you meet these two people there is some amazing spark that just hits you. It may sound corny but these two emanate a positive force in to the world that is rare. They both have this nearly identical warmth and energy that they project in unison. You get the sense that they will change lives, enrich lives, make things better for people. One of my favorite things about their wedding was the “love wave” they instigated right after they said their “I dos”. They began by hugging their wedding party and the wedding party hugged the front rows of the audience and the “love wave” moved its way across everyone who was attending. It was a perfect moment for such a wonderful pair.
Tara & Matt
Ok so these two are not technically family but they might as well be. Tara has been my best friend in the world for what feels like twenty years (hey, that’s pretty accurate)! She and I have had so many wonderful adventures together as well as a ton of very bad ideas. The latter was the subject of my speech during her wedding which resembled more of a roast than a wedding speech, sorry Tara! Nonetheless, Tara and Matt are the real deal. The kind of people who take life by the horns and treat it like the wildly delicate and fleeting thing that it is. They’ve been on adventures from Hong Kong to South Africa to the beaches of the Mexico and the Caribbean. They are the kind of people who could dine with kings and queens but prefer a humble night with friends. They share their love of life with everyone and I feel very lucky to call them my friends. Their wedding, set in the rolling hills of the Santa Ynez Valley, was indescribable. That’s all I can say!
Jenny & Andrew
It is a moment full of emotion when your brother or sister gets married. My sister was married more than ten years ago and I remember sobbing, uncontrollably as I watched my lip-quivering-trying-not-to-cry dad walk her down the aisle. I think my brother-in-law actually looked over at me a little annoyed. To this day I’m not sure why I was so emotional. I was living in Ireland at the time and was jet-lagged and groggy but I think it had more to do with the idea that a chapter was closing in my life, in my family’s life. It’s a strange thing to have that bit of nostalgia for the past during such a wonderfully happy moment.
I had the same tinge of sadness mixed with incredible joy watching my little brother get married this summer. Thankfully, this time, I had the camera and a job as my distraction. I’m just going to say it like it is and hope it’s ok to say but this year was a tough one for my brother and Jenny. There’s no easy way to say this except to just say it. Jenny lost her dad to cancer. It was a sudden and devastating moment for her family and for everyone who loves them. It made our hearts ache to watch Jenny and Andy plan their wedding around something so devastating. However, they did it with so much humor, humility, and grace that they made it easy for everyone to celebrate such a wonderful moment with them. Their wedding was full of amazing little moments from a pre-wedding double-rainbow, lighthearted moments during the ceremony, fireworks, a game of wiffle-ball, and the most ridiculously gorgeous sky I have ever seen on a summer’s eve. It was like the sky was dyed an intense hue of fuchsia and gold. It felt orchestrated and I have no doubt it was.
Thanks for reading about these wonderful human beings in my life. This is one of those days when I feel so blessed for my amazing family and friends. I love you all. And to the newlyweds, during this unofficial Summer of Love, I wish you a very long life full of many happy surprises.
)…Victoria
by Sarah
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