Every wedding is special to me in some way, but this one has multiple special reasons. I met Andrew when he was in middle school and part of our church's youth group where husband (Jared) was his youth minister. Andrew and Jared played lots of video games together, and eventually would end up talking about deeper stuff like God and girls and school and his future. That was almost ten years ago. In the last few years I loved seeing Andrew on our front door step, knowing he was looking for Jared and some sort of clarity in the midst of all the decisions he faced. There were a couple of really significant conversations had at our kitchen table, and the most significant was about this amazing girl Emma. Fast forward to breakfast at Mama's Boy when Andrew told us he was engaged and asked if Jared would officiate the wedding. Of course Jared was honored to do it and it worked out for me to photograph this special wedding so we made a weekend trip down to Orlando for the big day.
Jared and I arrived in Orlando and went to the rehearsal and dinner following. Rehearsal dinners can be one of the most meaningful times in life when you get to hear words of affirmation, love, and encouragement from the people closest to you. Emma's family and friends talked about how she brought joy and life to everyone around her. Emma's father almost had me in tears when he pulled out of his jacket a card she had written to him during a hard time and read it to all of us. Emma is lovely in every way. Emma's family also presented Andrew and Emma a newly wed survival kit that included a ton of boxes of Cheerios since Emma is cereal obsessed (breakfast, lunch, dinner type of cereal obsessed). I knew Emma and I were cereal soul sisters when I found that out because of my personal LOVE for eating cereal all the time.
I also loved hearing Andrew's parents speak at the rehearsal dinner. Dana and Sheila have played a big role in our lives in different ways (going to church with them, grieving with them in the death of a close friend, working as teachers under their leadership at Westminster, etc). The combination of wisdom between the two of them is amazing, and their words about living both a significant and faithful life will always stick with me. Needless to say we love this family and were so glad to celebrate Andrew and Emma's marriage with them.
It started to rain as I was taking pictures of Emma and her family and bridesmaids, but thankfully it only lasted a few minutes and the rest of the night was dry when we needed it to be! The plus side is that I got this cute picture of Emma and her mom, Nancy, running into the church...
The church where Andrew and Emma got married was the same church Emma's parents were married in (First Presbyterian Church of Orlando). That would be so neat to see pictures of your parents ceremony next to your own wedding! Jared also made it into these pictures, too as one of the officiating ministers.
The reception was held at The Citrus Club in downtown Orlando. It is located on the 18th floor of the building, and the windows gave us a gorgeous view of the city. Below is a picture of Andrew take a selfie (or groupie?) of him and his ushers. Andrew's ushers were so funny- they managed to take pictures all night of themselves in the forefront of an image with some major bride/groom moment in the background of an image and post it to Instagram. I really think this is funny. Matter of fact I really need to post some of those pictures.
Thank you guys so much for asking both Jared and I to be a part of your day- we loved it. Andrew, I hope you still randomly stop by our front porch (and this time bring Emma:) and sit at our kitchen table when you visit Timothy in Athens; I'll make sure to have plenty of cereal, too. We're jealous that Austin is getting such a great couple!! Much love from both me and Jared:)
