Wedding::Javan and Katie Part I

I walked into Union Station, packed for my very first train ride (ever), filled with excitement to be headed home for a weekend with family and friends, fresh cool air, and rolling green hills. The reason for my lovely (and for the record, far too short) visit home? These two were getting married during a weekend celebration of love!

There is nothing like being home, and I couldn’t wait to step off the train and be away from the cities and back in the country!

She told me that we would be heading to her grandparents’ house, her home away from home growing up, where we would spend the night and where all the girls would come get ready the next day. What met me when we pulled in her driveway was more than I ever could have expected. Her whole family greeted me with smiles, and hugs filled with the warmest of welcomes. Her grandparents made me feel as if I was a part of the family and as if walking in their door and staying with them were the most natural thing in the world. These two were some of the most generous, humble, and giving people I had ever met, not just with their home, but with their hearts. Their influence on her growing up is unmistakable, for she is this way as well, generous, humble, and giving.

We woke up the next morning to home cooked eggs and toast by Grammy, and the wedding-morning bustle began. Before I knew it, the counter was taken over with makeup bags, hairspray, curlers, and clips.

The house? Taken over with smiles and giggles in every room. Watching her transformation from morning-faced girl to blushing bride was incredible, not because of make-up or hair, but because her joy became even more evident (if that was possible!). As the morning wore on, she became only more and more peaceful, so clearly filled with a certainty that the Lord had ordained this day especially for them, had preserved them through thick and thin for this moment….their wedding day!

As I looked out the huge bay window in the beautiful living room, all I saw for miles and miles was fields filled with buttercups and tall green trees, contrasted against a sunny morning sky!

You see, her grandparents own a 600 acre farm out on an old dirt road, and had promised that we could use any part of it we wanted to for pictures throughout the day…I was beyond ecstatic! Not only were there absolutely stunning views in every direction, but also memories in every corner. Having practically grown up in that house, I felt it was extra special that her wedding day preparations and bridal pictures take place there.

So as you look through these next images, I hope you not only see a magnificently beautiful bride, but also the memories of love and the sense of home that surround her in each shot. Katie was a delight to photograph.

{A short, wedding-day-details intermission}

I love this next picture because, if you look close, you can see Katie’s Gramps doing some wedding-day field mowing

A dress. And many memories.

Kitchen moments.

{And now back to the radiant bride!}

These last two are some of my favorites. Ever!

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