Anne Bradstreet and the Day We Fell in Love {PA Wedding Photographer}

It was a cold and snowy day. January 8th, 2011. I thought it would be "important," but I would hardly dare to dream that this day would be life-changing. I was enroute over snowy mountains in Pennsylvania to spend some time in Carlisle, PA. I would be looking over the area for a wedding that I would shoot 2 weeks later... but even more interesting, I would be meeting a friend. His name was Brandon. We hadn't seen each other in many months and hadn't truly spoken from our hearts in many more.

This was the day that we would fall in love.

On that day, we chatted through sips of coffee at the local coffee shop, warmed our feet by the fire. We wandered through deserted streets of this small town. Saw an old firehouse museum and walked by interesting churches. Looked at statues. Chatted with strangers. Caught up on our lives. We wandered into a local bookstore. I sat on the floor (which I tend to do) and he sat across the aisle and we shared from our hearts. He wondered aloud to the shop's proprietor who had done the painting on the wall and if it was for sale (it wasn't). I wondered if  there were any books by Anne Bradstreet...

I bought this that day...

 

We had  found a little restaurant to get out of the frigid winter weather. Seated at Table 5. We stayed for four hours. Talking and talking. Weaving dreams of the possibilities of our lives. Becoming closer and closer friends. And each one having a moment of revelation that this *could* be our forever.

And so it is. We would be engaged 3 months later and married 4 months after that..

Recently, I opened the book about Anne Bradstreet.. and remembered January 8th. 

That landmark day. 

It will be a year on Sunday. 

An anniversary of falling in love. 

The words of Anne Bradstreet (the first published American poet) ring true in my heart:

To My Dear and Loving Husband:

If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were lov'd by wife, then thee.
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me, ye women, if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole Mines of gold
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that Rivers canneot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee give recompetence.
Thy love is such I can no way repay.
The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.
Then while we live, in love let's so persever
That when we live no more, we may live ever. 

Newlywed Christmas in Review {PA Wedding Photographer}

I'm blogging about Christmas after New Year's... yes, yes, I am. And I'm not ashamed. Hehe. If I could make a spontaneous New Year's resolution, it would be to not be so chronologically-minded. It's true! I'm usually so stuck on the chronology of events, that I can hardly make myself blog out of order. And then my friends are limited in their enjoyments of my blogs, because the writings languish in my drafts folder for so long that I delete them... or worse yet, they fail to make the jump from my mind onto the computer at all!

So here's to enjoying blogging whenever I have time, and being victorious in sharing the beautiful life moments whenever I can... even if it is after the fact. (honestly, what is it about our culture that demands such instant-live-replay? Must things be immediate to be relevant? Facebook has ruined us all!). ;

Back to the matters at hand.... Christmas! Our first Christmas as a married couple!

We planned for alot of quiet and cozy Christmas memories. When friends asked our plans for Christmas, I told them a little merrily that "we planned to not leave our house from Friday evening til Tuesday morning, except church on Sunday." And we did it!

Christmas involved lots of relaxation and reading and Christmas movie watching... creating new traditions around our new little family unit (Brandon-husband + Naomi-wife + Caspian-kitty). It involved enjoying delicious food that is relegated to only special occasions... like an amazing cheese plate + sushi + a little caviar + chocolate and strawberry tarts. 

Spicy eggnog and delectable hot chocolate. Christmas dinner of decidedly non-traditional shrimp and steak. 

We had the traditional Christmas meal when celebrating with my parents earlier in the week, so we felt free to celebrate with different foods. The best mashed potatoes ever made. Asparagus spears wrapped in bacon.

And bananas for desserts.

Really.

Brandon loves banana pudding.

I love banana splits.

It was DELICIOUS.

And the eternal question, what about Christmas gifts? What did you give? What did you get?

I was Christmas shopping up until Friday evening (Christmas Eve Eve). And I was successful. There was excited whooping and yelling and happiness, especially since for weeks afterward, my husband keeps telling me how much he loves his Christmas gifts. He especially loves his new brown leather dress shoes. Which, I must agree... those are some classy shoes. ;) I also framed our wedding vows for display... which Brandon told me later, he thought of doing the same thing... hehe! Great minds think alike. :)

He gave me one very beautiful, very sentimental gift. An engraved picture frame with all the amazing words that he said on our wedding video just moments before the ceremony. And yes, there were a few tears on my part.  It was *that* good.

And our best gift? A Christmas spent together. We spent so much time reveling in all that God has blessed us with in 2011. It was a landmark year for both. It was filled with more love than we have ever known, more miracles and more testimonies of His blessing, more revelations of the goodness of God and more newlywed bliss than we thought possible.

It's a little belated.. but we don't care, remember?

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Brandon & Naomi's Wedding, Part II {Personal}

I am finally blogging about our wedding day. If you missed it, you can read Part 1 here!

Onward to the most wonderful parts of our wedding day...

I waited for about 30 minutes in a tent for the guests to arrive. I was not waiting alone..

We handcrafted fans as our ceremony programs. After a morning of thunderstorms & humidity, our guests appreciated the fans quite a bit!

And then the music played... it was time to become husband & wife.

On my daddy's arm... wearing my mother's veil.

Making our forever-vows..

First kiss!

The memorable first-kiss moment... after we kissed, we heard the guests' laughter. I whispered to Brandon, "are they laughing at us?" (that would be weird!).. "No," Brandon said. "After we kissed, some kid say 'Ewwww!'" That would be our ring-bearer & nephew, Noah. I still giggle about that moment as I'm writing this story... Kids say the darnedest things!

We're married!!



We took a few minutes alone to revel in our newly-married bliss. 



My absolute favorite portrait of our wedding day. 
So very lovely.

Another moment with my beloved.

And now, it is time to celebrate!
Our wedding reception was such a labor of love by us, and our friends and family. The wedding decorations were created me (the bride), and my friends and family. The cookies were baked (with love and lots of tasting ;) by yours truly + friends. The cupcakes were created by my friend and wedding planner, Linda. The Wisconsin cheese and sausage were a gift from my dairy-farmer uncle and assembled by dear family. 
So much love. And so much delicious food!!

Instead of a wedding cake, we opted for our three favorite flavors of cupcakes!
Key Lime, Chocolate with Peanut Butter Frosting & Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting!

Just for the little ones...

My niece, all dressed up for the wedding.

A fun moment of any reception is the toasts, and our best man and matron of honor did not disappoint! Louis, the best man, did a phenomenal job... he's been a 'Brandon & Naomi' fan almost since the beginning of our friendship. When we reconnected on January 8th of this year, Louis said knowingly,"You're gonna marry her. This year." And he was right. 


My sister and matron-of-honor, Nikki, also gave a smashing rendition of a toast. Complete with props. She told stories of her & I mowing the lawn together.... and how I have Brandon to walk beside me in life. :)



Caaaaake... (I'm really looking forward to eating this cake again on our first year anniversary!!)



A little mingling, chatting and smiling with our guests.


Delicious brownie-pop favors for our guests! The kids loved them. ;)





It was one beautiful August night. Our wedding was beautiful, outstanding, and such a wonderful celebration of our love & lifelong commitment to each other. Thank you to our friends & family for being there to celebrate with us and for giving your love and support as we begin our new life together...