Married in December

Our December brides are kind and gracious, and the charming grooms are all those Strong Silent types. There is something special about the couples who choose to be married here in the winter, when Mother Nature is quiet and at rest. I love winter in the mountains - you can see the backbone of the hills, when all the leaves are gone. The branches spread their architecture against the sky in stark relief and the snow softens everything and brings the world in close. These couples have a serenity about them, and December is the perfect setting for their vows.

November Weddings

November is that misty in-between time, when autumn is fading and winter has not begun. It is an achingly romantic time for a weddings.

Ah, October!

I call this one the Ballerina Bride.
Isn't she just the portrait of grace?

The bridesmaids called this one a Julie Sandwich. :)


I love my job. I mean, if you have to have a job,
it should be one you love.

Some people I just wish lived next door to me.
In this case, it was the whole darned wedding party
and every single guest.
What a romp. Lots of silliness and much fun.

--Sandee

Why yes, that is a kilt. And yes, that most certainly is a fairy princess, as well. Mark & Niamh came to us from Scotland and Ireland and made all my dreams of fairytale weddings come true.

Mark looked brilliant in his formal black kilt and Prince Charlie jacket, and -a stroke of luck- his gold boutonniere precisely matched his gold satin ruche tie. His sporran and skene dhu in place, shod in ghillies and flashes on his hose, the man was picture perfect, right out of a magazine. (Being ridiculously handsome didn't hurt anything.)

Niamh nearly took my breath away. She explained to me that her name (pronounce Niev, rhymes with Chicken Kiev) does indeed come from a fairytale. In the tale, Niamh, a fairy princess (told ya) falls in love with a mortal man. That part of the story has certainly been reenacted here. She's such a rare beauty and in her exquisite gown, as she emerged into the clearing... I fully expected a unicorn to follow her.

The couple was charming, everything was very relaxed, in spite of the formal attire, lots of laughter and True Love in the air.

They told me that our place reminded them of the chapel at Gougane Barra, in Ireland. High praise, indeed. And to find out that place was second choice, oh be still my heart. (And my puffed up ego! Compliments like that go straight to my head.)

It was a real pleasure to be part of such a beautiful ceremony. Thank you, Mark & Niamh.

Silliness

We have so much fun with some of our wedding couples. They just get zany. We love it, and many times, it gets caught on camera. Here's a few of my favorites from this year so far...

Sweet August Weddings...

Our August couples were so charming. Michael & Jaime were married on the footbridge that crosses the creek, right at the little waterfalls. They asked for some of their photos to be sepia toned, and this one of the ceremony really captured the spirit of the day.

Next, David & Kellie asked for some black-and-whites. Surprise for us, to have two such requests back to back! We love the artsy photography, though, so no hardships there. (And I do love playing with the filters.) So, here are David & Kellie on the aforementioned bridge, and I wanted to include the champagne toasting flutes because I love what the filter set did to the ribbons and all the sparklies on Kellie's wedding dress! ('Sparklies' is a word, right?)

Our Marines got married!

It was, without a doubt, the most beautiful wedding we've ever had here. First of all, the bride is just a knockout. All those men in full dress uniforms -with swords!- aren't bad, either. :) The bridesmaids were all lovely and were all also Marines. Ranking officer of the whole bunch? The bride.

It was so spectacular. First, the two sergeants posted, left and right of the aisle. Then I walked down with the groom, best man, and two lieutenants. From all the way back by the pond, one at a time, came each bridesmaid and then the little flower girl and ring bearer, following by the bride. At the beginning of the aisle down at the chapel, she was joined by both her parents, who walked her down the aisle and gave her hand to her groom. The parents were seated and the ceremony continued in the traditional manner, with two notable departures: the Lazo and Arras ceremonies. From the vows:

At this time, we honor Jeniffer’s heritage with two traditional ceremonies, the Lazo and Arras.

The Mexican wedding tradition of the Lariat, or Lazo, binds the bride and groom together, symbolizing their unity. Scott & Jeniffer will be bound by Jeniffer's grandparents, Jesse & Paula. The lazo, symbolic of the rosary, encircles them with God’s love and protection, as we join together to ask God’s blessing on this marriage, and also represents Scott & Jeniffer’s love for each other, which will bind the couple together every day of their lives. The gift of the Lasso is an expression of honor and hope and love from Jesse & Paula for Scott & Jeniffer.

The ceremony of the Arras is a presentation of 13 coins, the number of coins representing Christ and his apostles. In times past, this was the dowry from the bride’s family to the groom, and the groom placed the coins in the brides hands, pledging to support her and entrust all his wealth into her care and safekeeping, with full confidence.Acceptance by the bride meant taking that trust and confidence unconditionally, and with total dedication and prudence.

Today, Jeniffer's godparents, Ben & Gloria, will present the Arras, which have been blessed by Jeniffer’s priest, Father James.

Scott, as you pass the coins to Jeniffer, repeat after me: Lo mio es tuyo y lo tuyo es mio -What is mine is yours and what is yours is mine

Jeniffer, as you return the coins to Scott, repeat after me:Lo mio es tuyo y lo tuyo es mio -What is mine is yours and what is yours is mine

Jeniffer's grandparents both move with difficulty, but they were determined to make the trip down the aisle not once, but twice: first to place the lazo around the shoulders of the couple, and then to remove it at the end of the ceremony. It was an especially beautiful double rosary, of gold chain with jewels. The arras were gold coins (about the size of dimes) in a small gold carriage reminiscent of Cinderella.

Once the wedding service was complete, the wedding party filed out, and the lieutenants joined the two Marines standing guard. Two small girls (Desiree & Martinique) ran up the aisle to the lieutenants and then solemnly presented them with their hats ('covers'). The men put on their hats and came to attention. Then it was time for the newlyweds to walk back up the aisle. The Marines all drew their swords and crossed them overhead for the couple to pass under. And of course, as they went through the last arch, one of the fellows smacked the bride's butt with his sword. :)

Here's one picture, where all the fellows looked away so their boss could steal a kiss from her new hubby!

Ok, the heartbreaker: This is the couple who found us from Iraq and made their reservations from there. The bride has recently been rotated back to the States. The groom, however, is on leave. They'll be with us all week for their honeymoon, and then the groom leaves again for Iraq. At least one of the groomsmen you see in this photo will also return to Iraq by the end of the month. One has *asked* to return, as has the bride.

They didn't get all those medals for nothing. (Check out Joe, on the right - he has so many medals they hang in TWO rows!)

Ok, the fun part: at the end of the reception, the groom's mother put on 'Duke of Earl' and the groom gave a hilarious lip-synch rendition to his new bride.

Sigh. Does it get any better than this? I want to do weddings always, always, always.

June Brides!

June was a month for memorable weddings.


We started out with Ed & Edwina. It was all about family. They all gathered together at the altar and by golly everybody got married. His kids were there. His parents were there. Her nephew, all the way from Ireland, was there. And eldest son produced his blackberry and held it out by the couple during the ceremony - he had phoned Dublin and reached the bride's parents, so don't you know they were there, too. Lots of happy tears.

Next were Jerry and Jennifer. By the time this gentleman finished reading his vows - written especially for his bride - I was ready to marry him myself. They were just beautiful. As was the bride. These folks are the kind of people that make our work so fulfilling! We've made new friends, and I'm thrilled they are coming back this winter to visit some more.


What do you do when a wedding photographer gets married?
Well! You provide him with the most exquisite setting and let him work. :)

Ok, we did take a couple hundred pictures and portraits of Jacob & Jessica, but this is certainly one of my favorites.

All those springtime weddings!

Lots of brides this April and May, and don't you agree the creek is just glorious! Balmy weather and soft breezes make for a really lovely afternoon wedding ceremony by the stream. All our April and May couples were eloping. It is such an honor to be a part of their special day.

Spring Weddings

It has been one busy spring here at Timberwolf Creek!


It all started around Easter, when Clayton & Casey, Chip & Micheala, Ray & Lori, and Mike & Beth all got married here the same week. The spring weather held for all four, amazingly enough.


Snow was predicted each day -yikes!- and we had weddings on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday. Don't you know, it was snowy and cold on Monday only.

The other four days were spectacularly beautiful, clear skies, sunny, and a balmy 70 degrees.


My brides are so blessed.

And yes, they are all my brides.

Forever. That's just how it is.