Wedding minus the wedding . . .

Bear with me folks, this is going to be a long one :O)

Today was a very special day for me. But to understand how special, I have to take you back, back 14+ years ago. To two young girls assigned to the same P.E. class. This is me and Jenise circa '95. We were friends almost immediately and like sisters by the end of the year. I think she spent more time living at my house than at her own.


Over the last 14+ years we have had many joys, many laughs, many trials, many heartbreaks, many . . . the list is so long that if I kept going, I'd be sure to loose you before the end of this blog.

Through it all, we were there for each other. Through the boyfriends and the breakups and the new boyfriends (one set each, thank you very much) which ironically enough, the new boyfriends knew each other even though they had never gone to the same school. One of the many pleasures of living in a small town. When we each got married, we stood by each other's sides. Holding on dearly to the friendship that had started so many years earlier on the blacktop outside the gym at school.

Mike and Jenise got married on October 23, 1999 which means this Friday they will be celebrating their 10th anniversary! I rifled through what pictures I had, which weren't many, to find these little gems:




A few months ago, Jenise called me and asked if I would take some pictures of them for their anniversary. I of course was eager to do so. The shoot was going to be simple enough, nice pictures on the beach. Then a day or so later she called to say she would like me to take wedding pictures for them, because they never had wedding pictures. She was going to have her original dress sized (two kids later and she's smaller, yes, this is the moment when your allowed to hate her. Just kidding) Within hours of that call, I got another, a very excited phone call. She had found THE DRESS, not any dress, but THE DRESS she would have bought if she had had the money 10 years ago. The new plan was to take picture of her in the dress and Mike in his Class A uniform . . . on the beach. Well as time would have it and kids being kids, they wanted in on the fun. Also Jenise wanted a different location and after calling her first choice and laughing at their site fee, just to take pictures, I suggested GMR She went to their website and loved the location. I suggested that they wear casual clothes so that they could get some "normal" family pictures too.






We had a lot of fun roaming the grounds of GMR but it was time to get down to the task at hand. Everyone got ready and we started our wedding shoot . . . without the wedding. I have to say something here. We LOVE weddings! There is nothing better (in the world of Photography) then being a part of peoples most important day! But I have to say, shooting a wedding without the wedding, is SO easy! There was no timeline! We got TONS of amazing pictures so many, that it was nearly impossible to weed it down to these. I hope you guys enjoy these pictures for many years to come! Thank you for letting me be apart of your special day, AGAIN! Here is to another 10 years and more!