APRIL 25, 2004 – Ryan and his guys were hanging out in their room at the East-Mesa Hilton, watching sports. Tuxes were on and boutonnieres pinned. It was just a matter of time until they were summoned to the atrium for the ceremony to begin. Ryan walked to the window and glanced out at the golf course below, squinting in the crisp sun light. Suddenly, a flash of white caught his eye. He looked down and saw a girl in a white gown, escorted by six bridesmaids and a flower girl holding a long flowing train behind her. His eyes were fixed on her. There she was, his bride, walking out to the grass to take photos, laughing a chatting with her friends. She was beautiful. He couldn’t believe that within the hour, she would be his wife. Suddenly, he was snapped back into reality. He backed away from the window and turned to his guys. “Um guys? I just saw Denise.” Groans erupted from the group. After playing interference all day, making sure they didn’t see each other, all it took was a quick glance out the window to unravel their plan.
* * * * *
Some say it’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding. That was certainly the “party line” when we got married in 2004. When our photographer asked if we’d be seeing each other before the ceremony, I laughed and said, “Do people really do that? Isn’t it bad luck?” After (nearly) 10 years of marriage, I think we can safely say that it’s a silly wives tale. A successful marriage is about a lot of things – luck is not one of them. We may not have planned to do a “first look” on our wedding day, but, as he so often does, God had other plans ;-) Ryan didn’t tell me about this little “accident” for a while after our wedding, but when he did, we just laughed about it.
After many years of photographing gorgeous weddings for our couples, we often talk about what we’d do differently if we had the chance to do it all again. I’d change my dress and shoes, we’d care a lot more about the decor and we’d put a LOT more priority on our photos! And yes, when we planned our wedding, there was no such thing as Pinterest. (I can almost hear modern bride’s gasp in horror!) When it’s all said and done though, the memories we have of our wedding day are pretty much perfect :-) We were just a couple of crazy kids who couldn’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together. We got to celebrate with the people who meant the most to us and we ended the night as husband and wife. All in all, it was the most amazing day.
Our ceremony took place in the hotel atrium. Ryan saw me for the “first” time as I came down a glass elevator. I met my Mom and Dad at the bottom and they both walked me down the isle.
This is probably my favorite photo of the day! I love how happy and excited we looked walking back down the isle as husband and wife. (Isn’t it weird that nobody is taking photos on their iPhones? That’s because we got married before there were camera phones. How crazy is that?)
First dance :-) Yes, Ryan was totally rockin’ an earing in those days.
We cut the cake to the tune of Outkast’s “Hey Ya” … shake it like a Polaroid picture! We were the coolest :-)
We hand picked EVERY song that our DJ played. It was a very strange mix of James Taylor, The Beatles and Christian pop songs. Nobody danced much, but at least we could sing along to every tune.
So much fun to look back at the beginning of our own journey! Years down the road and we can still say it was the best decision we ever made.
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Our Love Story | Part V
Our Wedding Day
November 8, 2013
Nov 8
Funny, i remember dancing a WHOLE LOT :) We looked so young and fresh-faced how did we not know that then? It was such a fun wedding to be a part of. Love you two.