Tonight we celebrated Matt and Laurel's union from two into one! It also happened to be the first wedding of what we hope to be many events we are invited to attend from "our" college students. And what a GREAT wedding it was!!!!
John brought his camera, but was a little sheepish as to whether or not he should drag it out during the ceremony. Once he caught sight of just how many other camera-bearers there were, he felt a lot better about using it as much as he did. He was especially thankful once he started capturing the images; the expressions, the scenery, the joy, the festivities - the beauty.....what a delight!
Laurel has been engaged to Matt during the entire time I've known her, so they've always been "practically married" as far as I've been concerned. She met him at Camp Harlow, so it's oh so ideal that Dave ("the Wave") Mertz (the director at Camp Harlow) was the officiator at their wedding. Laurel and Matt are just the sort of couple that exude smiles and happiness, which is yet another reason their wedding was so much fun.
The look on Laurel's dad in this picture.......sigh......one of these days, that's gonna be John with Mikayla.
Dave, eliciting a hearty belly laugh from Laurel - I'd expect nothing less!
The big rule at Camp Harlow is to never mix the blues (boys) with the reds (girls). I'd never heard this before, but I guess it's a pretty common saying in youth ministries. How fitting that they combined sand of these two colors in place of the more common unity candle.
Officially, Mr. and Mrs.!
The setting of the wedding was at a Northern Lights Christmas Tree Farm along the Willamette River. I've actually been there on many occasions with field trips during the Harvest season, they have a pumpkin catapult, a Mayflower replica made with hay bales, etc. We've also picked out a Christmas tree there, but this is the first time we've been here for a wedding - so beautiful!
I don't think Laurel was intentionally stopping to close her eyes here, chances are more likely John just caught her blinking. But, I'd like to think she was taking a moment to "take it all in" - so she'd never forget a moment of this remarkable day.
On to some pics of the attendees - starting with us. We decided we need to start getting more original with our poses, especially since that's something we are always asking the college couples to do at the Trinity Formal dinners we've photographed.
A family shot with the bride and groom......
Kaela is on the left and Darcy, one of Laurel's bridesmaids, is on my right.
Obviously, there were a slew of CCF'ers in attendance - all of these ladies are residents of the Trinity House - where Laurel was "House Mom".
Because we had the kiddos with us, and because the Schillings were waiting around for us back home, we left rather early. I know there was lots of fun after we left, dancing, and cupcake eating, etc. I'm so happy for Laurel and Matt to now enjoy the days of wedded bliss and conquer life together as a team. Congratulations!!!!
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