I hope you all enjoyed the holidays & had a wonderful welcome to 2012!
This first post is pretty close to my heart, since it’s the bridal pictures for my sister’s wedding from Valentine’s Day of 2011.
{Oh, did someone just throw the “Rotten Blogger Award” to me? Making that a 2012 resolution…!}
Their story is worth sharing & I really hope it brings a smile to your face the way it does to me when I see this beautiful family…
Rachel & DeWayne married in 2000. {I know this might sound confusing, just keep reading}. I was her bridesmaid & sang a Jaci Velasquez song & {happily} cried my way through her ceremony… as all good sisters should. They were young, madly in love, & excited to share their lives together. Many changes took place over the next few years, including a move across the country & welcoming three lovely kiddos into their family. The road ahead of them had some devastating twists & turns, including the loss of DeWayne’s beautiful mom to breast cancer. After a very difficult period, they made a very hard decision to separate & proceeded with a divorce.
I know that’s not a word you usually see in a wedding blog and I’ll be delicate with their very personal details. Anyone who has been through a divorce, or is close to someone going through one, knows that the pain is excruciating. I truly wish there were as many resources dedicated to inspiring couples to work through life together as there were sites inspiring them to use mason jars as their centerpieces. I think so many of us could use that kind of refreshing encouragement & hope. Perhaps you may see more of that around here this year…
Back to my sister & her story.
The papers made the divorce final, but their story was far from the end.
Although they were living hundreds of miles apart, a visit over Christmas brought a change in their hearts & they began to carefully reconnect.
“Reconnecting” eventually led to another engagement & wedding!
It was truly a red letter day to see this family sewn back together. You can see it in the faces of each of their three children in their wedding portraits. They had a simple, very heartfelt wedding ceremony to re-marry on Valentine’s Day. It was such an honor for me to capture this special time in their lives. I love that these pictures show so much warmth & love, even during a very cold Ohio February…
Venue: The Patterson Homestead in Dayton, Ohio {you may recognize it from this post last year}
Remember, these kiddos had just recently saw the miracle of their parents coming back together. It was better than Christmas.
Rachel & DeWayne, I love you both! Thank you for being so trusting & allowing me to give you advice on every aspect of setting up this shoot!
I’m so happy for your family!
Hope you enjoy this poster I made especially for them:
“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” Maria Robinson ♥
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