Everyone has a story. From the time we are born we begin a journey. A journey of ups, and downs, dreams and realities. I am in a business that deals with the dreams. From a very young age a little girl dreams of her wedding day. What will her dress look like, what will her hair and make up be like, will her dad cry when he walks her down the aisle, or will he shed a single tear as he gives her away, and oh, yea, who will the groom be?! It is a magical time that becomes a reality about a year after the engagement. My job is to capture that reality, and to bring it to life! To tell a story of the dream! Every Saturday of the year -almost- I have the opportunity to experience the joys of a couple’s wedding day. I am there at one of the happiest days of their lives, and as I thought about what I would blog about in 2012 a story came to mind. What story? Your story..the Bride and Groom’s. Or the story of your family!
As we embark on the journey into 2012, I want to hear about YOU! I am going to ask each client to know a little more about them, and to showcase THEM in my blogs. I don’t want to just show you pictures. I want to show you a couple madly in love, tell you how they met, update you when they have babies. The whole deal! I want to capture the memories that are meaningful to you, the couple. So, I need to know who you are. I’ll be blogging every Monday in 2012. I will also be asking couples for their story (so give me a little time till wedding season!). So, as I post new engagement pictures, wedding pictures, and even family pictures (yes, I said FAMILY pictures because we will be shooting families in 2012!), I will to tell a little story. A story that they will have until the day they die. Not because I wrote it in a blog, but because I captured it for them. I want to give memories, not just photographs. If there is one thing people would save in a fire, it is a photograph. THAT is my job -to give them that photograph-, and THAT gives me great joy!
I want everyone to have a book, a wall portrait, or a canvas in 2012. Why? Because one day CD’s/DVD’s that you throw in a drawer may be obsolete, but a tangible book or print will never get outdated or thrown away. Your grandkids will cherish it, and your story will live on. So, make sure you add a book to your package and I will custom design one for you. Or order a large print! I’m not talking 20×24 people, I’m talking 30X40, 40X50 to put above your couch or your bed. Tell YOUR story in your home. I assure you it will be a centerpiece of conversation.
So, with all that being said, I want to start with my story! My love affair with Joshua Barnett!
We met in 1998, and started dating in 1999. I was ……15….and he was 17. It was love at first site at a high school football game. We dated throughout high school and college, but met a rough patch in my Junior year at UNCW. It was get married or break up… Long story short I came home (yes, I know with only 1.5 years to finish school), and we started planning the wedding (Just as a side note, I did finish my Biology degree..it just took a little over 5.5 years, instead of 4…)! On New Years Eve of 2004 we decided to get married in March of 2005. After much debate over the actual date we decided on March 25, 05. Going into 2012 I can’t believe we have been married almost 7 years. It goes super fast people, enjoy it! Anyway, the wedding planning process was expedited to say the least. With only 3 months to plan I was checking stuff off lists on a daily basis. I say lists because it seriously takes more than one, and then you STILL worry that you missed something. Anyway, tangent… The day quickly came. I remember it like it were yesterday. Dad was nervous, mom revealed to me a secret that I never knew (she had dreamt of my husband while I was still a little girl. A dream that I would marry the son of a preacher man, and guess what? I did!) , I stood in front of the mirror and felt like I was in a movie (Father of the Bride to be exact), I walked down the isle and said “I DO,” I danced with my daddy and cried my eyes out, danced with my hubby and yes, cried my eyes out -good/happy tears, of course-, I barely ate because my dress was a tight corset up top, and then we said goodbye under a shower of rose petals. We were off to our Honeymoon. In a blink of an eye, it was over! Four years later we had a little boy that changed our lives forever. Then, in 2011, we had our girl. We were high school sweet hearts, and now we are a complete family (well, maybe..who knows if God will bless us with more children in the future!). What an amazing story. One that I hope has lots to be told! A story I hope to share a little bit more of with you as it unfolds….
If you are a client please e-mail me your story, or send me the link to your wedding web site. If you are not a client yet I have to ask what your waiting for?! Let us tell your story in 2012!
Check us out every Monday. I hope to stick with my New Years Resolution!