Amanda and Joe live in Memphis and until yesterday I had not met them. While Amanda and I had talked on the phone a couple times, I really had no idea what to expect when I was driving to Manchester yesterday. Oh, and did I also mentioned it rained ALL day??
When I got to the church the rain had slowed to a sprinkle and I was hoping that Amanda and Joe would be game to go outside for photos anyway (I even brought along my rain boots to let Amanda borrow in case she agreed).
Much to my delight, Amanda and Joe turned out to be extremely mellow and relaxed about the whole situation. As Amanda said to me, you only get married once and you want to have great photos! I immediately loved her...and she took me up on my rain boot offer. (By the way, I left them at the church...so someone has a new pair of boots) ;)
The guys were having a great time with their photos. They cracked me up!
The girls were great sports too and I love these smiles...
Amanda and Joe chose not to see each other before the wedding, but they did want a photo together before the ceremony where they couldn't see each other. It was a very sweet moment.
The sanctuary at the church was beautifully lit with stringed lights and chandeliers.
The bride's father officiated and I'm pretty sure there was not a dry eye in the house as he talked about his baby daughter and the man she was marrying. It was extremely heart-felt and not only touching, but pretty funny at times too.
After the ceremony, we had plans to drive down the street to take photos at the place where Amanda's parent were married 27 years ago. The rain was back, but again these two were game to go anyway! They were absolutely precious together and so obviously in love. I think we have more kissing photos than anything else because they were paying no attention to me. Ha ha. In fact, as they were walking and kissing in the rain, I heard a collective shouts of "Eeeewww...gross!" behind me.
I turned and saw this--we had a big laugh...
Amanda and Joe, I had a wonderful time meeting you (and your family and friends). I hope you love your preview and I wish you many years of happiness together. I think you are off to a great start. Congratulations!