beauty is friendship

I am back from my wedding/newlywed hiatus!

Those of you who are married know what I mean. I had to take a leave of absence from Elvira Bleu to fully focus and enjoy the past two months. The weeks leading up to the wedding were full of nonstop errands, crafts, and compromises. The weeks afterwards were full of giving myself the gift of no responsibilities and moments of mindlessness. It has been wonderful, and I am so thankful Andy and I have been blessed with so much free time this summer! We move the first of August, where we will both have full time responsibilities. 

Thank you all so much for your encouraging words, excitement, and support! Even those whom I have never met in person; I am blessed to know you! You play a very important role in my life, and I am so thankful.

To kick off my return, I am pleased to participate in Coast to Coast's Beauty Is... Photo Challenge! I know you all have seen my participation in the fashion challenges, and even the dream challenge. This one is special, celebrating 30 days of beauty represented in characteristics & nonphysical attributes.

Beauty is Friendship.

Our wedding was tangible proof of this. It POURED. Seriously, the heavens opened and released a heavenly sea of water. Our entire wedding was outdoors. We had a Plan B, but there was no way it would accommodate the amount of guests we invited. The ceremony was scheduled to begin at 5:30. The rain began around 3:30. Instead of taking my bridal shots outside, we were forced to shoot them on the screened-in porch overlooking the venue. We had to stop after only a few photos were taken because it was raining so hard there was almost no natural light at all. We crammed all of our bridal party & groomsmen photos on the tiny front porch. The rain let up about 30 minutes before the ceremony and never started up again. Despite the tsunami, over 300 of our friends and family made the trip to our drenched, half-way decorated wedding. 

I have been told our wedding was one of the most fun weddings some of our friends have been to. I am not sure if they feel obligated to say this, or if I am biased because I was the bride, but I have really never had that much fun at a wedding. My shoes and gown were soaked and muddy, all the tablecloths were wet and we ran out of alcohol, but none of that mattered. I didn't even register most of the decorations, I ate the food but can't remember what it tasted like, and honestly the entire celebration was a blur; the thing I remember clear as day is how much fun we had. No amount of planning, decorating, or spending could have determined that. It was our friends, their ability to look past the rain and make the night the joyful celebration it was meant to be. I am so thankful and blessed by our friends, the ones present on our wedding day and the ones who celebrated elsewhere. You all made our wedding day one of the most wonderful days ever.

All film photography // kristin sweeting photography