White Wedding

One of my friends/co-workers got married this past Saturday and my sister and I had the honor of photographing the wedding!


It was held at the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge - which screams wedding venue. I hadn't been before and was super impressed. It was so beautiful.

For good luck's sake, it rained all morning. My sister and I drove from Anchorage to Talkeetna Saturday a.m. and arrived by 9:30. The bride-to-be had just returned from a run and breakfast with her girls. The whirlwind of ladies preparing for a wedding began, and duly so did 1,919 photos taken on the night...

As the ceremony and festivities approached, the sun decided to peek through and all was right with the world. Yellow, black and white polka dots and daisies popped against the green trees and awesome Alaskan backdrop. It was all coming together beautifully.

Ms. Bride was cut right out of a magazine, she looked AH!mazing. The groom was quite dapper himself.

The emotion and realness that accompanies a wedding really brought me back down to earth. Not only for the ones saying those vows, but for all involved and all that were there to witness. It's a beautiful thing marrying your best friend, and it's a beautiful thing to see a friend marry their best friend too.

We shot from beginning to end, and it was quite a day. It was fun hanging out with my sister doing what we love to do. It also made me reminisce about my own wedding day and how exciting and nerve wracking and undeniably de facto it all is. It's like a slap in the face that you enjoyed. :)

I can't say that I believe in soul mates. I like the idea of it, but as a self proclaimed realist, I am not sure how so many of us are actually able to find that soul mate of ours...that one person that was put on this earth for us to be with. I believe in love, and that given the circumstances we are put in and the choices that we make in life, we fall in love and we find love. Some more than others. There's nothing wrong with that if that is your path. When we find the one that we want to spend the rest of our lives with, we know it. We know that we will not love another like that. We can call that person our soul mate, we can call that person our life partner, we can call them our best friend or whatever we want. The point is, soul mate or not, the person who you will now share the rest of your sleeps with and place kisses upon a zillion more times, feels the same exact way about you as you feel about them - the ultimate love, admiration, devotion, respect, passion and appreciation. The most of the most and the best of the best. Soul mate or not, they've helped you to discover a new you, a new life, a new kind of togetherness, and because of that your life will never be the same. And that's the best kind of never.

Pockets full of happiness and sunshine to the Olsons. :)

P.S. Photos to be posted later! let the editing begin...
P.S.S. Billy Idol was a genius - can you go to a wedding without thinking about this song now? I can't!