Joel and Carrie's "Will You" and such...

I woke to the familiar sound of my "Viva la Vida" alarm, but to a different place than I expected.... then I remembered I'm in North Carolina with Carrie. I blinked and stretched the jet-lag out of my body enough to make myself get up just in time to see Carrie bolt across the room with her hair in a towel and mumble "morgen...". There was no music this morning, but I attributed that to the late night everyone had talking and laughing. I got up and brushed my teeth, excited to start the day. This morning was the morning I got to spend some time with Carrie and Joel, just the three of us, and shoot some last minute engagement shots before their big day tomorrow. With Joel behind the wheel and us girls packed into the car, we headed into downtown Kernersville in search of character, antiquity, and weather damaged architecture... and we found it. Unlike shooting in Orange County, it wasn't a hard thing to find old buildings with character and history behind them... I've absolutely loved the "colonial meets country house" feel to all the old homes in Kernersville! Here's some of the shots as promised for ya'all (I'm determined to come home with an accent!)

Getting some dance practice in before they get hitched...

And then... much to my delight we found an old caboose abandoned on some tracks. For those of you who know me... I'm sure you can feel my joy cross country :D

Carrie is the closest thing I know to a Southern Belle... sweeter than most I'm sure! Joel's one lucky guy to have such a beautiful and very photogenic lady as his future wife... 

I love this shot because I think it totally captures Carrie. Gentle, peaceful, beautiful, dainty... and Joel looks so content to gaze at his beautiful lady...

This is my famous "ready set I'M GETTING MARRIED face in 3...2...1" pose... pretty much sums it up right?

On another note, tonight was the rehearsal dinner and wedding run through with everyone. It was the real deal. My camera, family, music, walking down the aisle... all in her small country family-style white church with a steeple. I lost it. I was a complete basket case of a wedding photographer... so much so I couldn't take pictures because I was sniffling and my eyes were pouring too much liquid to focus. This is bad. I blame God. Yup... I'm blaming Him. You see, I'm not just the wedding photographer at this wedding, I'm a friend who's seen it all. I'm the friend with whom Carrie cried with the first week in Germany because we were both ridiculously homesick. Carrie and I were bunk mates, prayer partners, secret keepers, dream co-pilots, and soul mates. And she's found her prince charming... for real. Joel is perfect for her. He's everything she needs and has dreamed of... and they're getting married tomorrow.

I'm not entirely sure why this is such a teary thing for me. I'm not sad. I'm not scared. I'm happy, but it's more than just happy. In talking with Christopher (yes I called him in tears and sobbed unintelligibly for a while until I calmed down) I came to realize it's more than giving her away to her groom. It's witnessing what it's supposed to be like. Family and friends are surrounding them and all coming together to help them out and send them off in prayer and celebration. Friends came from all different distances to be here... with them. Nothing special has happened except conversations, catching up, singing, and laughing. Tomorrow, we'll all gather in that white church in the country, watch Carrie walk down the aisle in her white dress to the song recorded by Joel and Her while we were still in Germany a year and a half ago.... we'll get to see a glimpse of Him. We'll get to see a glimpse of true beauty and His glory in a wedding... a living example of when Christ comes for his bride. Visions of true love strike untouched depths of my soul through my senses and it brings me to my knees. I've come to the conclusion.... that experiencing love like theirs is payment enough for the many hours of work I've put in and will put into giving them the best wedding images I can. Renewing the source of my heart for wedding photography and reminding me why I'm here.... to prepare His bride for her glorious reuniting with her Groom.... radiant with love, gushing with anticipation, and beaming with beauty perfected by relationship with the Almighty. Stay tuned in the next few days for their Wedding blog and tell all your friends... this will be one for everyone to celebrate!