As strange as it may seem to some, these small weddings that I get to photograph where I don’t meet the couple until the day of cause quite the excitement for me! There is a bit of a rush I get when presented with learning about the couple on the fly and then getting to use my skills to tell the story of their day. When I met Laurie and Chad on their wedding day the first thing that struck me was all their teenage boys, ha! They each have two teen and pre-teen boys who all seemed to be very close with each other. I then found out that Laurie and Chad met each other because of these boys and that Chad was their coach. It was really easy to see how excited these guys were to be real brothers as their parents tied the knot that day.
Laurie’s sons walked with her down to the altar to meet Chad, such a sweet thing to do with their mom and a meaningful way to show how much they support her in this new chapter of all their lives. Chads sons stood right by his side and were all smiles watching their new bonus mom walk up the aisle.
As is usual with these more intimate weddings, the ceremony was short and sweet but very meaningful and full of emotions, ranging from laughter at small, silly jokes to a few tears of happiness shed by the boys. Laurie and Chad were so excited to be married and I could tell that they were going to give me several silly moments right along with some serious smoke show interludes.
They easily fell into their own natural silliness which gave me lots of smiles and playful movement and with a little direction from me were able to give me some seriousness that resulted in beautifully tense moments of love and desire. It never hurts that the sunset was as gorgeous as is expected on the northernmost point of the island.
I wish them all the very best as a family and hope for many heartfelt years of love and laughter… and hopefully all those boys don’t give them too much trouble.
Planner, Officiant, & Arch: Janet with Beach Weddings Made Simple (https://beachweddingsmadesimple.com/)
Location: Bowditch Point Park, Fort Myers Beach
