Lauren & Charlie
It was planned. Then it was planned again. And again. I ended up losing track of the number of times Lauren & Charlie had to change their wedding plans.
Friday March 13th, during 4th period, my students announced to me that schools were closing down due to the COVID 19 outbreak (this, of course, was later confirmed by a district email). As the day wrapped up and I attempted to wrap my head around the idea of "distance learning," I texted Lauren to see if she had plans for the evening.
She replied, "Actually Charlie and I are at the courthouse getting married before everything closes down."
I immediately and eagerly replied "DO YOU NEED A WITNESS?!"
To which I am sure Lauren and Charlie chuckled to themselves and Lauren replied "Sure! Can you make it in 30 min.?"
You bet your sweet soul I could make it in 30 minutes! I ran, literally ran, to my car in the parking lot, peaced out of school for what would be a 6+ month period of time (maybe a different blog post to come on that...), and drove somewhat unsafely to the Santee Clerk's Office.
I found Lauren dressed in her school T-shirt and jeans and Charlie dolled up in his construction clothes. We entered the "ceremony room," I made Lauren wear her hooded jacket as a veil and played Canon in D as she walked down the carpeted aisle. They laughed, they vowed their lives to each other, and they kissed. And just like that, all the turbulence of wedding plans settled. In that moment I learned a lesson that would be extremely valuable to me in the future months: The wedding isn't about the wedding itself, its about the marriage and commitment to one another.
A couple months passed and plans for a reception // celebration continued to be cancelled and changed. The beautiful plans of a ceremony at Lake Cuyamaca & reception at Charlie's parents' property had to be put on hold. This was no surprise to us, but gosh darn it, we still needed to get some pictures done!
Lauren texted me and asked me if I would take photos of them in their would-be ceremony attire and with their parents (who doesn't love a good family photo?!). Again, I responded with mayyyybe a tad too much enthusiasm and likely in all caps.
Though I love photographing traditional weddings, detail shots, precious moments of the ceremony and reception, family and friends laughing and celebrating, there was something incredibly special about this wedding. Though this wasn't what we all may consider a traditional wedding, the way L & C looked at each other and laughed with each other made this a wedding even greater than traditional standards. The love was there and that was all that mattered.
I look back at these photos often, as I am on the journey of planning my own wedding, and I remember, no matter the date, audience, and location, all you need for a wedding is the promise and commitment to a marriage filled with love, laughter, and silly moments.
xoxo, TMSC
