How many mothers can say they met their future daughter-in-law, on a school bus, chaperoning a field trip, for their sixth grade son? 

How many brides can say that their husband followed his heart to be with her over hundreds of miles? 

How many couples can say their courtship lasted not months, not years, but almost two decades?

That is just the icing on the nuptial cake of this absolutely stunning wedding.  This couple's story is so magical, it could almost be a modern day fairytale, fraught with love and tears and villains and princes and of course, as you'll see below...

Happily Ever After.   

How do I know all of this?  This family has been intertwined with my family for as long as I can remember.   The ravishing bride has been my little sister for over twenty years.  I remember her when she was just a wee one, playing over my house.  I remember her when she was a teenager, driving off with her learner's permit in hand and my sister in her car.   I remember when her big sister walked into my middle school homeroom for the first time and I thought I was seeing Aphrodite herself, with her ethereal beauty.    I remember her devastatingly beautiful little sister when she was just a toddler throwing tantrums and bureaus (yes, I said bureaus).  I even remember when her littlest sister was born, the flaxen-haired beauty of the bunch.  I could even go further.  I remember her brother-in-laws when we had class after class together from elementary school all the way up to high school.  Amazing that such a reunion should happen whole states away from our shared history.  That's the power of this family. 

With all this remembering, can you even begin to fathom the overwhelming joy I felt when I received the call of honor to photograph their wedding?  I really have to stop documenting weddings of people I love because this whole, "Someone take my camera and take a picture of this moment because I can't see due to all these darn tears" is just really hurting my flow.

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