Jill + Colby: Oh the Places You’ll Go

Let me start this blog off by stating that I really love my clients.  All of them.   I enjoy following them on Facebook after their wedding has passed so I can quietly celebrate their marriage as it prospers.  When I find out a wedding client just bought their first new home together, I share their excitement. When they announce that they are expecting a child, I find myself in glee! In the tragic event that those hopes end sadly, I–in a small way–share their sadness and extend my prayers.  When a couple books me to photograph their wedding, they join the Lane Weddings family, and I’ll forever be emotionally bonded to them. As a witness to their vows, I stand among the rest of their friends and family who have a vested interest in seeing the bonds of their marriage strengthen each day and each year as they grow older together.

So why have I decided to get all sentimental now?  It’s all the fault of this weekend’s wedding.

Even though I love all my clients, I absolutely adore Jill and Colby, who I met last summer at Ann and Chey’s ridiculously amazing wedding.  Each of them are such caring, genuine, thoughtful and loving people.  Colby greets his friends with solid hugs and always lets them know how important they are to him.  I’m honored to now be included in that group of fortunate people.  Jill…wow…let me just tell you that not only have I never worked for a bride sweeter, it’s unlikely that I ever will.  She is so absorbed in making the world a better place for those around her, and she succeeds with elegance and charm. As a couple, they are a poetic force of grace.

So it’s no surprise that they would conspire together one of the most heartfelt, tear-jerking weddings I’ve ever been too.  Each of them read letters to each other before reciting their vows. It wasn’t the words they wrote for each other–which were thoughtful, loving and profound–that left not a dry eye in the church.  Rather it was the perfect blend of confidence and vulnerability in their voices as they expressed their devotion to each other.  Then Jill, who has the voice of an angel, made a surprise change in the program as she sung a beautiful, powerful and sweet love song to her groom.  Hello misty eyes!

These are just a couple of the many examples of deep sentiment that went into Jill and Colby’s North Platte, Neb. wedding day, a day that was full of them.   Colby’s brother, Chey’s slide show toast, Jill’s father talking about Jill’s transformation into the beautiful swan that she is, and Jill’s  mother joining the string quartet at dinner were just a few of them.  But rather continuing on about it, I give you the photos: