Karen & Stephen

When I think of Karen and Stephen, I think of them as my Karen and Stephen. See, I know they belong to everybody else. And each other. But ever since I first met them, back in November 2009, I felt as though they were, photographically speaking, my soulmates.

There is the gentlest, most comfortable and most sincere happiness between them. Watching them together is so calming. The love between them glows and you can not only see it in the way that they look at each other and talk to each other, but you can feel it.

Their wedding day wasn’t quite what we expected. Being set in summer, I (and I think they) envisioned a hot, very sunny day. Alas, the cats and dogs were out in full force, and it poured. There was no reprieve from the rain – I don’t think we saw it stop once.

But that really didn’t matter a squat. Stephen, who is originally from the UK (of both English and Welsh heritage) and his mates, who had flown out for the wedding (possibly with the weather in tow?), were playing volleyball on the beach in the morning…so relaxed. And when I arrived at the girls’ house…the rain pounded down on the tin roof, but Karen barely blinked. Rather than allow it to spoil a beautiful, meaningful day, they embraced the rain as a part of it.

The power even went off during the ceremony. The response? Laughter. Just laughter. It didn’t matter at all. And that’s how it should be.

I loved everything about the day – Karen’s custom-designed and created dress (she is a fashion designer and imagined it herself, and had a dressmaker friend bring the design to life), the special and colourful people around them, the quaint church with the traditional organ and the “British-ness” of the celebration, the lovely bridal party, the exquisite reception details and finally but definitely not least, Karen and Stephen themselves. It was such a wonderful day and my gratitude for being a part of it is overwhelming.

I felt as though I had stepped into one of those quaint little churches in the middle of Britain. I adore the UK and so my heart sang at this point.