On Saturday I had the honor of attending and photographing the wedding of my dear friends JessaLu and Roger. Dale and I got to JessaLu’s house nice and early and I set up my camera and took photos of Jess and her attendants getting ready. It was fun to hang out and eat chocolate, to meet Tina and get to know the other attendants, and to help Jess get ready – even if I did cry when I saw her in her dress.
Before I knew it we were ready to go to the wedding site and Dale and I drove the bride – how special is that? We arrived at Baldwin Hill Farm right on time and it was a glorious afternoon.
There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the colors on the mountains were beautiful, and the elm tree was ready to bear witness to this momentous occasion.
Our JessaLu looked gorgeous in her dress and the veil made by our Cookie was stunning. Jess arranged all the flowers for the wedding herself – some 600 roses – and they were wonderful, but none more so than her beautiful white rose bouquet.
I tried to be all professional and not get emotional when Roger laid eyes on Jess for the first time but it wasn’t easy, I will tell you that. The love these two have and the joy at this particular moment was palpable.
And the scenery was perfect. The mountains made a gorgeous backdrop for the photos. I took 615 all together but I managed to narrow them down to just these few that I’m posting – with Jess and Roger’s permission, of course.
It was great to see the bridesmaids all wearing the shawls in Tina’s signature Sin colorway. Becky is there next to Jess and she’s wearing the Cascata shawl that I knit for her. And that’s Amanda, JessaLu’s sister, on the other side of Tina. They made a beautiful group of women.
After the ceremony Dale and I (again feeling honored) drove Jess and Roger back to their home for a quick change of JessaLu’s hairdo and a moment to catch our breath before heading to the fire station for the reception.
And can I just tell you, this was a fire station transformed. I had no doubt that Jess would do a fabulous job but until you have seen 1100 pom poms made from dyed coffee filters, well, you just don’t know how gorgeous that can be.
There were twinkle lights strung everywhere and red roses by the hundreds. Each table was named for one of Jess and Roger’s favorite movies and on the tables were cards printed with their favorite quotes from those movies. There were hand made envelopes filled with chocolates and there were glowing tea lights and it was just beautiful.
There were also cupcakes. They were wrapped in paper wrappers handmade by Jess and they were delicious, as was the dinner which included perhaps the best scalloped potatoes I have ever eaten. There was salad and chicken and roast beef and green beans, too, but oooooh, those potatoes were heavenly.
It was truly a fabulous day full of love and special moments and best wishes. I never dreamed, when I started this blog nearly 6 years ago, that I would make a friend like JessaLu. And I never dreamed that our friendship would lead to me being so blessed as to be a part of her wedding, as her friend and chauffeur, as her photographer and helper and confidante.
I know that there were thousands of weddings on 10-10-10 but I’m pretty sure Dale and I were at the best one of all.
Woo! What a day it was. You did a wonderful job with the photography, how could you doubt yourself? Jess and RR are going to love the photos when they see them. It really was a beautiful day, and I wish them every happiness. 🙂
And I’m REALLY happy that it was warmer on Sunday than it was on Saturday. Really, REALLY happy.
What a beautiful wedding!! Thank you for sharing it with us!!!!
Your blog today is such a lovely feel good blog. Lovely story about the
friendship you have made, beautiful, beautiful wedding, wonderful photos
and I absolutely love the personal wedding and all the lovely details of
it. When you see what couples spend on weddings today, it is so
refreshing to see pictures of a loving couple who made their own special
wedding. You can feel the love between these two in your descriptions
and photos. Great job, Carole.
Beautiful. Each detail is simply beautiful, and reveals that they must have a very special love story. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you again, my friend. It would not have been then same without you there. xo I’m so glad you were there for our ‘first look’, you helped make it special and keep me calm when he was LATE! hehe
I did have some help with the flowers and the pom poms and the setting up – I couldn’t have pulled all that off without the minion army and I will be eternally grateful to them. Those potatoes? You can get them at John Andrews Restaurant ;o) I happen to have the last three inch square of them in my freezer too…
The photos are beautiful Carole. You did a great job. It looked like it was a beautiful day.
Isn’t it funny where this knitting think can take us?
Congratulations Jess and Roger!!
Your post brought tears to my eyes. Jessa Lu and Roger have something very special and it’s wonderful so many people from near and far could share in this lovely wedding. To see Jessa Lu in Cookie’s veil, the handsome and happy couple together, see the beautiful space for the party, and to read your feelings of the day gave me the feeling of being a part of it all.
Wow – what a beautiful description and pictorial of an obviously beautiful day. That Jess sure is crafty!
As with too many people, Carole Jess and I can’t thank you enough !! Taking the time to enjoy it all was tough enough for some folks but for others like yourself, far too much work was involved to pull this off in such a manner. The location is less then a mile from home and couldn’t be beat for money. The Firehouse is “my” house,
The farm and tree we were married at is owned by our Fire Chief.
The amazing food is an array of the best food from some best friends who own the best restaurants in town ! and the Music that kept us going was due to my awesome nephew Rob !!
And of course the clean up crew and “leftovers party ” the next day !!
THANK YOU !!
RR
I could look at ALL 615 photos you took and never be tired of all the beauty. You did a fantastic job and CONGRATS to the happy couple – it looks like a wonderful, memorable day!!
Beautiful…wedding, veil, shawls,pictures!!! EVERYTHING!!! How lucky you and Jessa Lu both are in meeting and forming such a great friendship!!
Blogs are strange. I have no idea who these people are, yet I am so happy for them and wish them all the best. Thank you for sharing what was obviously a momentous occasion for everyone involved.
And now, I must locate laceweight in a color called Sin. How Heavenly! 🙂
Guess I should leave a comment, since you have me sitting here, grinning at the computer as if I were a wedding guest. Well done!
Beautiful photos of such a special day!! Those shawls were gorgeous–what talent and love went into making them. The internet/knitting joins us all together in such a lovely way!!
It looks like all the planning and work came together into a perfect “10” day!
Thanks for sharing!
Carole, wonderful photos of spectacular day. Jess and RR will be thrilled.
Beautifully put!
Thanks for this post — I have been dying to see pictures and hear about the wedding!! All of it looks gorgeous! Much love to Jess and Roger.
Beautiful post – thanks.
How wonderful! It looks like it was a glorious day.
You did a great job with the pictures Carole. The wedding looks lovely and I really adore all the stuff that Jessalu made for it. She really pulled it together well.
Of course I know all too well how great the people we meet through our blogs can be. Awesome!
What a beautiful day and wedding! You took some beautiful photos…
What a beautiful wedding.
Echoing Margene and all of the sentiments above and more. What a wonderful wedding and gorgeous photos Carole! Must have been hard to be in the moment and shoot the whole thing too. Awesome job! It’s nice to know what the significance of the elm tree is- thanks Roger. So glad that everything went off so well.
Fabulous photos of a wonderful couple. Thank you so much for sharing this with us, Carole, and for being there for our girl.
xo
Okay, I’m at work reading this, hoping no students come by because I’m all weepy. What a beautiful couple! Beautiful post! Love abounds, and I am so touched by it all.
it really was the best wedding of all! It was wonderful to see you again Carole and meet Dale, your photographs are lovely!
What beautiful photos! It sounds like it was such a lovely wedding.
I forgot to mention the veil – it’s stunning! And the bridesmaids shawls are so beautiful – love that color!
What a lovely time! Glad you were there to stand witness, and photographer.
What beautiful photos and what a nice post! The shawls and veil are all gorgeous…and add such a lovely touch to the wedding. Someone mentioned it earlier, but to see such a beautiful wedding pulled together by a couple who obviously love each other is so refreshing in this day of mega-weddings (that often don’t seem to mean as much). Thanks for sharing it all.
It’s all so breath-taking. I’m so impressed with the bride’s craftiness! I could barely organize wine for mine! Such a memorable day for you.
How Perfect!
All captured so very beautifully..I felt like I was also a guest..
I wish you the very best of blessings as you begin your new life together.
Many warm hugs,
Dianne
late to the party, but >sniff< so nice.
You truly transported all of your blog readers to the wedding through your pictures, what a special gift you have in your photography! The bride is stunning, the groom handsome, and all the love and sharing that went on that special day is inspiring 🙂 Let me add my best wishes to the happy couple, may they start each morning as happy as they were on 10-10-10!
I am sitting here fighting back tears – what a beautiful, beautiful wedding! So very special. You did a wonderful job of capturing the spirit of the day – makes me want to get married all over again!
So beautiful! Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Thank you ever so much for sharing. What a beautiful day with wonderful people!! Jess did such a nice job with the decorations and EVERYTHING.
Thank you so much for sharing! What a marvelous wedding.
Gorgeous! The scenery, the people, the clothes, the decorations…what a beautiful wedding.
incredibly gorgeous wedding! (and great photos!!)
Isn’t it wonderful to see people so in love 😉