Shannon and Ryan are great friends.  Not in the same way as all of my clients become friends, because they do, but Shannon and Ryan have been friends for a long time.  We go WAAAYYYY back.  One might even say that I’m responsible for their union (one would be lying, of course, but one could pretend.)  Okay, so I may not exactly be “responsible,” but I did play a tiny role.

Shannon and I went to high school together.  We shared a few of the same classes, we sat in the Senior Lunchroom together, and I drove her to school occasionally in my 1989 Toyota Tercel Hatchback (awwwwww yeaaahhhhh!)  It comfortably fit 2 people, and could uncomfortably cram 4…I regularly hauled between 5-9 people in that thing, and all you could see was extremities tangled up in the hatchback.  Those were good times, and Shannon was such a good and patient friend.

(Bwahahahaha!  I managed to locate a photo of us getting ready for our senior prom.  Not exactly sure why I look like I’ve just swallowed an entire bottle of Sudafed…it’s whatever…)

In college we played on a local soccer team together.  She was good…I was not.  When she was looking for a job, the summer after high-school graduation, I helped get her a job at my movie theater where I worked.  She was interviewed by a fellow redhead by the name of Ryan, who basically was prepared to offer her the job the minute he met her.  On her first day working there, she made approximately 8,000 mistakes in the box office, and the General Manager made Ryan go clean up after her mixups, since he was responsible for hiring this crazy girl.  The flirting began that evening, and it wasn’t long before I started noticing that when the three of us would walk out to the parking lot together, that I was feeling a bit like a third wheel.   I may or may not have meddled (a lot) in their budding romance, by nudging them to “go for it!” and separating them .  Soon thereafter, a relationship began.  They were each other’s first loves, and they were adorable together.

For reasons not entirely understood by any of us, a couple of years later they cooled off a bit.  They were both transferring to different schools, and figuring out who they were as individuals.  They both went in separate directions, and lost contact.  They each learned valuable life lessons during that time, and eventually graduated and started careers.  They each had built a whole life for themself, but there was always something (someone) missing.

Fast-forward a half-decade when a little harmless myspace-stalking turned into a “let’s get together sometime for coffee.”  Shannon and I hadn’t stayed in touch very well throughout the years, but it just so happened that our first time meeting up in years happened to be at a bar where a certain Mr. Ryan’s band was playing.  We danced to his music and made bad jokes about how we hoped he was standing on stage thinking “Dang, my ex is looking GOOOOD!”  On the way home, I got the distinct suspicion that she was feeling a bit nostalgic.  Sure enough, a few weeks later we got together again for July 4th, and surprise-surprise…she invited none other than her newfound friend Mr. Ryan!  <SHOCKING!>  Shameless flirting ensued, and I knew that night that this was it for them.  I still remember her telling me that they were possibly going to start dating again…”we’re going to take it really slow.”  Yeah, right!  They were head-over-heels in love by the time she ended that sentence.  They were each other’s first loves, and now they were each other’s forever loves.  The love remained all those years, yet allowing growth, maturity, and a wealth of other lessons they had to learn separately, but that helped them in the end to be better to each other.

I absolutely love these two.  I love the selfless way they treat one another, and the way they look at each other.  I love that when only an hour before their wedding he announced to me that he was going to not wear his vest, and was going to wear his fun casual shoes for the whole ceremony, I was thinking “Hurmpf…yeah right, like making a change that big only an hour before ‘go time’ would ever fly with any bride!”…but her response was simply “Sure, tell him to do whatever makes him happy.”

What???  Really??  Now THAT’S love!

Here are a few images from their wedding

Shannon and Ryan really valued getting great portraits of them on their wedding day, so they decided to do a “first look” and see each other before the ceremony.  I truly believe this is one of the most wonderful decisions a bride and groom can make, because not only does it allow for adequate time to take all the gorgeous photos we wanted, but it also makes that first moment seeing each other incredibly special because that moment is just about “them,” and they don’t have the nerves of being in front of the crowd.  And seriously, just look at the look on Ryan’s face when Shannon first snuck up behind him…is that love or what?!?

WORK IT, girl!

Shannon and Ryan, I love you both oodles of noodles.  I had so much fun getting to know you guys again throughout your engagement and wedding, and I wish you both a lifetime of lovin’ (and lots of cheese ; )

Hugs,

Jewels

ROCKSTAR VENDORS THAT I HAD THE PLEASURE OF WORKING WITH:

*The gorgeous Lansdowne Resort.  Their banquet manager Lindsay was such a sweetheart and incredibly accommodating.

*My lovely and talented second photographer Natasha Maluso of Natasha Naomi Photography

* Grayson Entertainment did a great job DJing, and kept the party going quite nicely.