. . . an irish wedding blessing . . .

2012 Pick - Best of Weddings on The Knot

these past few days have been days of reflection for me. I have said it so many times here, that I can’t believe how fast time seems to go! It seems like just yesterday that my dear friends were asking me to take pictures at their wedding – my first wedding.

at the same time, though, those past five years have been challenging and oh-so-hard!

it doesn’t seem like very long ago our family was on a very different path in life – pursuing full-time ministry, homeschooling our children, taking pictures for the pure enjoyment of it!

five years ago, when my friends asked me to take pictures at their wedding, I chose to take them, because I loved them.

i loved their story.

i wanted to be a part of it – help them remember their amazing love when in the future – life would get hard.

i borrowed a lens for that wedding. i knew nothing – except of course how to use my camera, and a little bit about how to make people smile . . .

it was the same for my next wedding.

and the next . . .

i became addicted, rather quickly, to the love. . . .to the emotions . . . to the beautiful things like dresses and flowers and jewelry . . . . to the fun things like music and wine and dancing . . .

it was amazing to me how God provided this avenue for me to earn some extra income while staying home with my kiddos.

In January, I was awarded “best of weddings 2012” by the knot. This award was given based on reviews left on their website by our past brides.

I had this award sitting on my desk when I was visiting with a bride, and she said, “Oh my gosh! That is fabulous! Why haven’t you told anyone?”

I guess I hadn’t even really thought about it.

I went to their website, though, and read through the reviews again, and I began to to look back at the past images of our weddings, and I was so struck by the number of amazing images there were!

I don’t mean the quality – or that they were perfectly composed, etc.

What I saw were these amazing images of love and laughter; images of joy and trust; images of some incredible emotions . . .

These past years, God has so blessed Stefan and I with some incredible new relationships and opportunities to see and be a part of so many different stories.

CLICK HERE to view the album – the history of Patchwork Photography.

In the past five years, our business of Patchwork Photography, has grown faster than I even knew how to handle it.

Organization and business are hard for me, and so at times, the business side has become quite overwhelming . . . so very hard at times.

Looking back at these images, though, has been a good reminder that – in the beginning . . . it wasn’t about a “business,” but about a friendship – about a desire to be a part of someone else’s story.

Last month, we traveled to Denver for the first wedding of the year.

It took place on St. Patricks Day.

It was a BLAST!

It was beautiful.

The wedding took place in an incredible venue, the University Club.

This wedding was really designed to honor their love of Ireland and their Irish roots. Chris and Victoria couldn’t have picked a better location.

I felt like I had won the lottery as I walked through this building, watching them prepare for their day . . .

As I look back through the images of their day, I am reminded of the Irish Wedding Song.

His grandfather sang it for them for their first dance.

I cannot think of a better song for a blessing over their lives, but also for myself to be reminded of the amazing miracle I get to be a part of over the next months.