Laura and Peter got married on a cold, windy Saturday night at The Sterling Hotel in Downtown Sacramento. It was absolutely the warmest wedding I have ever had the pleasure of attending. Laura is a knock-your-socks off beautiful school teacher with 3 grown children (okay, her youngest is 15, but close enough to adult, right?) Peter is the loving father to one daughter of his own. Together Laura and Peter joined their families on this chilling Winter evening. Laura's son, Andy, escorted his mom down the aisle with maturity on his face like that of a man three times his age. Laura's oldest daughter, Ashlee, sang a song during the ceremony that simply took your breath away.
I have never felt more at home with a group of strangers (besides the family members that I met at our portrait session in October). Although I was just their photographer I was treated as if I were an honored guest. That's just the way these people are.
Laura's vision for her wedding came to life with the help of several industry pro's. Her wedding coordinator at the Sterling Hotel, Cindy Tonks, was so on top of her game that I often believed that she was in two places at once. Justin Prahar of Sounds to Go was one of the best DJ's I have ever been in the company of. He didn't miss a beat despite the fact that at no time could he actually see the ceremony or reception (he had his table set up in the bar, two rooms away from the action). I was seriously impressed. The cake was flawless. The flowers were straight out of a luxury wedding magazine, and the food looked out of this world.
I learned a few things on Saturday, December 12th:
- Teachers know how to party. Seriously. "Sweet Caroline" has been forever changed to a party song in my mind :)
- Elevators aren't really practical when you're in a hurry. Much better to take the stairs and deal with the pain the next day. I think I went up and down the stairs 80 times that night.
- Planning to grab In-N-Out on my way home from the wedding sounded like a good idea in theory. Much less appealing after watching 75 plates of succulent, juicy prime rib be served. (Laura offered but I doubted I would have time to actually sit down and enjoy it....boooo!) It's okay, I'm making my husband take me out for prime rib this week ;)
- I now must ponder whether or not it's appropriate for a wedding photographer to dance while taking photos?
