By now, most of you know that I have 3 boys, but what you may not know is that I am also the proud Godmother of now 4 girls, two young and two older in age. I've been blessed to have been given my girl fix after all!
Well one of my older Goddaughter's, Andrea, got married this past weekend to her high school sweetheart, Arthur, and I had the immense pleasure of not only attending their reception but I was honored to take pictures for them so I figured today would be a good day to share those with all of you.
Andrea and Arthur are a very young couple, but have been together for sometime. Arthur will be leaving to join the Army in January and is going with rank and with a job due to his scoring very high in their testing, so it made sense for them to begin this new stage of their lives together as a married couple.
They got married on Friday, November 1st which was their 5th Anniversary date in a small civil ceremony with their closest family and friends. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the ceremony but I made sure to have her mom, Tina, text me some pictures to share the moment with me, and
I had called Andrea right before to let her know I was with them in spirit.
However, I made sure to make it the lovely backyard reception the following day that Tina and family put on for them at her home. Andrea and Arthur did not want anything too big and it was planned in fairly short amount of time, but they definitely wanted it to represent their personalities and distinctive styles by having a
'black wedding theme' (apparently very popular according to Pinterest these days). So Tina worked really hard and did a really nice job putting this theme all together to make it very special for her daughter and new son.
Family and friends, including myself, helped her out by bringing food
and/or making whatever we could to make the day complete. Andie's aunt
made her cake, a couple of friends made the cupcakes and the different
sweets for the candy table, another friend made her wine glasses, and I
had fun making some touches of my own like her card box, guest book, a
chalkboard sign and some fabric flowers in her color theme, and Tina
actually made her bouquet with these beautiful black/red roses.
Everybody had a chance to show them their love through their creativity!
Love that!
It turned out to be a really nice reception with about 60-70 of her friends and family in attendance, and I had a chance to reconnect with some old friends, and of course take pictures of every possible moment. In the spirit of being the passionate amateur who's always working to improve her skills, I promised Tina and Andrea that I would take the best pictures possible I could for them. It was really hard to pick just a few, but here are some of what I got.
I wanted to do my best to stay away from the typically posed pictures and instead tried to catch them in as many of those spontaneous moments a bride and a groom can have on their special day
so that they can remember them for a lifetime.
In line with her wedding theme, Andrea's ring was a black diamond, and Tina presented her
the day of her wedding with what used to be her grandmother's own wedding band.
What a special gift indeed!
The Parents of the Bride and Groom
After the toast, Andrea being a musician herself, took the chance to surprise her new hubby by playing and singing an acoustic rendition of their song, "Yellow" by Coldplay."
It was a beautiful moment and their wasn't a dry eye in the house (including Arthur's)... Soo sweet!
Just a few of the family pics...there were too many to post all of them
I have to say that I don't like to usually use an external flash, but in the evening it really does make a difference.
I just have to keep learning how to get a consistent look with it...but I'm working on it. ;)
The traditional tossing of the bouquet and the garter.
Their first dance
A super sweet Father-Daughter dance with John (her father) and Gabe (her Stepfather)
And last but not least...I almost forgot to have someone get a picture
of me with the bride and groom and my Comadre Tina.
Again, these were only a few of the 600+ pictures I took, and this will be the first look for
Andrea and Arthur and family to get to see just how beautiful their reception turned out.
I hope they like what they see so far!
Andrea, Tina and I go back many years of being in this Godchild/Comadre ('co-parent') relationship and we have remained close even though we don't get to see each other at all most of the time due to distance, time and our own busy lives. However, I was really excited that I could be there
for Andrea and Arthur and be a part of their special day like this!
Thank you to Tina and family for being such gracious hosts
and
Congratulations once again to Arthur and Andrea!
'Drea I've seen you grow up and you've turned into an amazing young woman
with so many talents and good head on your shoulders- I'm so proud of you!
I am even happier that you were blessed to have found such a fine young man to
be not only your best friend, but now your Husband as well!
Arthur- Good luck and God's speed be with you as you join the Army.
Thank you for your service!
May God Bless your lives together today and forever!
Love always,
Your Nina
