vanessa & hart are married!

just before christmas we were blessed to spend a fabulous day of celebration with an amazing couple- vanessa & hart. their whole wedding day was such an encouragement to me- watching the room full of vanessa’s best friends constantly love on her was incredible. between massages, makeup, laughs, prayers, dancing and a few happy tears vanessa somehow found time to put on her dress and slip a note to her husband to be. i think for this post i’ll write between images instead of all at once- basically because i’m so excited to start looking at them myself! first up- vanessa getting into her dream dress:

vanessa & hart had two absolutely adorable flower girls and one stunner of a ring bearer! the little girls were so thrilled to be part of the day (especially when they found out they could wear MAKEUP) and their expressions all day were priceless.

while i was hanging out with the ladies matt took the gents across the parking lot to this pasture. after deciding they were all cool with hopping the fence matt grabbed a few shots before he started to realize that the cows- previously on the other side of the pasture- were much closer…dun dun dunnn. apparently a few of the guys were a little nervous about the approaching beasts so they headed out- but not before some of my favorite guys shots ever!

hart and his dad and brother in law wait for the ceremony:

hart is known for his amazing musical talent so we knew that the music at the ceremony would no doubt be incredible- but we were still blown away! assembled by hart and led by his older sister, hannah, the music brought tears to my eyes. i kid you not, i cried. it’s ok though, i was NOT alone. everyone’s eyes were glistening as they sang along. the glistening may have also been thanks to vanessa & hart, in front of us all, holding hands and singing their lungs out together. everything was just perfect- such a unique and personal ceremony!

vanessa & hart built in a little time for a few couple shots after the ceremony and we LOVE them for that! we headed back to the pasture but this time didn’t risk the cows on the other side of the fence. here are a few of our faves:

onto the reception! i love this shot of the older flower girl so mesmerized by the cake:

once everyone had some cake there was serious dancing. vanessa has been dancing since she was young and her mother is a dance teacher so there was no messing around, these people were GOOD. well, i guess there was SOME messing around:

at the end of the evening vanessa & hart thanked all of their guests for their love and support before departing in a surprise little drizzle. honestly i just thought that made the pictures better! these are some of my favorite exit shots we’ve ever taken and i know we don’t usually include so many from such a small part of the day but we really just loved them all!

vanessa & hart, you are the BEST! we cannot thank you enough for including us in your wedding day- what an inspiring and love-filled way to end our 2008! we really hope to keep in touch with you and we hope you’re LOVING being MARRIED! woohoo!