You know the very best people that exist? You know the ones that you feel like sunshine and butter after you hanging out with them? This is a story about two people just like that who fell in love and got married.
Katie and Raymond met a month before the world shut down with covid in 2020 and the two decided to quarantine together. Katie said "I showed him my "going out leggings vs stay at home leggings", my top knot look and my makeup free look. He was perfectly fine with all of it." It was a love built in honesty and openness and all of the kindness and love. Katie even said that her dog was also great with Raymond so that was a good sign as well. I have always been a huge believer on pets indicating if people are good or not so I personally love that portion of their story.
Months down the road Katie and Raymond were planning a trip to New Orleans where Raymond had intended on proposing to Katie in a horse and carriage. Before the trip a friend who had been waiting on a kidney got the call that they had a kidney available so Katie and Raymond cancelled their trip to be there for their friend. They later went to Fortuna Winery in Aubrey (a favorite spot of Katie's) and Raymond proposed .
The two had a destination wedding in February in Mexico and a March wedding in Plano, Texas for all of their friends and family to come to. Walking into the Plano wedding you immediately felt so much love and fun, though I am sure the Mexico wedding also included the same. Most weddings that I shoot, the bride and groom are apart and decisions are being made down a telephone line of people in keeping with tradition of bride and grooms being kept apart until they reach the altar. Katie and Raymond's wedding was filled with mutual side by side decisions, which I came to assume as how their love and respect for eachother work. A mutual love and respect for each other, that proves that this love will last through the tests of time.
The ceremony was beautiful and heart felt as Katie in her stunning green wedding dress grabbed Raymonds hands as they said their vows and promised to love each other for always.
The entire evening was fun and filled with laughter and ALL of the dancing. I am 100% sure that everyone that came had the times of their life and felt so at home in the presence of Katie and Raymond. The loving couple decided to do a last first dance (my new most favorite tradition) where everyone leaves the reception hall to line up for a grande exit and they danced just the two of them as I snapped a few photos giving them that time to reflect on their beautiful journey. It was the most heart felt moment in wedding history and I am so blessed to have been there to capture it. The rest of the night was simply a blast.
I know that Katie and Raymond have that forever kind of love that we all dream of and strive for and I know that they have all of the love and happiness in the world headed their way. Congratulations Katie and Raymond, you are so very loved.
