Flowers in the Window

I love music, A LOT, and I LOVE concerts, A LOTTER (yeah, I just made that a word, deal). A few years ago I was in line with friends to see Travis (only one of the best inde rock bands to come out of Scotland....EVER....and I know, cuz I have a bit of an unnatural obsession with Scottish Inde Rock...but I digress). In line I met Jodi, another fan of the dreamy Fran Healy. Jodi told me about her love for Fran and the rest of the band members, and then about her kids, and right there and then, I knew I adored and admired her...the way she spoke about her little ones and their adoptions (2 girls from Haiti and a son from China), the struggles she and them had encountered and their strength as a family. She got the "this is one cool chick" stamp of approval. Jodi and I became facebook friends, and I followed the photos of her kids, and unbeknownst to me, she was following the photos I was posting of weddings.

When Jodi contacted me last year about shooting her wedding, not only was I excited to finally meet her children, but also the man that was worthy enough to earn all their love. When the three of us got together to discuss details, I thought Adam to be pretty awesome, albeit a bit shy (but then again, I've got a big personality and probably just scared him. lol) and above all, you could see the love they had for eachother nearly leaking out of their pours. Cuteness...to the Nth degree, for reals.

Rain seems to have been a theme for my weddings so far this year, and of course their's was no exception. When I arrived to the wedding venue though, Jodi's last concern was the rain. ALL SHE WANTED was to see Adam. Each wedding has that little moment, outside of the "I do's" and pomp and circumstance, where love whispers, and the edges of your lips crack into a smile of truthful joy....this wedding had so many of those moments. Jodi wanting nothing more than to see Adam, who'd she been sequestered from; her son walking her down the aisle on his new legs following another surgery, Jodi's youngest daughter sitting on the edge of the dance floor, wide eyed, watching the first dance and smiling; the way Adam's mother embraced her new Grandchildren as if they'd always been her Grandchildren, and Adam's brother choking up while playing guitar and singing a Travis song during the ceremony. I couldn't help but get choked up at that moment too...not only because it was my favorite Travis song, but because, when you see love, you know it.

I don't often put videos to "popular" music, mostly because of copyright infringement issues, but here's hoping that Fran forgives me.....

oh, ps....did I mention that the rain STOPPED, just long enough to go outside for photos AND have the ceremony outside? And not just stopped, but like "hey here's some amazing weather for you for 120 minutes, enjoy it"....way cool.

love, chelsea