I got a phone call one night around 9:30 back at the beginning of the year from a number I didn’t recognize.  I curiously answered, wondering who would be calling at that time that I didn’t know.  With an excited tone of voice, Leila goes on to tell me that she’s interested in booking me for her wedding this coming summer…and that she’s calling me from Guam!  I instantly became much more interested in this phone call.  Naturally, my first question was, “Where will your wedding be located??”  However, the wedding was not in Guam but their story is much more interesting than just Guam.

Leila is a teacher at a Christian school in Guam.  Last year while on her way to start her new life, part of her flight schedule was routed through Japan.  Little did she know at the time that so was James’ flight schedule – on his way to Guam.  Yes, they met in the airport – in Japan – both on their way to the same little remote island in the Pacific.  Less than a year later, James had proposed and their wedding journey began.  They flew back into the states only a few weeks before their big day and still managed to successfully pull everything together.  Their wedding was relatively small on a Friday afternoon in Columbia and it was so wonderful to finally meet them both after having phone conversations and emails across the world for several months.  It’s always a little bit unpredictable to capture a couple on their wedding day without having done an engagement or bridal session with them before, much less having NEVER MET THEM!  But my thoughts of how they would interact with me and each other quickly disappeared as soon as I met them and then saw them together.  Their joy for each other was so evident that everybody was just at ease.  I was so privileged to capture their day for them and I’m so excited for them to begin their new life together back on that little remote island in the Pacific.

They decided on doing a “First Look”.  This was the first one I’ve shot and I was instantly hooked.  The private emotion between bride and groom is just amazing.  I love seeing their faces and excitement for one another.  Katie and I will be doing this on our wedding day and I can’t wait to see her as my bride for the first time!