Wedding at The Barn at Blueberry Hill

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Darbey & Noah’s wedding at The Barn at Blueberry Hill is not only a celebration of marriage. It is the celebration and culmination of at least ten years of friendship. Friendship of two mothers who took their children on a fieldtrip together. Friendship of two families who are now forever interwoven. Friendship of two teenagers who dated for six years. Yes, that’s right: Noah and Darbey met because their Moms are friends, their sisters are friends, and then (eventually) they became friends . . . and now they’re more than friends.

If that’s not a love story worth telling, I don’t know what is. In the six years since they first starting “talking”, these two have quite literally grown up together; their first job was at the same place at about the same time, they were in the same classes during high school, they even (almost) went to Freshman prom together. As they start a marriage firm on the foundation of friendship and solidified by a community of family around them, these two have been a joy to be around an absolutely a gem to photograph.

In the two years since Noah proposed and the countdown to this weekend officially began, they’ve navigated the complexities of a long distance relationship while Darbey finished her degree and planned a wedding . . . and now the distance is long gone and they’re off cruising the high seas seeing the world one beach at a time.

Photographing this wedding was one ridiculously nostalgic experience: I first met Darbey when I photographed her sister’s murder mystery dinner theater production eight years ago. If I remember correctly, Noah was there (correct me if I’m wrong?) because his Mom was Darbey’s Mom’s friend. Since then, I’ve photographed family photos and senior portraits and engagement pictures and bridal portraits. I also photographed senior photos for their respective older siblings AND took these two on a photo tour of Vancouver when they came to visit me for a week of photography experience as a senior trip. Basically, my own siblings weddings were the only ones more filled with memories than this one.

Enough story telling and nostalgia, right? All you want to see is THE PHOTOS! Brace yourself, though: this wedding at The Barn at Blueberry Hill is BEAUTIFUL.

Darbey’s attention to detail was sublime, but it’s especially obvious in the lovely display of photos to honor the memory of those who had gone before, the “love lock” that was part of their ceremony, and the basket of beautiful hankies given to guests for the happy tears.

(Photographing a fellow photographer’s wedding is no small undertaking. Talk about PRESSURE. But when you find out that this photographer did a senior project displaying her prowess in ring shots? Talk about even MORE pressure! Darbey’s nickname for Noah is “Noah-bear”, so I scoured some store shelves to find little bear to be part of their ring shot. Did I nail it, Darbey? :-P)

“Dareby, I vow to you to love you with all my heart for all my life. To have and to hold you, regardless of our flaws and failures. . . to put God first in our marriage, to pray for you and our marriage constantly,to study the Word of God and pray on it — that I might be a better husband and one day a better father. . .”

“To start this adventure off, I feel like it’s only fair that I make a few vows to you first. . . I vow to be your person, just as you have been my person for so long.”

“More than anything, Noah, I vow to love you with my whole entire being for the rest of our lives, till death do us part. I promise that you will always be my number one in lifeand that I won’t put any other person on this planet in front of you. I pledge my heart and soul to you, Noah James. I feel so very lucky that I get to marry my best friend and the man that makes me better in every single way, and I can’t wait to see what God has planned for us in the future.”

Now that you need a kleenex (their vows were seriously the best and I can’t wait to see their full wedding video from 18six Productions to relive those powerfully emotion-filled moments), check out how fabulous (aka FUN) their wedding party was!

The flowers were absolutely to die for! A wedding at the Barn at Blueberry Hill is not only gorgeous, it’s got a team of amazing staff to create a seamless day AND a talented florist to create such beauty!

Remember how I said they had a love lock ceremony? The lock will go on display in their home and the key was sent off into the wild blue yonder. Talk about sealing their marriage and literally throwing away the key!

Psst. See her jewelry? It’s made from the jewelry she wore for prom…the prom she went to with the boy who is now her husband. 😉

In a mere hour, the staff at The Barn at Blueberry Hill transformed their ceremony space into the reception hall. (Remember how I said the staff was/is incredible? It’s truth!)

Take a moment to watch the intensity of these guys and girls, literally leaping after the garter and absolutely fighting over the bouquet.

You know how much I love a good reception game and this is only the second time I’ve seen this particular game in action. It was perfection! A blindfolded bride had to identify her groom based on his knee and calf (she failed :-P) and a blindfolded groom had to pick his bride from a lineup based on her elbow and hand (he got it right…but did he cheat?).