I had so much fun photographing June and Les's Wedding yesterday (July 28, 2008). They are from Hawaii and wanted to get married at Mt. Rainier. They were such a loving couple...The Love just eminated from them, it is couples like them that make me Enjoy and Love my job. They were so very sweet. We all met at Sunrise Visitor Center up at Mt. Rainier, I arrived at 4:30pm everyone else got there about 5pm, Gina Newberry and her husband Jack, and June and Les and her sister and brother-in-law and her two nephews. They are such a cute couple, Les shared with me ..."I am so nervous" So I hung around them while Gina did the paperwork...cause I could see that the longer they waited the more nervous they were getting, so I just made conversation with them to help ease their nerves, and I took some shots of them waiting around and Gina had some Bouquets and Boutiniers for them so I took shots of them getting the boutiniers on the men. As I was conversing with them I asked them why they chose to get married at Mt. Rainier, and they shared their beautiful story with me. Before Les met June, June and her sister and her sisters family had come to Mt. Rainier on vacation ( in 1986), and June fell in love with it. She had a picture of herself taken at Sunrise Point with the mountain behind her, and then when she met Les she gave him that picture of her, and he loved it and treasured it and kept it with him always. And then in 2006 when he proposed he brought her to Mt. Rainier and prior to his proposal he scouted the area to find the exact angle of where that picture of June was taken...and he got down on one knee and proposed to her. How sweet is that? So that is why Mt. Rainier is the obvious choice for their wedding. It all came full circle. He also shared with me that he wanted to re-inact the proposal and have a picture taken of them in their wedding attire. So anyway by the time he finished sharing their story...I was misty eyed and my voice was shakey, I am way to emotional of a person!
So by that time the paperwork was finished...and they decided that they wanted the ceremony to take place in the meadow by the hills because there were some very beautiful wild flowers on the hill, So we all walked over there, and got into place and the ceremony began...Les was all smiles all through the ceremony, they were both so very happy. About 5 minutes into the ceremony we had some Park Rangers pull up to the side of the road where we were, they just stood there staring at us for about 5 minutes, then we heard them telling one of June's nephews that we were not allowed on the meadow...so Adam ran down there to talk to them, and they told him " We won't stop the ceremony, but there are signs posted all throughout indicating that no one is allowed on the meadow because they are trying to preserve the wild flowers, so they said we had to hurry and wrap it up" so anyway we didn't skip a beat, Gina kept on with the ceremony ( she didn't know what was happening at all, because her back was to the road...she just noticed that the bride and groom were a little distracted) I kept on shooting and getting the shots, Jack kept on video taping and the ceremony was over about 10 minutes later. So then we all headed down the hill and to the Park Rangers as they "Clapped and Congratulated the couple, and then proceeded to tell us the same thing that they told Adam. They told us that it was also stated on the wedding permit. After the Park rangers left we had a big laugh about it and Les and June thought it was great that we got pictures of the Park Rangers, so then we took some portrait shots, and at first they had two spots in mind for the ceremony and couldn't decide on one, so I told them which ever place they decided on we would have the ceremony there, and then afterwards go to the second choice and take portraits there, so that is what we did...we walked a different trail ( not on the meadow; ) up to a different part of the hill where the Mt. would be right behind them and got some awesome shots. There were a swarm of Mosquitos just eating us alive, but we didn't let that deter us. we kept on going and got some great pics. Then we headed down the hill, because Gina and Jack had already left to hold the table at the Alpine Inn Restaurant, where they had a reservation. However, before we headed to the restaurant we found the exact location of where that picture of June was taken and where Les proposed to her and we got beautiful pictures there, once again.
As we were driving to the Restaurant....we noticed a Park Rangers vehicle following us so Les ( who was driving in front of us) slowed down, so we slowed down, and the Rangers followed us for about 2 miles then as we were leaving Mt. Rainier Park, they turned their lights on...so Adam thought we were getting pulled over for speeding, but they did not pull up behind us, they kept following Les, so he then pulled over and of course I got pictures of that...I felt so bad, first the park rangers at the ceremony now they get pulled over, I thought "Oh, I hope they don't get a ticket on their wedding day" and then I said to Adam "maybe they will just give them a warning, when they see them in their tux and wedding dress" Well we all got out and they didn't get a ticket they just wanted to see their wedding permit, which they didn't have...Gina had it with her at the restaurant. But since we were all there... Les wanted me to take a picture of the Ranger with him and June, I told him I had already gotten some, but that I would take more, I asked the Park Ranger if he would point at the couple as if to scold them, he said " Oh! I can't do that to them now" I said "Oh come on just in fun" so he did. and then I took a nice picture of them just standing next to each other. Les thought it was fantastic. He just took it all in stride and didn't let anything bother him. He had shared with me earlier during the portraits " This is a first wedding for both of us...we both waited our whole lives for the Right Person" so hey he is married to the love of his life, he was so Happy and wasn't letting anything get him down! They are so IN LOVE!
So finally we get to the restaurant, and share the story with everyone else, and everyone had a nice time eating, visiting and sharing stories and having conversation. As if not enough had gone wrong, Gina had shared with me earlier in the day at Mt. Rainier that on the way over to the ceremony the cake had started to melt and the top part of it had slid off, and didn't look as it was supposed to...so she was horrified and took it to the restaurant earlier as soon as she could, and they assured her that they could work with it and make it look better. So when the cake came out... they had worked their magic and made it look beautiful they put freshly sliced strawberries to cover up any mishaps. After dinner June and Les cut the cake and signed their certificate...They gave Gina and I a gift to thank us for making their day so special...that was such a sweet gesture. And that pretty much ended the evening we left them to enjoy the beginning of the rest of their lives together...they were going to go on a 30 day Alaskan cruise for their honeymoon. How awesome does that sound?
