Rachel & John, Part One

So this is a first--I'm doing a two-parter for Rachel & John's wedding. And I don't want anyone getting any big ideas that they're my favorite or I love them more than you, or that they always get the front seat, or that they always get the good jobs, while you get the crappy ones, like mopping and dishes. (Seriously, I would ALWAYS pick cleaning a toilet over mopping a floor. I know I'm probably alone on this one, but mopping is THE WORST in my book.) I love all my clients the same.

BUT.

I think you'll see, when part two rolls around, why we needed to go with two posts. There were definitely two phases of the wedding, and I've got to do them both justice. CAVEAT--you have to comment on this post before I'll give you the next one. If I don't feel that you have adequately oohed and aahed over Rachel and John, I will deprive you of the glorious reception, and you do NOT want that. Hear?

Alright, so let's do this.

The very first picture of Rachel and John's epic wedding post(s) is ... ME? Yeah, that's right. I mentioned in their sneak peek that Rachel and John got married on her family's golf course. I showed up and was pretty much immediately given my own golf cart and casually asked if I could handle it. I, of course, said I could. Meanwhile, I have never driven a golf cart in my entire life. Did you know that these things basically have two speeds? One is stopped, and the other is pedal to the metal.

So I'm basically driving this thing like it's an episode of Dukes of Hazzard and having the time of my life, and I insisted that Jessie Knuth get out and take a picture of me driving it. I mean, after all, this was probably the highlight of my wedding year and surely nothing would top it, right? I mean, the EXCITEMENT of my own GOLF CART ... so we're just being TOTAL nerds, and by the way, Jessie is the best assistant ever (and so is Billy, no one freak out), and I was so excited she was with me for this wedding. But anyway, I was trying to convince her to photoshop some mud and blood onto the golf cart to make it look super badass but I guess she didn't get to it.

But still, don't I look awesome driving it? I think I look awesome.

Well, the golf cart carried us out to the guys, who were actually really willing to participate in pictures, which is always helpful and a good thing. We were still getting warmed up a little bit, and this is the "everyone who's wearing a tuxedo, just get in" picture. And what's with the hands, you say? All Rachel's dad's idea--he's a nut and you have certainly not seen the last of him.

Meanwhile, back at the clubhouse, Rachel was getting into her dress, and you know how I love the all-hands-on-deck pictures. And also, do you remember the engagement pictures where I could not shut up about her magical Jennifer Aniston hair? Yeah, seriously. I think Rachel might be one of the prettiest brides in the history of the universe, and how did I get so lucky to get so many hotties this year? Everyone made my job so easy!

And speaking of hotties, Rachel's mom! I didn't realize until I was going through the pictures how much Rachel looks like her mom, but then you start seeing the smiles and the facial expressions, and totally.

Checking out the back of the dress ... oh, I just love her face!

The golf course was fun for some golfy pictures. Also, in case it didn't show from the novelty of driving a golf cart, I know NOTHING about golf. Nothing. I tried to hit a ball once and it rolled like 75 ft. Pathetic. So even though I very much enjoyed The Legend of Bagger Vance ... and, probably more importantly, Happy Gilmore, I have kept my golfing strictly limited to that of the mini variety. Which I also suck at.

Seriously, I think it was about a year and a half ago, a suitcase fell out of Billy's car and onto my foot and I really thought it was broken (turned out it was just horribly, disgustingly bruised, which I learned after hitting up my dad's ER for an x-ray, which is really the way to go--everyone came in and fawned over me and told me funny stories about my dad while I ate gummy bears and watched American Idol). So I was trying to still have fun in spite of my injury and decided I could stand alright, so Billy took me putt-putting. And do you know ... I actually slipped and fell in a water hazard? I mean, I know I'm the klutziest person alive, but Billy said that I was the only person he know that water hazards were actually hazardous for.

Oh, and I love this so much too! This is the maid of honor (Brandi! I remember her name because she e-mailed me!) and both of her kids. The little boy became my boyfriend (and Billy wasn't there to stop him!), which is probably how I got such a cute shot out of him. When the girls were upstairs getting ready, he was REALLY upset that he couldn't be with the boys, but he had to walk out with the ladies so there was no choice. So anyway, it was a little chaotic, as things tend to be pre-wedding, and his sister was running around like a little miniature maniac. So I just looked at him, and I said, "She is CRAZY." And he laughed, like a really surprised, out loud laugh that you would expect from an adult, not a kid his age. And after that, we were BFF, and he would follow me around and hold my hand. Ah, if only it were that easy forever, am I right?

This was hilarious--the flower girl was doing a good job dropping petals (which they sometimes forget to do, pressure and whatnot), but then she was also stopping to pick them up, check them out ... so her brother just stopped with her and started giving a dissertation to some random guest about how she always does this, and they've been practicing at home. It was completely adorable, laugh-out-loud cute.

And speaking of cuteness, that's Rachel's brother carrying the train. I can't imagine any circumstance where my brother would do something like that for me. To give you an idea of my relationship with my brother, at least one that's PG enough for the blog, he was helping me move this past summer and I kept flipping him off when I passed him outside. He was finally like, "WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT?" and I said it was because his hands were full and he couldn't do anything about it. He said that the next time I did that, he didn't care what he was carrying, he was going to throw it down and flip me off back. Well, sure enough, the next time I see him, he's carrying a HUGE box. And I do mean huge. It was full of like blankets and stuff, so not fragile but still pretty heavy, and just about as wide as his wingspan could accommodate. So he gets this evil grin on his stupid little brother face, throws the box probably twelve feet or so into the air, flips me off with both hands, and catches it again like it's nothing. And then he left to go kickboxing. I SWEAR.

You guys know what a sap I am for this moment.

Awww, and for this one. This was just such a pretty wedding. I was talking the other day to my friend Maggs, who happens to be Jessie's sister, and I told her I was about to post this wedding. She said, "Oh, right! Jessie called it "the movie wedding", and said that everything that you think only happens at weddings in movies totally happened here. Which I completely agree with.

Oh, I had to have so much restraint from showing this in the sneak peek. I love it--it's so honest. That's something that I really want to focus on with my photography in the coming year--catching the honestly of the moment. And you can just see everything she's feeling on her face. Awww, I'm having a little girly internal squeal moment for her right now!

Someone is hilarious! (My money is on the preacher man.)

A little golf course wedding action! You should've seen the holes from the high heels on the green (is that the right word?) after the wedding. But Rachel said the groundskeeper said it was okay, something about aerating ... I don't know, if there's one thing I know less about than golf, it's landscaping/gardening/lawncare. I like to say that I not only do not have a green thumb, I have The Black Thumb of Death.

Rachel was pretty emotional during the ceremony, but lucky for her, she's a really pretty crier. Me, not so much--I get all puffy and red and gross. And see, that's one of those things that only happens in movies too--people are pretty when they cry. And do you know who I think is awesome at that? Keri Russell. And Claire Danes.

Awww, and John was all smiles all day. He was completely laid back in the best possible way, and all he cared about was making sure Rachel had the perfect day.

Aren't they sooooo cuuuuuuuute? (Sorry, couldn't help myself there for a minute.)

A wide shot of the setup--pretty cool, right???

And here are the ushers in the back, John's brother and Rachel's brother, and what I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall of that conversation.

I think this may have been Jessie's, but I lose track after awhile. But since they look like they're looking at someone else, I assume that someone is me. We busted out the golf cart for a bunch of the group shots, and it was so fun--we even got people up on the roof.

And finally, Rachel's dad pulling the golf cart into the garage. And seriously, if I drive like it's Dukes of Hazzard, he drives like it's Die Hard. And I've never actually seen one of those movies, but I do remember seeing previews where a cop car jumps off a ramp and smashes into a helicopter, and I rolled my eyes so hard they almost fell out of my head. Except now, after seeing this, I'm thinking maybe it's possible after all. :)

And that brings us to the conclusion of part one. The reception is next, and I was so entertained by the events that transpired there that I am STILL talking about them, so you won't want to miss it.

The gallery is up at http://sarahbrownphotography.instaproofs.com/. Go there if you need your daily fill of gorgeosity (totally a word), and stay tuned ...

TO BE CONTINUED