gretchen & steve are married!!!

despite an uncommonly wet week and still a threat of storms for the weekend, saturday showed up all aglow in brilliant colors. i should know. i was there when her rays first fell on the orange-brown and yellow foliage outside my borrowed bedroom window. (and, believe me, that early in the morning not even that picturesque scene looked as lovely as it sounds.)

saturday came especially for gretchen and steve. it was their wedding day. eileen and i drove down to atlanta the night before to document its every moment. like the bride and groom, we were going to need lots of energy to make it through the 15-hour workday. so naturally, also like the bride and groom, we barely slept a wink.

after an early friday morning here in athens, eileen went ahead of me to design and draw the giant chalkboard menu for her brother's coffee shop, land of a thousand hills. (his is the location at walton on the chattahoochee. highly recommended for quality and ambiance.) i followed after work, and we pulled an all-nighter at the home of eileen's other brother, andy, and his wife carrie. (thanks for putting us up -- and putting up with us -- you guys.)

unhappily, eileen and i are both something of perfectionists. so our pre-wedding planning takes way longer than it should, what with all the equipment cleaning, multiple itinerary reviews, and analytical discussions about image ideas. but, hey, that's the way we get down; whatcha gonna do? we just wanted the day to go as smoothly as it could. so we did what we could, and got up early to say a prayer for our friends "che" and steve on their very important day. all is in God's hands.

in the end, if we did our job, the result should be honest images that capture a history-making saturday and -- if we're really lucky -- capture that glowing brilliance of a bride and her beau that even such a saturday cannot outshine.

below: with help from mom, gretchen slips into her wedding gown at the last minute. the gown was a little late. luckily, everyone was willing to wait on her before starting the ceremony.

calla lilies make beautiful bouquets -- if you're looking for ideas.

holy spirit catholic church made a grand stage for the wedding -- the opening act of what will be a wonderful story.

gretchen's grandfather earned a kiss, probably for his role in helping walk her down the aisle. or maybe she just thinks he's a great guy. (my feeling is that both are true.)

i hesitate even to tell the story that accompanies this next photo. it's rather gory. so you sensitive sorts probably should skip this part so as not to ruin the simple elegance you associate with this beautiful dove -- who DIES!

okay, now that we've lost those people... it all began when somebody had the bright idea to release two doves preceding the wedding reception. the release was inspiring, as you can see. inspiring, that is, until a hawk flew in like a bat out of hell, attacked one dove, and then settled down for dinner in his nest -- all within the viewing of shocked wedding guests. the humanity! (or is it "dove-anity"?) a bad omen, you say? i think not. what does the scripture say? something about many waters cannot quench love -- and dove-eating hawks shall not overcome it!?

the groom-and-mother dance was one of the sweetest i've seen. a very proud mother -- and a very teary moment.