I know, these are not the usual first pictures that I would post from a wedding. But hang with me for a minute, and you'll understand why I'm doing it.
As a lot of you might know, my husband and I are not originally from the Columbus area. We've lived here for almost 14 years now (wow- that kinda shocked me when I added it up just now!) but I am originally from the Purdue area and he is from the south suburbs of Chicago. When we moved down here we knew exactly 1 person. We purchased a home over near Ceraland not knowing any of the neighbors or the area at all. Needless to say, it was very overwhelming. Our first winter, just a few months after we moved in, we got almost 24 inches of snow in just a day or so. The office that I worked for was closed for the day and I was at home alone when I heard the strangest noise. I looked out our front window to see a tractor plowing my driveway- it was our new neighbor, Brad. Little did I know, but that was just the start of an amazing friendship. Brad and Lukie have been like grandparents to our son. Their daughter, Miranda, is one of my closest friends and my 2nd shooter after Lukie mentioned to me one day that her daughter (whom I had never met at the time) was also interested in photography. They are the kind of people that you can call for anything and you know they will be there ASAP. If you have ever shot with me at the private farm that I frequently work at, it's their house. They let me come over and spend the entire day photographing out there and even provide me with some amazing props at times. Basically, they were our family when we moved away from our families.
Now their daughter is one of my best friends and I was so honored to photograph her and Andrew's wedding last weekend. But first, I want to share just a couple of images from those precious moments before the chaos of the wedding day started. As Lukie helped Miranda with the finishing touches and then as Brad saw his daughter for the first time as a bride. These moments are always huge, but for the very first time, they were even more personal to me than they have ever been before.
Ulrey family, thank you doesn't even begin to cover it, but that's all I've got. Thank you for being our family when we needed you and we didn't even know it!
