Olivia and I went on a whirlwind six-day trip to Los Angeles to attend our dear friend Laura’s wedding.  I felt absolutely sick after the wedding when I thought I had downloaded my photos, went ahead and deleted them, then discovered that they really hadn’t downloaded yet.  UGGHH.  I had so wanted these photos to show family and friends the amazing experience we had just had at Laura and Ryan’s wedding.

Today, thanks to a tip from our friend Peter, I found a download that for a sweet price allowed me to find the deleted pictures!  You don’t have to be on CSI to do it- if you have a credit card anyone can.  Some of the photos had already been written over, but I was so happy to get some of the pictures, and Olivia watched the photo slide show over and over and over again….

Olivia loved being with Laura in her wedding!  I was nervous about whether she would pull off the flower girl thing, but she loved her dress, her snazzy boots, and being with all the girls.  And I loved watching Olivia, but even more, watching Laura.  She was an amazing bride.

I loved that each bridesmaid picked her own champagne-colored dress – and they all had matching high boots!  Olivia loved her shiny brown patent boots…

This was the most intimate wedding I’ve ever been to — even with 220 people!  It was also the wettest wedding I’ve ever attended.  It started pouring — pouring!! – about thirty minutes before the ceremony.  Even still, Laura and the girls took their photos outside, before the wedding began, and no one really minded getting wet.

The ceremony was supposed to be on a remote beach in northern Santa Barbara, but as the rain poured down it got moved to the nearby reception site — a wonderful, rustic barn that held us in and the water (mostly) out.

The ceremony started with a few hiccups as everyone made the quick adjustment to having it indoors.  Olivia, Laura and the birdesmaids all waited inside Laura’s car, parked outside the barn door, to make their grand entrances.

Olivia was MOST excited that she got to walk down the aisle with Tucker — Ryan’s yellow lab.

She managed to stand still, up front with the groomsmen, through the whole ceremony.  I was amazed.  I think we need to see if Tucker can start coming to church with us…

Here are a few ceremony and after shots.  Laura’s mom Barbara looked amazing!  Our good friend Jack — Laura’s dad — led the ceremony, which was so great.

Olivia didn’t mind having some of Ryan’s military friends take individuals photos with her…

But she DID mind being told that it was time to come in from out of the rain and go to the reception…

Olivia and “Uncle Jack”:

You can find the REAL photos from the wedding at Braedon’sBlog.com and also a special feature at OnceWed.com. (Look for Laura and Ryan).  Amazing, amazing pictures.  I think what I love is that they capture the joy of Laura and Ryan, and their ability to take the dampness of rain on your wedding day and turn it into a thing of beauty.  Because they didn’t mind getting a little (or a lot) wet; no one else seemed to either.  I watched Laura glide through her photos with an umbrella and realized what a great life lesson she was teaching me — it really is a choice.  You can choose how you are going to respond to the disappointing and hard things in life.  Her pictures will forever show how she chose to respond on the most important day of her life.  We may or may not have photos to show how we respond on those less-important days, but it still matters.  OK, Olivia — go play in the puddles with those new boots!