Lauren and Nathan have a special wedding story. As we met over coffee several times talking about their engagement session, their jobs, new house, and wedding plans, you could see they had direction and excitement surrounding all their plans. Nathan was thrilled with plans for their grand, elegant reception, Lauren was excited by all the plans coming together, it was all planned well in advance.
But you know what they say about plans, right? "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." And though we all love a good tale of things going just according to that plan, sometimes it holds a lot more meaning when it doesn't.
Here's Nathan. He's a charming, successful young man, who dotes on his bride.
Here's Lauren. She's a driven, passionate young woman who dreamed of a lavish wedding in the middle of September. She displayed great strength and dignity on her wedding day. Her wedding was one of the most beautiful I've ever seen.
Just days before wedding she was admitted to the hospital. Seizures had come, seemingly out of no where, showing two masses in her brain. Plans came rushing to a screeching halt. Not only were there questions about the wedding, but there were larger questions about Lauren and her health that were going largely unanswered. Days went by- questions hung in the air- moments suspended- waiting for answers.
A few days before the wedding, I got word that there would indeed be a wedding. But with big changes. A large event became small and intimate. The grand plans became flexible- we'd play it by ear and see how Lauren would do.
I was so thankful to get to document this special day for them. What would normally have taken me all day, took me about two or three hours. Those three hours were full of incredible moments of displays of strength, great emotion, tight bonds of family, dear love of a new husband to his wife, and tenderness. I wouldn't have missed that for anything.
I love her mom, just looking on at her daughter while she gets ready.
I was so thankful, that though this could have been a day of sadness that things didn't go according to plan, or that Lauren's condition was so fragile, it was a day of celebration and joy.
Just a visual representation of the thousands of prayers that have been prayed for them in the last several months.
The closest of friends.
Surrounded by family.
Real love.
Lauren has since undergone, what I understand to be, two of three brain surgeries. All this in the last few months, all since her wedding day in September. She has had quite the recovery process, and will continue to that recovery and therapy to eradicate the cancer in her brain. I got word that this week she returned to work- what a wonderful step for her.
My congratulations go out to this couple, who in a few months time have undergone more as a couple than many go through in a lifetime. I pray that God blesses them in their marriage as they continue to celebrate each day of their lives together.
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