Disclaimer: The following is a sweet-tooth-ache inducing, butterfly giving, and fuzzy heart warming story.
Meet Jenn and Joe.
I first heard from Jenn in March of 2010. She found out about me through Lindsey and Jonny Charlton whose wedding I had photographed Winter of 2009. It was over six months until I met her and Joe face to face to talk wedding details. "OH MY, Joe! The comfy chairs are free!" Before Jenn could get even a full sentence out about her wedding she had already skipped over to the big red Starbucks chairs and claimed them. "Hey, there's only two. Let me pull up a chair for myself and you guys can have them," I offered. "No, no! We can share. Right, Joe?" Joe grinned and Jenn climbed into his lap.
I walked away from that meeting with a "Joe grin". Jenn reminds me so much of Pam from The Office. Talkative, fun loving, and quick to joke and laugh. And Joe. Well, he is just one of the most doting, attentive, and affectionate grooms I've ever seem. During our hour long meeting he had managed to make her giggle like a school girl, tickle her when she got too serious and Type-A with the plans, and steal a few kisses when he thought I wasn't looking.
"I want to know every stinking detail about these two" I thought to myself as I left the Starbucks that day. Thankfully, through our meeting, their wedding, and their wedding website I have a pretty solid summary. (Side note: My favorite part about their wedding website is under "Attractions" for Frederick, MD Joe wrote down one word: "Jenn." Hahah.) You ready?
Jenn and Joe met on a blind date set up by their friends December 12, 2009. In Jenn's own words "The connection was so wonderful that the weekend after our official first date, I proclaimed to my girlfriends at a party, "If it's not Joe...it isn't anyone."'
And you better believe Joe was thinking the same thing. Joe told me that it was around the same time he knew Jenn was "the one" too. He and Jenn were walking together and as he listened to Jenn talk it hit him like a load of bricks. "This is it. This is the girl." He couldn't believe that his dream girl was finally here and he was so overcome that he actually had to stop and sit down. HOW CUTE IS THAT.
I'll let Jenn's words take it from here:
"Right after Christmas, Joseph took me ice skating and we held hands as he pulled me around on the ice! After that we basically saw each other every day (with a couple of days off) for the next month, and it just kept getting better and better."
"I wouldn’t have admitted to it before our first date, and certainly not to Joseph…but I did know. Joseph is the one that I have to love. He is the one whose hand belongs in mine, and my hand belongs in his."
"This was all so incredible to discover that for the first month or two, Joseph and I would stop and stare in astonishment that we'd actually found each other. And then we’d laugh and called each other Flabber and Ghasted." After three months of dating they were engaged. And the rest is history.
And now for my favorite part of their wedding. At the reception Jenn and Joe wanted their first dance to be to Train's "Hey Soul Sister". But instead of doing the typical thing and actually DANCING to their first dance, the two decided to perform the first few verses, act out the next few, and finally dance to the last chorus while the rest of the bridal part joined them with percussion instruments. And because I'm in love with Jenn and Joe I couldn't resist recording the beginning on my phone as I took photos. It's pretty primitive but I think the ridiculously adorable comes through. ;)
I will conclude with one of my favorite quotes from Jenn:
"With each other, we found home. Literally, that's the only and best way to describe it. We have found home in each other's arms.
The end.