Red Butte Gardens Wedding: Shelly + Ryan

Her smile beamed. From the moment Shelly walked into the dressing room, to the moment they drove off to their happily ever after, she never stopped smiling. Because that’s what Ryan does for her. He makes her smile like no one else can. And really, she does the same thing to Ryan. It’s infectious, their love. You can’t help but smile when you’re around them. At least, I couldn’t. And when you have that kind of love, it’s the kind that lasts. The kind that grows stronger with each passing day. The kind that says I’ll love you when you’re old and gray. The kind that is forever.

Shelly and Ryan, it was SUCH an honor to document your wedding! I cannot begin to explain what wonderful people you are. I’m just so glad I can now call you my friends : ) Your wedding was as beautiful as your life will be together. So much love and happiness : ) Congratulations!!!!

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Her dress was right out of an Audrey Hepburn movie, if you ask me. 

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LOVED the “I do!” on the bottom of her shoes!

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Her bouquet? GORGEOUS.

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Many thanks to Cynthia and Stephanie from Enizio for making Shelly even more fabulous!

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Dress time!

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Her friends felt a little toast with some sparkling wine was necessary. I completely agree : )

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Well Shelly was finishing up with her girls, Ryan was getting ready for their First Look.

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Ryan, you make quite a handsome groom, if I do say so myself.

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I was SO excited when Shelly and Ryan agreed to do a First Look! 

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Ryan’s response to Shelly was adorable. He was completely smitten with his soon-to-be wife : )

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Red Butte Gardens is such a beautiful place for a ceremony.

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They decided they wanted to walk down the aisle together, and I thought it was completely adorable.

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Newlyweds!!!

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We headed out to do a few more portraits before the reception.

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You guys are so lovely together I can hardly stand it!

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Rawr.

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Shelly, you looked simply divine. There is no other way to describe it.

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A few clouds decided to grace us with their presence just as we were finishing up! Oh how I love diffused light.

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The reception was in the Orangerie Room at Red Butte and it was beautiful.

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I always love photo booths…

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A shower of petals as they left…

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So much joy : )

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I’ll end on one of my favorites…

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Congratulations again you two!!!! Xoxo.

David Terry - May 25, 2011 - 9:55 am

Beautiful images Carissa. Yeah, I think you managed to create a nice “selection”. :)

Carissa - May 25, 2011 - 10:13 am

Haha thanks David! Glad you think so : )

Alicia - May 25, 2011 - 10:22 am

Wow! You were kidding about their infectious happiness! I was smiling the entire time while looking at these! Beautiful job Carissa, as always!

Emily - May 25, 2011 - 10:24 am

These are beautiful photos! It was fun looking at them all! Great job, Carissa! I can’t wait until you do my wedding! :)

Brandy Bradfield - May 25, 2011 - 1:02 pm

Congrats to you 2! Beautiful wedding and love the pics!

Adri - June 8, 2011 - 2:15 pm

Gorgeous pictures! You made my friends look more amazing than they already are.

Dear 23 Year Old Me

Have you ever seen this video? If not, you should take a few minutes to watch it. It’s really good. But I’ll get back to that.

The other day, I was over at my parents’ house, going through a bunch of my old trinkets and books and things. (Yeah, I still haven’t moved everything out of their house. Procrastination 101.)  I have this little chest that is filled to the brim with literally every birthday card, note, or letter I received, as well as every picture I doodled and story I wrote from my childhood. (Did I mention I’m a pack rat? Pack-Ratting 101.) It’s been pretty hilarious going through it all. Let’s just say I had quite the imagination. I’ll leave it at that. Anyhow, as I was going through that chest, I came across something that struck me in way I never expected.

It was a ziplock bag full of little strips of paper. I couldn’t have been older than 10 or 11 when I made them. But on the strips of paper I had printed a bunch of sayings, quotes, and Bible verses. Then I had decorated every single one with different colors and doodles. (Apparently using all kinds of crazy fonts wasn’t enough. I had to spice them up a bit. I know, I was a total dweeb.) They were probably just things that impacted my life at the time. Some of them I remembered, and laughed at. Some of them I had no idea what I was talking about. Some of them were totally things a pre-teen girl would say. For example:

“To love is to risk not being loved in return.”

“Sometimes… things happen that suck.”

“A friend is someone who knows everything about you and likes you anyway.”

Yes, I wrote those. I kid you not. And yes, I know. DWEEB. Those weren’t the ones that impacted me, though. Don’t worry. It was really one strip of paper that stopped me in my tracks. It was towards the bottom of the bag. As I took it out and unfolded the little strip, I read this:

“Failure is not losing; failure is giving up.”

It’s funny, the places encouragement can show up in life… I’ve been struggling with a few things lately. Nothing super serious. Just, wondering if I am headed down the right path and whether or not I’m following God’s will for my life. Because I definitely had some plans for where I would be right now, and they definitely aren’t playing out as well as I had hoped. For me, that feels like failure. I had a plan, and it failed. I mean, I’m not a control freak. I just like having a plan.

The thing is, my plan isn’t always God’s plan. I’m constantly reminded of this when I try to take the reigns. As hard as it might be to admit, I don’t always know what’s best for me. He does. And even though His plans might not unfold as fast as I’d like them to, as long as I am open, He continuously shows me where I should be headed.

Sure, when I made those strips of paper, I didn’t have a “Dear 23 year old me” moment. I wasn’t thinking When I’m 23 I’ll totally read this and be encouraged to keep fighting for me dreams! (That was the connection to the YouTube video, in case you missed it.) But I’m pretty sure God knew.

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So, this post got way longer than I had anticipated when I started typing. But if you actually read through the entire thing, first, thank you for allowing me to share a little piece of my heart. And second, I hope that maybe it was an encouragement to some of you. After all, it’s funny the places encouragement can show up in life…

 

David Terry - May 24, 2011 - 8:55 am

Along the lines of never giving up … the idea of being in charge of our own attitudes comes to mind. This is a quote that I’ve had hanging on my wall for years:

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes.”
– Charles Swindoll

Carissa - May 24, 2011 - 9:04 am

Thanks for that, David : )

Two Hearts

I carry your heart with me (I carry it in
my heart) I am never without it (anywhere
I go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)

~E.E. Cummings

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A little peek of Shelly and Ryan’s wedding : )

Music Monday

How was your weekend? Mine was ok.

No, that was a lie. It wasn’t great. I was sick. Like, really sick. The kind of sick I wouldn’t wish on my enemies. The doctor said it was stomach virus. Whatever it was, I hope it doesn’t come back anytime soon. (This is where I need to give a shout out to my mom, because she came and stayed with me while Jake was at work. And if you ask me, nothing beats mom when you’re sick. Love you Mom!)

Fortunately, though, I’ve turned a corner. It’s a new week, full of new possibilities. (And hopefully no sickness.) So, what better way to start the week than with some good music? Today’s tune comes from the wildly talented musician Ben Rector. I recently discovered this musical jackpot (I love his voice), and I’ve hardly stopped listening to him. Plus, I know his sister. She goes to my church, and she and her husband (and son) are close family friends. Which means I ALMOST know some one famous! Haha. Enjoy “Loving You is Easy,” by Ben Rector.

And today I have a special treat for you. A little bonus : ) I actually took this video when I went to a Matt Wertz and Ben Rector concert a couple months ago. When Ben sings this song at concerts, he changes the third verse. He asks the crowd for a subject. Someone will yell something out, and then he sings about it. On the spot. Pretty brilliant if you ask me. Someone shouted out Lady Gaga, and that is how the Lady Gaga verse was born…

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

Joe - May 16, 2011 - 10:53 am

That was great and I am so happy that you got it recorded so well…

Glad you are feeling better!