To me, one of the best possible outcomes of working with clients is when the bride becomes a friend. The change of relationship from soley a vendor to  friend is a testament to just how important interpersonal relationships are in the workplace. My brides are awesome.

Beth is one of those kinds of brides. She contacted me after being referred by a mutual friend of ours (thanks, Daniel!), and I knew from day 1 she was going to be a dream. Sweet, Southern and a complete darling, Beth has become very dear to me.

Beth and Andrew met while working at Panera. She learned that he was in the Army National Guard, so she promised that if he was ever deployed, she’d write to him. Well, fate came in the form of deployment orders, and Beth fulfilled her promise. Somewhere along the way of countless letters and care packages, Andrew and Beth fell in love. He came home for a short week of leave halfway through his second deployment and asked Beth to marry him. Together, they survived the rest of his deployment and were married on February 19th, 2011.

The morning started off at Beth’s parents house in Christiansburg, Virginia. One thing to note- Beth did almost everything herself for the wedding. Everything she didn’t do was covered by a girlfriend. Chelsey, a friend from high school and a part-time make-up artist, took care of cosmetics for the day. As you can see, she did an amazing job!

Lizzy, another girlfriend, took care of not only Beth’s bridal ‘do, but the flower arrangements as well. Beth ordered the flowers from Fifty Flowers, and Lizzy made all the bouquets, boutonnieres and corsages. WHOA. I was super impressed by her skills!

Beth was all smiles all day- she was so excited!

A pre-ceremony prayer with her bridesmaids helped to calm Beth’s nerves.

Beth receiving and exclaiming over the bouquets that her friend Lizzy made…

Beth designed the programs and made this sign post, too. DIY Queen.

One of the most impressive DIY elements I saw at Andrew and Beth’s wedding was the cake. Beth’s friend Kaitlyn is an aspiring cake maker, and she did some AWESOME work on Beth’s cake! On top of being eye candy, it was also pretty darn delicious.

I’m not sure what was said to make Andrew make this face,  but it was awesome.

After the reception, the three of us headed over to Virginia Tech to do portraits around campus.

Beth and Andrew, your wedding was such a symbol of God love and enduring faithfulness. The outpouring of affection and support from your family and friends was truly touching. I was so proud to be there, and I can’t wait to see how your love grows in the coming years!