I don't often photograph weddings, but this one was special.

Lorelei and I met a few years ago; we were both working at Earls. I was living with my sister in an attic and missing my boyfriend who was working in Los Angeles. She was studying acting, she lived just a few blocks away from us & we became friends over slices of pizza. Throughout the course of our friendship, we have eaten lots of 5-cent sour candies and avocado tempura and Denny's Tsing Tsing Chicken (which they don't make anymore - WHAAAAT?!) & God has given us many crazy adventures together.

A few years later, I got married and started my photography business; Lorel graduated and became a full-time nanny before going back to school for nursing. And somewhere in there, she realized that a tall guy who had been her best friend in school (and who, incidentally, loves 5-cent candies almost as much as she does) was the love of her life. This is the story of the day they got married.

Because they were planning a wedding in Mexico, this was their legal ceremony. I was pregnant and due just before their Mexico wedding date, so I knew I wouldn't be able to make it for the real ceremony, but this gathering of their Vancouver loved ones was perfect for them: impromptu, delightful, and filled with laughter and hugs and red converse shoes.

It was a little miracle that I was able to photograph this day, because the very next morning, I was at the hospital, giving birth to our son!