{Hitched} Laura & Nic in Mexico (Mo.) & Columbia

Once again, my job took me to Mexico. Missouri. Yep. Not quite bikini-land…. (not that I wear bikinis…ahem.) But anywho…

Lots about this wedding is worthy of noting. Here are just a few things off the top of my head:

That is where I was for the first part of Laura & Nic’s wedding. For being early November, we sure were lucky to land weather that was so beautiful. Although many of the trees had started looking closer to “winterly” (totally should be a word, no?), there were still patches of warm tones wherever we looked. I met Laura’s mom first as I came into the church. She greeted me with a smile and a request. She wanted a photo take of Laura and Nic that emulated one she herself had taken on her wedding day with Laura’s dad, at the very same church. You will see the results below… next to the original photo in a frame.

I recognized several faces in Laura’s bridal party because this is another wedding that has come from a line of referrals from one of my original Darbi G favorite couples… Katie & Brandon. (Katie was supposed to be a bridesmaid in this wedding, but then she and Brandon went and got pregnant… her due date fell a few days after the wedding.) But as the lil’ boy named Brady who has since joined us on Earth would have it, he stayed in long enough for Katie to be there for one of her closest friends.Score!

Tradition usually keeps the bride from showing or talking about her wedding dress to the groom so as to heighten the surprise of seeing it for the first time ON her. Nic wanted to do something from the other side too, so he picked out his suit and tie and never sought Laura’s input beforehand. So she was looking forward to seeing what he picked out, ALMOST as much as he was anxious to see her gown. (And note: Nic had virtually guessed to the tee what Laura’s dress would look like…from silhouette to embellishments. I guess when you know someone really well…you’re able to pick out their wedding dress!? Haha)

I have a soft spot for two things at weddings, which is why you’ll see them in most of my posts: cute, well-behaved flower girls and ring bearers, and dad/daughter moments that make you want to cry. BOTH were present at this wedding. HOORAY!

Laura’s bridal shoes were nowhere near flats. So while she was traipsing around in a park for portraits with her honey, her feet were killing her. But she never complained. HOWEVER, when we were finished, two of her bridesmaids who had returned to the trolley (which was a good two blocks away from where we were shooting), hollered for Laura to stay put and they brought her flip flops so she could walk, pain-free. And the best part…they had kicked their own shoes off their sore feet to do it…so they had run on the chilly cement barefoot to where Laura stood.

Laura, like Nic, is a pharmacist. So you’d think she is a left-brained individual. But clearly, she pulls from both sides of the soft-tissued organ. She designed and made the programs, some of the table centerpieces, the table number signs for the tables at the reception, the kids bags, the escort cards, and the decorations for the rehearsal dinner centerpieces. Craftiness runs in the family… her dad made the wooden boxes for the escort cards, and her mom and her made canned homemade blackberry jam for favors (my husband LOVES it, btw, Laura!!!) and she sealed them off with homemade labels. The canned favors hold a special place in her heart as her grandma was a canner, so they were a tribute to her memory.

The reception was held at Holiday Inn Expo Center in Columbia, Mo. I had approached Laura’s dad, who was talking to the coordinator at the venue (her name was Rain!!), and he stopped his conversation with her to ask me to take a pic of the two of them. He said that she and her team were a notch above the rest and that the wedding couldn’t have been as great if it weren’t for her. I couldn’t have smiled more if he had said something just as kind about me because Rain, who was very pregnant, looked so overwhelmed with appreciation for the appreciation that I nearly cried.

During the reception while everyone, including the bride and groom, was supposed to be eating dinner, Laura put her own hunger on hold while she made sure the guests who ordered special request dinners (such as gluten-free) were taken care of.

One of the last pics in the reception bunch shows Laura & Nic’s fraternity singing to her. That was cool to experience! (And no, it wasn’t “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling.” Haha)

So in conclusion, my dear blog readers… Laura & Nic are married…and are adorable. And kind. And personable. And fun. And their wedding was all of that and more. Laura & Nic–I wish you both a GREAT holiday season and a happy New Year as husband and wife, Kansas City transplants and new full-time pharmacists! xo

Now here’s your story…in pictures.