Noah + Courtney {Shade Tree & Evergreen Wedding}

"To be married,
will be an awfully
big adventure."
peter pan

Everyone says it, but I have to be honest and say, few really do it.
"We want to make our wedding personal. We want it to be different. 'Us.'"
Noah and Courtney did it.  Their wedding was almost more "them" then they are.
Let's start with Courtney's bridal shoes (complete with metal skull tied to the laces.)

Courtney is so fun-loving, so adventurous, so thrilled about life.
She's never been a girly-girl who loves tutu's and ponies.
Oh no, she is all about exploring, playing and being outside as much as possible.

I love that God has made her that way, I love that she sees life different.  It's so refreshing!
It reminds me of Ecclesiastes 5:
"Everyone to whom God has given wealth and possessions
and power to enjoy them... rejoice!"

Courtney has power to enjoy.  She is so blessed, and God has given her such a wonderful life, and instead of being "stuck-up-y" about it, she enjoys it.  She wants to discover more.  She wants to explore. She enjoys the intrigue of life!

She also loves people.  Her bridal party included her mom, her sisters, her friends, her new sister-in-laws and kids she baby-sat.  It's so provoking to see how many lives she has loved on.

And they were all so happy for her :D

And this is most definitley COURTNEY'S wedding.  From the tie-up-lace-sleeve to the black nail polish.

And the running through fields with children?  Sure, why not.  It's your wedding!

In this bridal party, Courtney is the third of my brides :D  Still super happy for you Casey + Elise!

Everyone else had their own personal chucks.  It was pretty cute.

So, who exactly marries a fun-loving, crazy girl?
Well.  Noah.
Who is quite a fun-loving, crazy guy.

Who also has many friends of many ages.

And very distinct taste :D







But who also loves God, loves life... and, well, loves his Courtney.  He's a "all-in" kind of guy - he jokes hard, adventures hard and love God's truth hard.  And he has just fallen quite in love with Courtney :D

We finished pictures just time for the beautiful ceremony to begin.  Isn't this location just PERfect for these two?

They love Lord of the Rings, Peter Pan, Shakespeare... and those things were incorpated into the decor.  I love the quotes they used on the programs:
"I do love nothing in the world as well as you."
"To be married will be an awfully big adventure."
"The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad."

The ceremony was, of course, perfected for Noah and Courtney.
The bridal entered to music from Peter Pan movies, and Courtney walked down the aisle to an instrumental piece Noah wrote (and let's just say there weren't a whole lot of airy violin or delicate piano parts...) and it was VERY special.

Also, as each person walked down the aisle, all the guests cheered and clapped and whistled.
It was so loud and celebratory! 

And then super romantic :D  Noah couldn't take his eyes off her, or his teeth of his lip.
(notice the pastor in chucks too...)

Hey! Guess what?


I think they are quite in love :D

Worship was just beautiful as voices raised outside, surrounded by trees, kissed by sun, with so many family and friends.



And like *that* they are married!! Of course they sprinted/skipped out...

... and made a mad dash to the end ;)
They are cute.  I like them.

We started what became one of the easiest shoots of my life.
I pretty much didn't have to tell these guys to do anything.
They were just beaming and goofing around - just being themselves, which was perfect.




Oooo, ooo... look at her pulling her fierce! Nice!

At one point I was trying to pose them for a shot.
Then Courtney found one of those long grasses that has a bud at the end.
So they started a grass-shooting-war.
Duh!



And I was like "Yeaaaah, I'm gonna shut up and let them play, because this is too fun."

Noah decided to lose his jacket (for more agility, probably) so they gave the litte Tree Man a coat.

But there was a casualty.  One of Noah's cufflinks went missing, so they crew looked (I don't think they ever found it :-/)

But the little loveheads and I continued on with pictures.

They just got cuter and cuter (and more "them") as the night went on.

Once we finished, the reception began!  And probably my favorite first dance EVER took place.

Sweet, happy, lovely little first dance...

... that turned into disaster.  Noah spun Courtney and her shoe got caught on the cake tablecloth and the whole cake fell!!!!

The guests gasped in shock!

Only to find out that it was a planned-prank ;)

Not too bad for taking such a big fall, huh?!

But I loved seeing how happy they were when everyone laughed.
They had these joyous "yes!!! we got them!!!" faces and it was so fun.  I love that they pranked their guests. 

I must say, they are going to have such a fun, happy life together. 
And I am SO happy for you two :DGod knew what He was doing when He made you for each other, and I loved getting to photograph your big, adventurous day!