Congrats Karen & Alex! 02.25.2012

February 25th will now be special for two reasons. Not only is it the day of my mom’s birthday, but also the day my beautiful bride Karen and Alex will celebrate for the rest of their lives. This was my first wedding of the season and I could not have been happier to have kicked it off with this! Karen was an ideal bride in many ways. She was organized, not over bearing, easy-going and allowed me creative control. What is most beautiful about Karen is her spirit. I just knew from our first meeting for her trial that we would get along just finnnne.

While this was probably one of the happiest days of her life, it was still a bittersweet moment – which I won’t get into.  I was so glad she was able to share the challenges she and her family faced with me because it really pushed me to go above and beyond for her to ensure this day was a day to celebrate and cherish. I loved that throughout the entire time that I was with her, she was smiling and SO excited. The morning started off early…pitch black early and as always, I receive a BBM from one of my favorite friendors, Vanessa who was doing makeup. This has become a tradition for us…usually when we are driving just to see where the other is. NOTE: do not drive & text! Lol.  We opted for a beautiful Tower of Pisa, adding lots of texture and softness. Because Karen’s hair was a bit short, we added a few strands to really give it that drama. I must say, she looked incredible!  Her girls were just as easy to work with and the morning started off great!

As Vanessa and I left the hotel to go for our “team meeting” a.k.a. brunch, we started noticing how crazy cold and windy it was and my first thought was, “oh man, she said they were going to do photos outside!!!” Luckily, Karen booked us for a touch up and to our surprise, everything was pretty much in tact! It was a blizzard out there, so it really could have gone quite bad. You’ll see in the photos below what troopers they were, courtesy of Renaissance Studios Photography!  As I was finishing up with Karen, a pastor/friend of hers came in and asked to pray with her. It was such a touching moment as I saw Karen tear up and I could totally feel the joy she had, that was something I will never forget. I know how hard it must have been, but man, was she ever surrounded by people who loved her. Side story: not only was one of the BM`s a bride I was unable to do hair for, but a random girl (who isn`t random now) pulled me aside and told me I looked nothing like she had envisioned. At first I had no idea if that was a good thing or bad – but she thought I was going to be an old guy having heard so much about me and my experience from the people around her. LMAO. She was in shock how young I looked. Bless her heart…I was a hot mess having been up for 13 hrs already with NO nap.

Karen wrote V and I a cute note of thanks:

Just wanted to say *thanks* for making us all look *FABelous* and *AmaZing* on my special day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you guys were *awesome* to work with!!

it wuz a very haPPie and fUn day!! 

How cute is she? Lol.  Karen & Alex, may God continue to watch over you and bless you with love, joy and happiness! Take a look at the amazing pics below!! To think that was just a few weeks ago…and now the sun is out and people are wearing shorts…insanity! I get cold just looking at them, but so warm and fuzzy because of their love. Ok, ya, that was a bit over-the-top cheesy.