Ash and Dan…doesn’t that just sound right? It does and it feels right too. Ash is a very good friend of mine and Dan doesn’t know it yet, but he is kinda stuck with me now. 😉 When I got a call from Ash that she met this super great guy…I of course asked her 21 questions and he basically got my approval. Even the tone in her voice was different. I can’t explain it, but when you fall in love and you know it’s right…you get giddy. She was like a giddy little school girl. If she had a notebook… Dan’s name would be etched all over it with hearts.lol Ash and I chatted over lunch a few months back about her plans for the future. Dan and Ashley are expecting a beautiful little baby girl this summer and I can’t be more excited for them. Life happens right? You don’t always plan everything out, but I believe God allows things to happen for a reason. He blessed Dan and Ash with this super awesome gift and it just so happens they wanted to spend forever together. So, I threw around some crazy idea to get married before the baby comes and of course Ash just giggled at me.lol

Well, when she contacted me to photograph her wedding!!! Uhhhhh! I was shocked and of course I shrieked a few times. I can’t  take all the credit for putting any ideas in Ashley’s head for  these two crazy kids to get married, but I just laid it out there for Ashley and told her what I thought. He loves you….you love him…let’s go buy you a dress and go get married under that tree.lol That’s what friends do…they tell you the truth and they don’t waiver. A real friend extends their hand out to you and says “hey ..this is what I think and no matter what you decide..I love you…oh and I get to photograph your baby because I love babies.”  I’m so funny. Laughter has always brought us together so we joke around a lot and please excuse my dorkyness.lol  I love that girl a lot and from the very moment I met her I knew we would be friends. She is just a happy stinking ray of sunshine when she enters the room. EVEN when she is having a bad day..she sucks it up and still puts on a smile. I know that she knows that  this is her fairytale coming to life and it’s funny how sometimes you never feel you will have your fairytale. You will. This is what you dream and hope for…this is the kind of love Ash deserves to have and Dan is the perfect guy to give it to her. I couldn’t be more happier for her and Dan. This wedding made me smile and cry at the same time. I don’t even know if words could express the love that I felt during their ceremony. I won’t get all descriptive on how the wind so perfectly blew her hair as they professed their love to one another or how Dan cried during his vows. Nah! I won’t go there because I find that a little cheesy to go that in depth with detail.lol I will say that lump in your throat that rises when you feel the love between two people and your heart smiles for them…I believe everyone felt that. Gah! I am in tears while I write this sappy blog post. Okay..moving on. I will let the photographs below show you the sweetness of this day. Congrats Ashley and Dan!

He is singing to her…sooo sweet.

Ash and Dan from Sheena Ratliff on Vimeo.