Nearly a year ago, Tom and I were guests at Dino & Christine’s wedding in Pennsylvania, USA. As Dino and Christine both attended Franklin & Marshall College, in Lancaster, PA, many of the guests were alumni/ae, including an old friend, Jessica. It was a lovely traditional wedding, and everyone looked beautiful and happy.

I still can’t believe anything has really changed!

I’m very glad I’m not a wedding photographer, as it looked quite challenging to cover such a big wedding in such a dark room. My own wedding reception was a dinner party, and we asked our friend, Paul, to take ‘a few’ shots. The result was fantastic — we are lucky to have such talented friends. Here is a shot I took at Styal Chapel (can you spy Dino and Christine?):

I am looking forward to (another) Paul & Claire’s wedding in December, which will be a similarly small event. I hope Claire feels as beautiful and happy as I did on my wedding day — and I hope I am able to capture even just a fraction of the adoration and love between Paul and Claire in their resulting photographs!

Photographs below were taken at our wedding by Paul Maddox (or otherwise by me or Tom) and processed by me.

Migrating to a new computer means I’m uncovering loads of unprocessed and unshared photographs from past events — including my own Blessing in the US in 2007! Uncovering all of these images from such a bright and happy day was perhaps exactly what I needed right now, though it has been a hard reminder of the last time I really saw Papa John and Gram properly before they each passed away.

My UK wedding and US blessing both went by with minimal planning and maximum fun, despite the overwhelming amount of stress. In both occasions, I opted out of hiring a photographer despite finding and knowing some excellent candidates. Now, two years later, I can say with confidence that the time I spent holding the camera myself was worth way more than being the one in front of it.

When my grandpa passed away earlier this year, I gave my mom and her sisters each a photograph of the four of them with him at my wedding. I said, “This is who grandpa is to me. This is how I really know him, through each of you.” As one of the youngest grandchildren, of the youngest daughter, my relationship with Gram has felt very short compared to all of my cousins and aunts.

But these last few weeks that I’ve spent with Gram and our family here in Syracuse have given me a gift. First was being able to communicate with Gram how much she means to us and give her hope in her last days that she is and always will be needed and loved. Second was supporting my mom and her sisters in this difficult time, bearing witness to some very hard human lessons in life. Third and last was seeing each and every one of you gather together and know that even though Gram has scattered quite literally, her spirit is also scattered with just as much blessing, into each of us.

Though we may feel lonely and lost, I think we all understand that when we come together, as her family and friends, there she is again. So I hope, as we return to our respective homes, we remember in our sadness how to find Gram again. With each other.