This past Valentine’s Day, Josiah and Sara became husband and wife! The day was warm, bright, and full of laughter and here it is for y’all to see :D.

We start the day off with their AWESOME rings!

Their wedding took place at the church they both attend, Community Baptist Church, just like David and Hannah’s wedding did just a month and a half before 😀 (which Josiah was a groomsman in!).

Josiah gave all his guys these super cool bracelets with their names on them and the wedding date on the flip side :).

Here’s the beautiful bride herself with her infectious grin :D.

And here’s the handsome groom! Happily smiling at Sara’s niece: both excited about the day. Hehe :D.

Josiah sent up a gift for Sara :D. She was happily surprised and then realized…

…she didn’t get him anything. Haha. Awww.

He got her a pearl bracelet that went perfectly with her grandmother’s pearl necklace she was going to wear :D.

Since the wedding was at 11:00, Sara decided to do the girls’ pictures after the ceremony, but we had time to do the guys beforehand :).

Me: “Josiah, show me your excited-to-get-married face.”

Hehe 😀

It was so beautiful outside and the guys looked sharp :D.

Time to bring it in. Hehe :).

Haha

Josiah’s best man was his long time friend William Drewa :).

Then we have his goofy, loyal friend Mark Mathews. Hehe :).

Then there’s Josiah’s older brother David :).

And last but not least, there’s Josiah’s younger brother John :).

John: “Let’s look sober.”

Haha. New term to me.

Josiah’s such a friendly, happy guy. I met him years ago when we were kids at his church’s annual Bible conference (which I’m attending next week! My dad’s preaching :D), so it’s been fun catching up with him these last few months and seeing him marry his Sara :). So happy for you, man :D.

One last cool pose for these guys :D.

Haha

Nice 😀

I love how animated both Josiah and Sara are in their expressions. Hehe :D.

Josiah: “Let’s pretend like we’re falling!”

Hahaha

I don’t know how David didn’t actually fall down here. Hahaha.

Then we couldn’t forget the ushers! Josiah’s other older brother Daniel.

And David Willette, whom y’all should recognize! 😀

Gotta finish getting ready!

Sooooo beautiful, Sara 😀

Since we did their portraits after the ceremony, I’m going to introduce her bridesmaids now as they’re going about their business :). This is Sara’s matron of honor Erica White :).

Then there’s her older sister, Jacklyn Wilkins :).

And this is Sara’s older-by-a-minute twin Anastasia Perez :).

A little wedding dress sneak peek interruption 😉

Then finally there’s her sweet friend Victoria Drewa  (William’s younger sister) and my friend too! I know her and her family the same way I know Josiah and his :).

Sara’s lovely mother came in to see her baby and help her with her dress :).

Haha

This was a very special part of their day: recently, their dear church friends and mentors Kenny and Cindy White moved to Wisconsin and they all miss them terribly. But! For the wedding day, Victoria’s younger sister Grace carried around an iPad with them face-timeing! Sara was so excited to see them and talk to them :D.

That’s Grace the iPad carrier 🙂

Sara’s excited to get married face. Hehe 😀

And Anastasia photo-bombing. Haha

This is Erica’s daughter JoAnna and she was blown away by Sara. Hehe 🙂

Time for her daddy to see her :D.

People arriving!

Precious.

After they came together at the altar, Josiah’s dad sang “I Will Be Here” by Steven Curtis Chapman and his mom played the flute :).

I was spotted. Hehe.

I really appreciated the truth Bro. Kyle White (who’s also their pastor) said in the ceremony, but I also enjoyed the laughter that ensued when Josiah and Sara tripped up over their vows. Hehe :D. It was a good mix of truth said in love and enjoyment in the little things that happen :).

They braided a unity cord: the middle strand represents God and the other two Josiah and Sara.

Bro. Kyle: “Well, you’ll just have to imagine what that looked like.”

Hahahaha 😀

Bro. Kyle: “This is what you’ve been waiting for.”

Haha 😀

Haha (it really wasn’t an awkwardly long kiss 😉 )

They released everyone by row to give them hugs and thank them for coming :).

Love 😀

Time for pictures outside! 😀

😀

These were fun. Hehe 😀

They looked so beautiful :D.

😀

Haha 😀

Happy friends 😀

The sisters 😀

Hahaha 😀

Someone said “Y’all should pick her up!”

Haha

Hahahaha

Then of course the girls had to pick up Josiah. Haha 😀

They set aside ample amount of time for pictures, so I was able to take individual portraits of each member of the wedding party! 😀

Had to include William’s smoulder. Haha

They wanted David and Hannah to get a picture together :D. It’s so fun seeing your friends+wedding clients after they’re married :D.

Hehe 😀

The flowers were bigger than she anticipated, but she loved them! I loved the unique mix of colors and varieties :D.

Gorgeous.

This was her favorite picture of herself and I think it’s ’cause it shows how relaxed and happy she felt on her wedding day! Hooray :D.

My two favorite portraits of each of them 🙂

Hehe 😀

Now for them to be together :D. Forever!! Yay! 😀

Speaking of their forever, here’s what Sara shared with me about how they came together :)…“Our love story isn’t one you see in movies or read in a book. It is a bit complicated.
It all started in the summer of 2013. I was just getting out of a 3 year relationship when I met Josiah. We had both been working at Chick-fil-A for years, but never met, till our last year there. When we met, we hit it off really well. We talked through the whole summer, but we were both not ready for a relationship. In mid-August, he was thinking about joining the Navy. It was a little hard for me to grasp at first. I wanted to be with Josiah, but he still was not ready. He asked me if I could wait for him till he was ready, but I did not want to. So, one day he told me to listen to a song called “I won’t give up.” I am thankful he did because it helped me wait and not give up. 
After my wrist surgery in September, we decided to get together. Josiah took me to church and I found out that I was not saved. When that came to light, we broke up because he did not want to be with someone who was not saved. Between September and the end of October, I continued to go to church. After awhile, I could feel the Holy Spirit working within me. At the end of October, the Lord saved me. I wanted to yell it at the top of my lungs and tell the whole world. The first person I told was Josiah. The weird thing was, after I was saved, I did not want to be with Josiah, so we just stayed friends.
A few weeks went by and I could feel my heart yearning for him. I told him what was going on. We both decided that that was God’s way of telling us we belong together. As I grew closer to God, my love for Josiah grew as well.

God is what brought us together. 
God’s love combines us. 
As we grow closer to God, our love for each other grows as well.


That is our Love Story 🙂 <3″

What they’ve gone through together has made them who they are and it’s wonderful to see how they’re growing in the Lord as one :). With smiles on their faces :D.

Hahaha 😀

Mmmm

Love this one so much <3 🙂

You can tell they’re best friends :D.

They’re at ease in each-other’s company; they can be themselves :).

And they just have such fun :D.

This! is my long-time-awesome-tiny-friend Pearl Ortega! She was Hannah Willette’s maid of honor, if you remember :). She was my faithful driver and assistant when I needed her :). You’re the best, Pearl :D.

Yaaaaay 😀

Love love 😀

This is what Josiah shared with me about Sara 🙂

“Sara is like a bear [haha]: she is beautiful, cuddly, friendly, but if you tick her off, she will become your worst nightmare. She is a wonderful girl to know and is a true and loyal friend to all.
 I love her uplifting spirit and willingness to serve the Lord in all that she does.
I love her quirks and how she acts like a kid still.
 I love how passionate she is in everything that she does. And passionate as she is, she will not stop until whatever she is doing is done. Lol.
I love her because she loves me. Lol.”

And this is what Sara shared with me about Josiah :).

“Josiah is like sunshine. You can always catch him smiling and laughing. No matter if he is confronted by a problem, he keeps a smile on his face. Just like the sun shines through the darkest of clouds, his smile shines brighter through the hard times. Even when it is thunder-storming, the sun comes out and dries up all the rain. Just like Josiah’s personality, he can clear up bad situations. He is my Sun :).
What I truly love about him is his love for God.
He leads me to Christ when I am scared or stressed.
He loves God more than he loves me and that makes me love him all the more <3 :).”

They are wildlife and sunshine. Hehe 😀

Haha

Now. What they like to do together. Hahaha. ;D

“Our favorite things to do together are…
 
1. Watching the show “The Office”
2. Walking on the beach
3. Going to museums
4. Going to aquariums
5. Hanging out with friends
6. Going on road trips
7. Decorating
8. Just being with each other
9. Talking about the future
10. Trying new foods

We were about done, so I asked them to show how they feel to be married.

Hahaha 😀

Them :D.

Hahaha 😀

Then we arrived at the reception and the wedding party announcements started! 😀

Haha 😀

Their cake was beautiful AND delicious!! I actually ate a piece! Haha. I don’t always grab a piece of cake when I’m shooting.

They had yummy barbeque and rice and beans (and fish for the bride and groom apparently! I didn’t notice the special addition ’till I looked at this picture. Haha)

Josiah has strong Hawaiian heritage on his dad’s side, so they had a little Hawaiian theme :).

They visited their other friends in the overflow seating outside :).

Way to go, kitchen help!

Had to snag a brother-sister picture of these two :D.

And then had to snag a boyfriend-girlfriend picture of these two: Patrick White and Sarah Koger :D.

Josiah’s sweet parents :D.

A couple of the guys brought in a flat screen and they all enjoyed a slideshow of Josiah and Sara :).

Their first dance :).

They didn’t want to feel awkward, so they invited anyone to join them after the first verse :D.

This picture is special ’cause it’s the two newest newlyweds! 😀 Love it :).

Hehe 😀

Sara’s kind parents bringing their grandson in for a hug :).

Best friends 😀

Pearl was in charge of gathering the Mexican music for the reception, so it was only appropriate that she start it off with the bride. Hehe 😀

This was going on outside, so I stepped out to check it out :).

😀

Now you can see why the cake was so delicious! There was jelly inside!! Yum.

All of the wedding party (and a couple others) gave speeches :).

Then Josiah wanted to thank everyone :).

He got choked up; it was sweet.

They were about to go, but they had to do the bouquet and garter tosses before it was over! I refrained from joining the single ladies this time. Haha. After catching it 4 times in my life (3 of them within a year’s time), I started feeling bad for catching it. Haha.

JoAnna caught it!

And she. was. thrilled. Haha. Yay :D.

This seems to happen a lot at garter tosses. Haha.

Good for Patrick :D.

Marriage looks good on them :D.

BUT! The festivities WEREN’T over! After they drove off, they went over to her parents’ house until it got dark so the wedding party could light floating lanterns :D.

Now this lantern…

…got stuck in this tree. Haha. Nothing a basketball thrown up there couldn’t dislodge though ;). And they did it in time so the tree didn’t catch on fire. Hahaha.

Aaaaaaah 😀

Haha

😀

So, the last one floated off and so did they. Hehe :). It was a great day and am so thankful I was able to be a part of it :).

With a smile,

{ Rachel Leigh }