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On June 11th, my assistant, Shuva, and I headed to Blank Park Zoo to capture Al and Jill's wedding day.  It was a beautiful, hot summer day and excitement was in the air.  We began our day with the ladies as they put on their finishing touches for the wedding day.  I love, love, love the photo of Jill's sweet little girl, dressed in her beautiful flower girl dress and flower crown, looking up at her mother's dress.  Seriously, such a perfect, beautiful moment!

061116-030 Jill and Al chose not to do a first look, wanting to hold to the beautiful tradition of seeing each other for the first time at the ceremony.  We began formal portraits with the guys in the pavilion where the ceremony was to be held.  Once the guys were done with their portraits, we sent them back out of the heat and into the comfort of the air conditioning, for which I'm pretty sure they were all thankful for.  Then the ladies came out for their portraits in the same location.  We finished in time for guests to begin arriving and everyone to cool off before the ceremony began. 061116-063 061116-149 Joy.  That is the best word I can use to describe the ceremony.  The happiness on their faces as Al and Jill saw each other for the first time on their wedding says it all.  Absolute joy. 061116-185

Their friend, one of their bridesmaids, read a beautiful story about a lonely dinosaur, living all alone, who meets another dinosaur and their friendship grows into something beautiful.  It was a perfect reading for their wedding, a beautiful tribute to their love story.  
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After the vows, Al took a moment to make his own vows to Jill's daughter.  You could tell how much she adores him, as when she was called up to join them and he bent to speak to her, she grabbed him in a big hug.  It was beautiful. 061116-223

Together, they poured small pieces of glass together into a vase instead of a sand ceremony or unity candle.  The glass will later be fused together, creating a work of art to symbolize the joining and creation of their new family. 061116-236 061116-336