Army Wedding at the Dayton Art Institute // Portland, Oregon Photographer

Patrick and Tina's wedding day ended up being absolutely beautiful. That week had been mostly clear as far as the weather, until the day before when it poured. But everything cleared up nicely and allowed us flexibility to photograph around outside at the Dayton Art Institute before the reception there. I loved seeing the military uniforms all day, especially against the backdrop of the art institute.

There's always something about military dress blues, and I loved photographing an Army wedding. Of course, it's always fun to see them in their laid back element on a wedding day. And, boy, did they have fun! :D It seems that Patrick comes from a military family, because there was a very special moment between him and his mother before the ceremony where she presented him with some of his father's military medals. Are there really any words that adequately follow the depth of meaning in that?

Patrick and Tina's wedding day wasn't just a joining of two in marriage, but a joining of three into a family. Their beautiful little girl may have legally only been one of their daughters before, but it absolutely warmed my heart to see how everyone already absolutely held each other as family without question. As a person who holds family so dear, it was so beautiful to see this.

When culling through the images from the day, I found something that we wouldn't have been able to know on the day of the wedding. During the getting ready process, both Tina and Patrick ended up hugging their mothers at the exact same time in different rooms. I love that. It seems so sacred, and a little special secret that I get to share.

You know how I mentioned that the guys had a ton of fun throughout the day? Well, it wasn't just them. For the Maid-of-Honor's speech, she re-wrote all of the words to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song and performed it all flawlessly! So. Much. Fun!

The emphasis that Patrick and Tina wanted for their wedding day was that it was for the joining of the family of Patrick, Tina, and their little girl. This is what weddings are about—commitments and love like this. It didn't hurt that the celebration was a blast, too. ;)