Melany and Claudia #LoveWins!
I was contacted by Melany by email five months before their wedding. They both live in CA but have family in AZ. I had married several same sex couples, some of them at venues in town and others in their back yard with just a handful of people. Melany and Claudia's wedding was to take place at a lovely resort right here in Tucson.
I Face Timed with Melany and Claudia for our initial meeting and right off the bat we made a solid connection! Melany and Claudia are beautiful! Melany is more outgoing and talkative (like me!) and Claudia is more reserved.
Another time, after Melany and Claudia got married in their local court house to exchange a favor to a family member who could not attend their wedding in AZ, we Face Timed to make sure we all understood their licensing process. After that Face Time I just adored this couple! I always wait until I meet couples before deciding to become Facebook friends, but with these two I had to jump ahead and friend them prior to meeting them because they are just so GREAT!
As we talked more about the plans for their ceremony and the additional ceremony touches, I started to get so excited!
Melany and Claudia had a nautical themed wedding rehearsal and wedding. My hubby and I are not costume types but we were so excited about them and there wedding that our attempts at being nautical came to us pretty easily!
The rehearsal went fairly smooth and we did a full run through the bridal parties line up and a summary of Melany and Claudia's ceremony, adding any necessary instructions along the way. Melany and Claudia invited both my husband and I to their wedding rehearsal dinner following their rehearsal. We accepted their gracious invitation and went to Melany's parents house. We mingled, ate great Mexican fair and had a lovely time.
The day of Melany and Claudia's wedding had rain in the forecast all day except within half an hour of their wedding ceremony time. It sprinkled on and off all day and was still doing so when I arrived at their wedding venue. Because of my fondness for this couple and their nautical theme, one day while shopping I came across what I thought was a perfect gift for them, a nautical themed candle holder and candle. I was inspired to buy it, which I have not done before for any of my couples. As I parked at their venue and gathered their big gift, my folder and purse, I had to promptly jog to the indoors to avoid getting their gift wet!
The venue was not very organized, primarily because there was separation between the reception location and wedding location. There probably should have been more than one on site coordinator. The wedding started late due to waiting on guests.
Once we were ready to start the processional went seamlessly. The pianist had the songs mixed up and he stopped and restarted a time or two. Once that was sorted out and stunning Claudia and a friend made their way to the entrance of the wedding, all was still!
All in all, the wedding ceremony went very well and the SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS! ceremony went off virtually seamlessly (other than the shots being mixed up a bit!). After the SHOTS ceremony I passed a letter for "LOVE WINS" to four people on each side of the bridal party closest to us. This addition to the ceremony was priceless and so touching! Melany and Claudia are so in love and their love surrounded everyone!
After the ceremony I said my goodbyes to the bridal party and family and hugged Melany and Claudia goodbye. As I exited the resort, I faced a rainbow. There could not have been a more perfect time to see a rainbow!
