I’ve never been to Apple Valley, nor have I shot at a mortuary/cemetery, so Tracy and Walter showed me what was up in their adorable town!  Can you believe this place?  It was gorgeous!

I hope my next comments don’t embarrass Tracy.  But this story is beautiful to me, and I needed to share it!

Tracy had a friend doing her hair and makeup the morning of her wedding.  Tracy is a very simple girl and wears little if any makeup at all!  So of course her friend made her makeup very natural, and Tracy looked gorgeous.  She looked in the mirror, seemed a little hesitant about the makeup, but assured everyone she liked it.  She then hugged her friends, being careful not to cry.  I assumed it was because she was excited/emotional about her wedding day!  And still, that may be why, but later we had an experience that made me think that it possibly wasn’t the only reason she was on the verge of tears.

After the ceremony we headed to the mortuary/cemetery to do the bride and groom photos.  At one point after I had taken a photo of just Tracy, I stopped to show her some of the photos I had taken.  She commented something like this, “Well I guess I am a little pretty!”  I was like, “Of course you are Tracy!  You’re gorgeous!”  She said, “You NEVER would have heard me say that two years ago.”  I’m assuming that was before she met Walter.  If you see Walter with Tracy you know without a shadow of a doubt that he KNOWS he scored with the most wonderful, beautiful girl in the world.  I love that a man can give a woman confidence like that, when done the right way.  🙂

So thinking back to that morning as Tracy was on the verge of tears, I believe she was finally seeing her own physical beauty–the beauty that Walter is probably always insisting is REALLY there!  But more importantly, I watched as Tracy interacted with her family and friends, and got a glimpse of her inner beauty–which was incredible!  She is so warm and loving, she’s kind and sweet, she’s smart and this girl loves to have fun!

Walter was pretty awesome too.  😉

I was so happy Tracy and Walter chose me to capture their day.  I went away with a desire to strengthen my own marriage.  (These weddings always do this to me!)  My husband was out of town and my excitement to be with him was escalated after watching these two!