Felipa and Chris are together again and married!

Out of all the weddings we’ve shot now, Felipa and Chris have one of the coolest stories I’ve heard yet. It’s one of those stories that when told in full detail makes people go “no way!”.

It all started with a little girl named Brianna.

I take that back, it started before Brianna but she’s the reason this story is so great.  I don’t have all the specifics here so I’m going to summarize a lot to hopefully avoid getting it wrong! Chris and Felipa met in 2001 and as the pastor at their wedding put it they “had a little romance” and then Brianna was born.

They went their separate ways for awhile but then began having a little bit of contact so that Chris (and his family) could spend some time with his daughter.  They went through a lot during this time period and they grew in ways that neither of them expected.

In fact, things changed so much that in the summer of 2009 they realized they each had a new person to get to know!

They began dating, were engaged around Christmas, and were married in the spring!

So now, the 3 of them get to live together and have a reunited family.

When the pastor told this story at their wedding, he spoke a lot about forgiveness and restoration and it was enough to make anyone tear up (even a certain photographer… or 2… but I’m not sure if Scottie would admit to it!).

Needless to say, it was a beautiful ceremony and it will definitely continue to stand out to me as one of my favorites.

The reception was the perfect follow up to such a great ceremony, with brilliant red roses to decorate… …and a stunning bride to complete it!

(Seriously, you can’t get a smile better than that one!)

Another really beautiful part to Chris and Felipa’s story is the amount of support they received throughout all of this by their friends and family.

There was such a bonding and camaraderie that we saw carried through the entire day between everyone.  It would be apparent to even the most distant observer that Brianna really did bring this entire group of people together and that none of them are planning on going anywhere any time soon. 

The tears and the hugs were endless the entire night (which is a rare thing to see in groomsmen… but we saw it here)!

You would think that being around a group this tight knit, would make anyone else feel like an outsider, but that was the thing that really surprised us… they made US feel like a part of the family too!  And we’re just a couple of measly old photographers (hired help if you will)!

Their friends and family alike spent the night with their arms around us (literally), telling us stories about their loved ones (getting emotional at the good parts of course), and genuinely inviting us in to the deeper parts of their lives.

How many parties have you been to where you feel completely loved and accepted by everyone because they go out of their way to make you feel important… even though the entire day is all about the importance of THEM and you have nothing to do with it?!

I’m going to guess that very few people have had the opportunity to have an experience like that and we feel very blessed to be one of the lucky ones.  I am so happy to know that Brianna will get to grow up being around so many people who are that loving.

How great is it to have such a beautiful community to raise a child in?  We couldn’t be happier for this new little family.

(Fan us on Facebook so you can tag yourselves in some of these photos!)

So Felipa and Chris, God bless you as you take on the major endeavor of learning how to live life together as a family and as you adjust to all the changes that are bound to come your way.

I’m sure there will be a lot of challenges to face as you learn to grow together and parent together, but I know you guys have the kind of support you need to get through anything and that it will be such an incredibly wonderful process for the two of you.   I hope you enjoy every single part through and through and that you have a blast doing all of it together!

Congratulations on finding each other again, I hope you guys stay best friends and teammates forever. 🙂

Click to see the rest of Felipa and Chris’ wedding photos.