Ian + Narel's International Nebraska Wedding
I’m obviously bias, but isn’t there just something extra excellent about international weddings?
It makes what is always true of weddings glaringly obvious: that this is the eternal welding of two people. Two families, two cultures, two sets of history and lineage. Taking two very different things and making them into something new and something beautiful. It’s what it’s always been about.
Ian is from Nebraska, and Narel is from Brazil. Her family flew out for the occasion, and his joyfully rallied around them.
We ate incredible Brazilian food at their rehearsal, and then bore our Winter coats for their Omaha, December wedding.
Two things that Ian and Narel have in common;
Fantastic, close-knit families and
A whole lot of height.
The suit rental company said it was the tallest wedding party that he had ever served in the decades of his business. This meant that I, all 165cm (5’2”) of me was chasing after this beautiful pair with a three-step painting stool all day (yes, the one I usually use to reach anything in my kitchen).
Just by being these two command attention; but it’s so much deeper than that. For, once they have it, they keep it with their incredible ability to ask great questions, and make you feel important. Ian and Narel together are a rare example of what it looks like to be passionate and ambitious as well as over-flowingly kind.
Photographing this wedding was a challenge, and not for any of the reasons that you would expect. It was a challenge because I was crying.
Narel’s first-look with her father was truly one of the most sacred and beautiful things that I have ever seen. I cried. I’m pretty sure we all cried.
You can see it between 2:20 and 2:40 in their Wedding Highlight Film here (made by the incredible Justin Kofoed).
Then there was the wedding itself. Never has the term “I can’t even” been more applicable. Standing at the very back I was having a hard time keeping my lens from shaking as I ugly cried through the most genuine, kind, pure and joy-filled vows and service that I have ever been a part of. It was, put simply, drenched in the presence of God.
The whole day was centered around Jesus and soaked in prayer. It wove together two people, two families, two continents.
Earlier in the day I had cried (yes, again) when both father’s prayed over Ian. There is little more precious than being blessed and sent forth by two Dads, in two languages, from two places, but who share the same goal: the happy marriage of their children, and the love of Jesus Christ.
Their wedding was what it should be: an international celebration, a party to remember, and a beautiful blend of tradition and affection from across the globe.
At their reception, Ian participated in the Brazilian tradition of auctioning off parts of his tie for sale, table-by-table. It was awesome.
Generations from nations danced into the night, and that night, it snowed.
We had all decided earlier that due to the tight time-line of the wedding day we were going to take couple-photos the next afternoon, and I’m forever glad that we did.
I was dressed in approximately 30 layers, and Narel was an absolute trooper in her wedding dress. It was easy with these two because they were clothed in that newlywed glow (that, and a ton of goosebumps).
I don’t say this lightly, but it truly was an honour to be a part of Ian and Narel’s wedding. I have every belief that they will create a life and love that not only leaves a legacy for generations but across nations. These two are made for something big, something deep, something very far from superficial. In every possible way I believe this is only the beginning, and it’s only up from here.