Sophie & Ben in Italy: Getting Ready

It's odd to start this post with a photo that could have been taken on any street, in any place on planet earth. You wouldn't know by looking at it but we had an italian castle to our right and a spectacular vineyard to our left. But I loved this photo because all through the wedding day there were mentions of the journey Sophie and Ben had taken to meet one another and a road is the perfect metaphor for their relationship. Not just their journey but the journey of their parents. Ben... son of a chinese immigrant to America who met a beautiful chinese girl visiting with her family on vacation and swept her off her feet. Sophie, daughter of a South African immigrant to England who married his British born sweetheart and then relocated to Switzerland. And yet Sophie and Ben met in none of the previously mentioned places. They had left their respective hometowns to take jobs in Singapore. They only met because each had been a companion to a friend who was supposed to be "set up" with the other's. The relationship that was supposed to be setup didn't work. But Ben and Sophie discovered quickly that they enjoyed each other's company. It wasn't that instant spark kind of thing either. It was the slow awakening to the fact that they had found something amazing... a kindred spirit. And it's a lesson that we should all trust our journey... that God sometimes has plans so poetically unpredictable that one can only marvel at Grace that knows what's good for us more than we know what's good for us.

Sophie is my cousin. As an adult she is a spectacular example of confidence. She has a commanding presence. A sophisticated and exotic beauty. A laugh so big that it'll stop any passer by in their tracks. I lived in South Africa when I grew up while she lived in Switzerland but we shared many family holidays together and ever since I laid eyes on her (probably when she was 3 years old) I adored her. We shared a strange genetically inherited sense of humor that often only we get. (and Ben...) We didn't spend enormous amounts of time together if you were to add it all up... but if you consider that you've shared most of your craziest mosquito ridden journeys into desolate parts of the world together... you understand why you have a bond. And you understand why you've had those heart to heart talks about who you would want to marry one day. Like how they would be older, wiser, well traveled and defineately not American.

Sophie will be moving to Texas soon. Like me she will be an american. I have to laugh. Just like she swore she would never be. But in exchange for swallowing her words she gets an awesome guy - just crazy enough to be willing to call all of us family and sweet enough to love Sophie and her raucous laugh like I do. I am SO happy I got to photograph this wedding. It was a dream come true! Let's start the posts with some photos of everyone getting ready in the Montebello Splendid Hotel in Florence.