Washington / Baltimore gets snow, sure. But who would have thought that on Valentine’s Day  weekend, James & Laura would be prepping to get married in the midst of the biggest snow storm in Washington/Baltimore history! Even at home in Winston-Salem, NC, where we were getting a pretty good snow, it was nothing compared to what was happening up in the DC area. How was it driving up? Not too bad actually – the driving up part at least. I rented an SUV, got my boots on, and packed a shovel and drove up Thursday afternoon. When I got into the Inner Harbor on Thursday night, that’s when I realized how bad it was.

Snow banks were at least 6 feet high, and covering most of the cars parked on the street. The city was so quiet, with a few people walking and maybe one or two other cars. Actually, the day prior, the Mayor had put out a level 3 emergency which meant only emergency vehicles were allowed to drive on the streets. It was lifted the morning I drove up.

I had a meeting with Laura Friday afternoon at the reception site (the beautiful Cloisters Castle) and was trying to find a way to get to the church, the Holy Rosary Parish, when she called to say the meeting was off because the road to the Cloisters wasn’t plowed and wasn’t passable. Wow, hmmm…. Well, after deciding the car couldn’t make it to the church, and walking there, I decided to head up to Cloisters anyway, just to see what was going on. Laura was right – after walking halfway up the very steep, somewhat cleared drive, I ran into the bobcat desperately trying to clear the road. I thought it wasn’t too bad, until I turned the corner and saw 3 feet of untouched snow and another 100 yards left to the castle. But, to make a long story short, Annie, the manager of Cloisters, worked her magic and was able to get some heavy duty trucks in to clear the path overnight, and by Saturday morning, James’ dad had confirmed the road was clear and the wedding was on!

And it was an awesome wedding at that – the great part is that this is the second time I’ve been part of Laura’s family having a wedding. Back in 2007, I was with Katie and Steve (Laura’s brother) as they got married, and Laura was getting married and Katie was her bridesmaid. When I saw them dancing, I had an instant flashback to their original first dance in 2007 and a photo I took of it. To see that same love, the same way in which she holds him as she dances – its perfect and its what we all hope for and want.

It really is SO cool to see old friends again, and make tons of new ones with James’ side of the family. We had an awesome limo ride with the bridesmaids; the Holy Rosary Parish is simply a stunning church; the Cloisters was picture perfect against the backdrop of the snow; the band was cookin’ and it was good times had by all. Major props to Annie at the Cloisters, the city of Baltimore for clearing the roads, the driver of the Chariots bus who has mad skills, and everyone else who helped make this awesome wedding happen. And thanks so much to both James & Laura and their families for having me back for such an important day. Now let’s look at a few of my favorite samples!

Oh, and keep an eye out in that last photo of the castle at night – look up in the top right window – that’s the perfect couple having the perfect moment to themselves before they leave their wedding night. :)

(Full screen mode is the icon to the right of the play/pause when you start the slideshow)