You know how chocolate chip cookies are great? Cookie dough is too (I'm a huge fan of it myself. You may know this if you've poked around here before)--but have you ever put cookie dough and a baked cookie together? In a sandwich? Of delicious? It's life-changing. And Don and Shea are like this because, if you're like me, you knew both of them from somewhat of a distance between 2011 and now, but then they get together and you think, "Why didn't someone think of this before?! This is AMAZING." Luckily, they've figured this out, and they're getting married this summer! I'm particularly excited for them seeing as Don is one of my husband's BEST friends--they're part of an unofficial fraternity, if you will, coined "Skinnytown" (no fat shaming here, they're just a bunch of explicitly skinny bros who have each others' backs... which are bony and skinny... most of the time). Don was the guy who picked my husband up on his shoulder and ran across the neighborhood whooping when we told him we were engaged, so you could say we're friends too (Stephen attempted a similar thing in a Cook Out parking lot with Don sometime after this session...it was probably less successful).
And as one of the few, the proud, the wives of Skinnytown, I'm so happy to welcome Shea to the walk-away-and-pretend-we-don't-know-those-dudes-screaming-and-waving-a-towel-with-Orlando-Bloom's-face-on-it-but-we'll-eventually-find-it-funny-and-dance-the-dirty-chicken-single-dance-with-them-even-though-we-don't-know-what-that-is club. But in all earnestness, Don and Shea are a blue ridge mountain dream come true to this photographer and it was a heart-warming and hilarious experience to be there, casually enjoying their laughs, love and light as the wedding playlist and Ed Sheeran played on Shea's phone. It was their world up there above the hazy Buena Vista town and it was an honor to be there--to feel simply grateful and happy that two class acts like Shea and Don have found in each other what every friend hopes they will find in a forever partner. Congrats you two! Here's my only unsolicited piece of advice:
Choose your love, love your choice.
