Love at Any Age

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The vast majority of my wedding clients get married young.  And when I say young, I mean younger than me.  I turned 40 *GASP* on Tuesday so most of my clients are typically in the 20s and 30s.

 

Wendy and Jim are the exception.

 

Jim e-mailed me in July asking me about my services.  Since Jim is from Oxfordshire, UK, his English (true English) was a bit different than most of my typical inquiries.  I often get spam e-mail from people overseas wanting to book me ASAP and then they ask for my banking info.  Yea….right.  Since Jim said specifically when (December) and where they were getting married, I felt this was legit.  So I called the venue, The Lookout Point Lakeside Inn in Hot Springs, and verified they were real.

 

Since the Lookout is a B&B, they only needed two hours of time.  I’ve shot at Lookout several times and I was been happy to tailor something just for Jim and Wendy.

 

So we got things booked and it was life as usual until their December wedding.

 

When I arrive at the Inn, I found two women looking at the wedding cake in the parlor.  One lady appeared to be in her 20s and the other a little older, perhaps late 40s.  I saw them and assumed the younger woman was Wendy.  But after listening to them for a moment, I realized that Wendy was the older lady….and I was delighted.

 

After making introductions, Wendy and Christina headed upstairs to get dressed.  Christina was Jim’s niece.  I photographed Wendy for a bit and then headed down to meet Jim.  He reminded me of my dad.  All smiles and loving life.  After all, he was getting married in less than an hour.

 

After countless young couples, it was so refreshing to meet and photograph someone a little older.

 

The wedding was small, less than 10 people.  In attendance was: Jim, Wendy, Jim’s sister Karen, her children Christina and James, Christina’s husband Kevin and their cute-as-a-button son Grant and Gwen, a close family friend. A unique thing about this wedding is that per British tradition, when the bride comes down the aisle (or stairs in this case) the grooms back is turned until she meets him.  Also, during the toast, the first toast is to the Queen, not the bride and groom.  It was just a little different.

 

And unlike older couple who often remarry at their ages.  This was their first wedding.  Jim is 57 and Wendy 48.  I asked him to tell me how they met.

 

“Wendy joined a web site that I was on and I got in touch with Wendy.  We then talked on the phone, then we met in person.  Quite early on, we both knew we were right for each other.  Then I proposed on Feb., 14, Valentines Day, which took Wendy by complete surprise.  We were thinking of getting married at Christmas time in America, so we could share our special day with the family.  So we finally decided on Hot Springs, as it was near to where my sister Karen lived.  We then looked at venues in Hot Springs, and our first choice was the Lookout Point Inn.  And the rest is history.”

 

I want to wish Jim and Wendy many happy years of love and marriage.  They have proven that you can find love at any age.