emily & pat's rehearsal dinner

I had my first official assignment as a photo-taker (a snapshot stealer) at Emily's rehearsal dinner. I found what I knew already after her bachelorette party: it is much easier to insanely take pictures with your own group of friends than with a bunch of strangers who are overtly aware of you throughout the process.

It was a beautiful evening, held on the lawn of Emily's close friend's parents' house--a huge house in the farmy areas of Mankato (with many, many gorgeous flowers and expansive lawns). The company was good, caring, happy--much laughter as the sun set. Emily was charming and nervous, calling her friend's son a "daughter," and being particularly comic when she realized it was another friend's birthday and she had meant to bake a cake. Everything was so close--friends putting together the flowers, fathers grilling, kids playing lawn games. Speeches were friendly and informal, stories were told, and though this was the day before her wedding, Emily managed to maintain a certain level of grace I can only hope for on my big day.

These are just a few of the 200+ photos I snapped, though many of them were just snapshots, pictures anyone could have taken. I hope she doesn't mind my shyness, my holding back. I hope there are a few she can treasure. You can see my own interests--toddling along behind the bride, especially loving the pictures of them together, the looks they gave to each other.

One thing I thought of on my drive home, was this: few couples seem as comfortable and loving as Emily and Pat. I know this sounds ridiculous, as most couples are comfortable and loving (I should hope), but I think, by admiring them from the distance of the photographer's lens, I could appreciate how they seemed utterly at ease with one another, with entertaining, with being with the people they loved most and with each other. Some couples feel like two people put together, two strange entities that might not ordinarily fit together; other couples you might not always feel so comfortable with as they might be unable to socialize with an additional person. But with Pat and Emily, neither are the case.

I look forward to this evening. And I look forward to watching them grow old together. :)