Oh, where do we even begin with these two? From the beginning, that’s where. Will and Jordan met in college and have been friends for almost ten years. A decade. We never thought we’d be old enough to say that about friends we didn’t finger paint or play youth soccer with. But our late twenties have sneakily snuck up on us like that. And so, here we are. There we were. Standing in a backyard one evening. Drink in hand. Talking the night away. When we met Dani for the first time. They’d just started dating, or were thinking about starting date, or starting to think about starting to date. We can’t remember exactly, but we do remember exactly how we felt about her: excited. And for him: thankful.
Since we’ve known Will, he’s always known who he was going to marry. What she would be like. Her qualities. Her characteristics. Her values. And we used to tell him, “You’re shooting for the moon.” The idea that he would find the woman he always described to us seemed almost too good to be true. We all knew it was going to take patience. And a whole lot of waiting. We watched for years as he waited faithfully for the wife God had created just for him, and that night, when we walked into the backyard, we met her. He introduced us to Dani.
She’s the perfect complement to him in every possible way. He’s a writer, a lover of literature, a romantic at heart with a clever sense of humor and a quiet, deep passion for the big important things happening in our world. She’s a bright light. Smart, outgoing, and fun, she takes her smile everywhere she goes, never leaves her kindness at home, and wouldn’t know how to act stressed if she drew the card in a game of charades.
We couldn’t think of a more perfect (or recent!) example of how she makes him laugh or how she makes him smile than something that happened when no one else was there except us: their first look. Dani and Will wanted to pray together back-to-back before seeing each other for the first time, so we helped put them in position, they interlocked their fingers and Will prayed out loud. After the prayer, we told Dani, “Okay, we’re going to walk you away now and then–”
“Twenty paces and we duel!” she quipped.
He didn’t hear it, but it made him laugh when we told him later. That’s my wife, the look on his face said. And then, when they did see each other for the first time, after they embraced, and cried, and talked, the sweetest thing happened. We were adjusting our cameras for a moment, but when we looked up to tell Will where he as supposed to be, he was in a daze. Like he didn’t even hear us. We tried to get his attention a few times, and when we finally snapped out of it, he looked away from his bride, back to us, and said in the sincerest way, “I just love looking at her.”
It’s been less than a year since they started dating and six months since they got engaged, but they’ve been in an entranced dance from the start, and there’s no indication they’ll ever get off the dance floor, no matter how many other people get off or regardless of who’s around. It’s almost like F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote this line years ago knowing it’d be just for them. Maybe that’s why Dani gave Will a gold piece of metal, the size of a business card, so it would fit in his wallet, with the words engraved on it, like they are on his heart and hers, so that neither one of them would ever come back from it.
“They slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered.”
Dani and Will, we love you. Let’s start there. But now we want to say something to each of you individually, because we don’t know if we have yet, and it needs to be said. Dani, thank you. For awakening a happiness in Will that’s certain to be the electricity that lights his life. Every man should be so fortunate to experience even a shock of it once in his lifetime, even if just for a moment. Will, we’re so proud of you. That might sound weird coming from a friend, but we are.
Because we were there when you talked about being a Godly husband before you even met Dani. And we were the only ones that got to be there to watch you propose to her. And we were there to hear you pray with her before you saw her for the first time on your wedding day. And we were there to watch you write your vows and then hear you read them and take everyone’s breath away. Including ours. We were there. So we’re proud of you, because you’ve become exactly who you wanted to be. Who she needed you to be. Who God made you to be.
It was one of the greatest pleasures and privileges of our life to be at your side last weekend for the big day, but that was just one day. We can’t even begin to tell you how excited we are for all the days to come.
If you liked Dani & Will’s wedding, you might also love Jena & Chris’s Montelucia Wedding.
the WEDDING TEAM…
Planner: Carol Turner
Photographers: Amy & Jordan
Bride’s Shoes: Jimmy Choo
Catering: The Naked BBQ
Ceremony Location: SoHo 63
Dessert: Cuisine with Chef Christine
DJ: Apollo Productions
Floral Design: Laura’s Custom Design
Getting Ready Location: San Marcos Resort
Hair Stylist: Emily Hughes
Makeup Artist: Arielle Rondeau
Paper Products: Bride DIY
Reception Location: SoHo 63
Videographer: Something New Media
the GEAR USED for this WEDDING…
Canon 5D Mark III
Canon 50 1.2
Canon 70-200 2.8
Canon 100 2.8
Canon 24-70 2.8
Canon Speedlite 600 EX-RT
Entire Gear List