This wedding is going to hold one of the most important places in my heart for the biggest reason I got to photograph one of my dearest, closest, oldest friends…my gorgeous sister-in-law Beth. We have been friends since the time we both performed in our church’s play about Samson. She was Delilah and I was Manoah’s wife…haha! We even made life plans to marry marry brothers and move to Africa together to start our own radio program…it doesn’t make sense but it was a great idea at the age of 14/15. We did keep the sister-in-law piece in our life plan when I married her brother! But now it was her turn.

I don’t even know where to start with these two incredible human beings. All we knew is it was going to take one heck of a special person to marry Beth because she had risen the bar so high for being human in general. I still joke she wakes up every morning with perfectly quaffed hair. But he’s been doing pretty good himself. They both have incredible thoughtful and generous hearts. They care about so many but also are an absolute blast to be around. The whole family has been so excited to welcome him into the family. It was also a beautiful time to get to know his East Coast family as they were here during the week of wedding preparation.

While both Beth and Tom currently live in Baltimore, MD they chose to return to the place where their love started in the Mississippi Delta. Tom and Beth met through channels of Teach for America, the organizations that helps bring qualified teachers to underserved and under resourced communities. It was that glass of bourbon Beth ordered that clinched the deal for Tom. He knew she must’ve been some kind of woman to order that drink.

For me it was a day full of immense and joy and all the feels. Especially in relation to my mom’s memory. My mom absolutely adored Beth, ever since she was young. My mom loved all my friends but she paid special attention to the Lewis kids and prayed continually for them for years. Not only them, but their future spouses. In this sense, I knew my mom was part of the day which was a comfort to me and I know meaningful to Beth. I decided she should have a piece of my mom to wear and she chose a simple white and gold bracelet that belonged to my mom. I got emotional giving it to her but am so thankful I could offer a small gesture in remembrance of my sweet mother who loved and prayed over my sister for so much of her life.

Beth and Tom also put in so much thought into the decorations of the day as well. They were able to decorate the Cutrer Mansion’s Gym with strung lights from the ceiling, beautiful mauve and cream florals and accents of gold and brass. Every table referenced Mississippi Delta towns they had connections with. They even strung up special thank you notes for each of their guests. Delta Meat Market catered a beautiful and delicious spread of food. Everything was so thoughtfully and beautifully done.

The Mississippi Delta is truly magical and I feel only magical things happened this night when Beth and Tom married. It was on the cusp of this global Pandemic. It presented almost a way to savor the sweetness of family and loved ones one last time before unknown circumstances would halt our lives as we knew it. Thankful for this couple and the uniting of these two beautiful families and that I had a small part in capturing all their magic.