“hot” doesn’t begin to describe the weather in eatonton, ga, the day of amanda and drew’s wedding. thankfully, the lodge on lake oconee provided a few ways to beat the heat — at least for traditional wedding guests. you can imagine me and eileen (8 months pregnant), our dry mouths gaping as we photographed the few attendees lucky enough to be splashing in the pool or diving from the hotel dock into the cool lake. but, as is usually the case in georgia, the oppressive humidity increased the heat more than the thermometer let on. consequently, a forecast of thunderstorms threatened the big day. that kind of forecast will unnerve most brides on their wedding days. amanda, though — with support from a very positive posse of bridesmaids — stayed cool as a cucumber. that attitude deserves props; after all, the best way to experience a wedding day (or life for that matter!) is just to let yourself be caught up in every moment, not worrying needlessly about the future. one of those moments on this day was amanda’s quiet reading of the letter drew wrote for her before their marriage ceremony.

i still don’t know what was written there. but as amanda sat and read drew’s words to her, the busy hotel room grew suddenly quiet and still. as if everyone was reminded, this is what today is about. this union. hair, makeup, and other trivial details can wait. this takes precedence.

eileen and i were very pleased finally to meet another important wedding guest — amanda and drew’s dog, who acted as their ring bearer (with a little help of course). the decision was made early on that he should not transport the actual wedding rings, as the slightest stimulation (the appearance of a duck, perhaps) would certainly result in the ring bearer exiting the ceremony stage-left and diving headlong into the water.

as it turned out, all went perfectly to plan. no thunderstorm. no doggy-paddling ring bearer. just a deeply touching ceremony befitting of this amazing couple — made even sweeter by the fact we could see the heartfelt love of these families written all over their faces.

of course, every fairy tale must have conflict. although the weather held off out of respect for amanda and drew’s ceremony, it could not be held at bay forever. as soon as the cake had been cut, it came. and it came with fury!

however, it wasn’t about to rain on this parade. i mean… it did rain, but not on the parade… err, that is, on the spirit of the parade… but it wasn’t a parade really… that is to say, it was a wed…

oh, never mind. my point is, a brief thunderstorm is not about to put a damper on things when you have friends like these! after the initial shock of beating wind and torrential rain passed, everyone just got used to the rumbling thunder. hey, it adds bass to the music, right?

even drew’s grandparents helped lighten the mood by bustin’ some moves on the dance floor!

as you probably guessed (if you’ve read many fairy tales), the storm let up just in time for the grand exit. and they lived happily ever after…

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