Maddie and John contacted me two weeks before their wedding. I called Maddie after receiving an email from her and as soon as we began talking, I knew I needed to photograph their wedding. She told me they currently lived in Los Angeles and were planning on having a very small ceremony with their closest friends and family at Noerenberg Memorial County Park, in Orono, MN. Maddie is from Australia and John has family in MN but their "international love" began at the LAX airport! It wasn't accidental though - they were there to fly out to Arkansas with the rest of their production crew. They were to spend 3 months in Arkansas shooting a reality TV series. After some time John proposed in South Africa while they were on a safari ride - it was his birthday and the rest is history.
Their wedding was short and it was sweet. Maddie's father couldn't make it due to issues with a passport, but her sister read a message he had written and was able to attend via Skype. His words were heart felt, beautiful and full of great advice that all married or those in a relationship should read:
"My wish to you both, when you make this commitment today is that your relationship will allow you to say with each passing year, I am content with my life. It is through simple acts of love such as shared routines and rituals, taking time to talk about life and the universe and remembering to play together, that you grow content day by day. Simply loving also means, you differ on some things but will want to find common ground and let go of anger. Above all when newness gets eclipsed my sameness try not to lose site of the other separate to you. Separate thoughts and feelings and dreams as important as your own. Delight in each others development, even if it takes you into unknown territory." - Maddie's dad
