February 23, 2017 /
Children's Mercy Park Winter Wedding
Friends, we have such a special wedding to share with you today. And please, bear with us. There are just so many emotions and feelings all tied up in Alyssa and Justin’s wedding day. We had the pleasure of meeting Alyssa last summer at the KC Weddings Bridal Spectacular bridal show in Overland Park. Everyone on our team immediately hit it off with her, and got so excited when she asked us to be her wedding photographer. Flash forward a few weeks, and we got to meet her fiancé, Justin. Justin is just as amazing as Alyssa. They’re both two of the kindest, warm hearted, selfless human beings we’ve ever met, and we always love spending time with them.
It’s a big understatement to say that these two have been through a lot together. Multiple members of their family have been very sick or diagnosed with cancer, all at the same time. Through it all, they’ve had each other’s backs. The day that Justin proposed to Alyssa they couldn’t have been happier. Finally! A very happy thing that both families would get to celebrate and look forward to! And so their wedding planning started.
The day we met Alyssa and Justin to do their engagement session they had received a bombshell. Justin’s dad had been diagnosed with cancer, and wasn’t expected to live very long. Earlier in the week, they found out that Alyssa’s sister also had cancer. We felt horrible, and of course asked them to reschedule their engagement session. Their response? They wanted to go through with it to take their minds off of things. A few weeks later, we got an email from Alyssa that they were going to be changing their wedding date from October of 2017 to January of 2017, so that Justin’s dad would be able to be at their ceremony.
Fall flew by, and January came along quickly enough. Alyssa and Justin’s wedding day couldn’t have been colder, but everyone at Children’s Mercy Park was in high spirits and so excited to celebrate this sweet couple. We were so happy that all of their family was able to make it in for their ceremony! It’s pretty safe to say that there wasn’t a dry eye all day long, even from our team, as Justin and Alyssa said their vows. Justin’s dad proudly watched his son from the audience, while Alyssa’s sister stood beside her as they said their vows. Afterwards, everyone celebrated with an amazing meal from the chefs at Children’s Mercy Park. Much later that evening, we met Alyssa and Justin at The Plaza for a few fun, winter wedding portraits.
A few weeks later, Justin’s dad passed away. Alyssa’s sister is still going strong, however, and for that we are SO grateful. It’s never, ever lost on us just how important and impactful the images that we create are. On Alyssa and Justin’s wedding day, we were so glad that Justin’s dad was feeling well enough to make it to his wedding ceremony. And in all of his pictures, Ray has the biggest smile on his face. Life and family are so, so precious. Never take them for granted. Despite the fact that a lot of our couples don’t necessarily look forward to the “posed family photos,” they wind up being the ones that pop up over, and over again, because everyone is happy and healthy, and all together.
Children’s Mercy Park Winter Wedding
We are SO excited to celebrate Alyssa and Justin again later this fall at their reception, also at Children’s Mercy Park. We are even more thankful for the time that we’ve gotten to spend with these two, and that they’ve let us in so close to their family and hearts. Justin’s dad will be very, very missed, but we are so grateful that he was able to witness Justin and Alyssa saying their vows.
Congratulations, Alyssa and Justin, we are so happy for you, and can’t wait to celebrate again!
To see more from Alyssa and Justin’s Wedding Day, click here.
You can also check out their engagement session here.
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