Ashley and Ashley first called me in April, reeling from the devastating impact of Covid-19 on their carefully arranged wedding plans. Their photographer was no longer able to be a part of their wedding, and my heart went out to them. For so many of us the plans we had made were thrown into chaos and we were left to figure life out one day at a time.

When August came around and it was time for Ashley and Ashley’s wedding, there was still so much uncertainty. We met these two brides at the beautiful Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest where they were getting ready with their wedding parties. Both Ashleys looked gorgeous as they got ready to see one another, a first look moment that we will always remember. After exploring the course a bit for wedding party photos, we came back towards the building to take pictures with their families. That’s when the rain started, and it rained HARD. We rushed for cover and hoped against hope that the rain would let up in time for their wedding ceremony. We waited and worried as it rained, and missed out on the opportunity to do a lot of the photos we had planned for that day.

Thankfully, the rain let up with just enough time for us to help the staff put the chairs and decorations back out for the ceremony. Their ceremony was beautiful and emotional, a celebration of their love story witnessed by their closest family and friends. The rain threw a wrench in our plans for photos that day. But after the rain came a rainbow. A beautiful rainbow streaked across the sky just before the ceremony began, a promise of hope and joy rooted in love. In that moment it felt like everything will be OK if we can just hang on to one another.