Sometimes, as wedding coordinators, photographers, and ministers, we get to hear incredible stories of how our couples met.   And, sometimes, these stories stay with us for a long time.

Recently, we married a couple that had been neighbors since the third grade, but didn’t know each other.   They officially met each other in eighth grade.   Their lives went in different directions; they married other spouses, had children, and divorced. Then, one day while each was working at Kaiser Permanente, they ran into each other, reconnected, and got married.

For another couple, the groom had known the bride since they both were in kindergarten.   He would gaze at this beautiful little girl, but could never gather up the courage to talk to her.   He felt she was too pretty to look at someone like him.   This feeling of admiration from afar continued until finally he approached her in junior high.   They started talking and he found her so easy to strike up a conversation with.   They continued as friends, but still he could not gather the courage to ask her out.   They drifted apart, each marrying someone else.   He had two boys and she had two girls.   Then life dealt each a blow and they each divorced.   But, one day on Facebook they reconnected.   We were privileged to be a part of their beach wedding, and were touched by their love story.

Another couple had such a touching story.   The groom’s first wife suffered an untimely death 20 years before.   The bride divorced from a 27 year marriage 15 years ago.   These two met 12 years ago, but neither was ready for a serious relationship at that time.   The years passed.   Two years ago they reconnected.   As the bride told us:   “We now look back and regret those lost years of not being together.”   They waited a long time to find the next chapter of their life.   We were so happy that they finally could spend their days together as husband and wife.

Several weeks ago we married a couple whose lives continued to cross paths.   For their story about love, h e first spotted her at the gym where they both worked out.   Then, he spotted her at a photo shoot and he snuck passed the barriers that said “no admittance”.   That didn’t stop him from sneaking onto the area where she was being photographed and he even took a few shots of his own.   Then, their paths crossed again when he was viewing a perspective house to live in and he spotted a picture of a beautiful lady who looked familiar.   On closer inspection, he discovered her to be the girl from the gym he had admired many years before.   Finally they met, and he told her he even had a picture of her from her photo shoot, and he retrieved it and showed it to her.   At the time, she was divorced and raising her daughter as a single mom.   That was her focus, and she was not interested in a relationship.   Fast forward….Her daughter is now grown.   They reconnected and this time, and the guy got his girl.   They made the cutest couple, and he could not stop smiling during the ceremony and photos after.

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