Semper Fi

Is there a better way to kick off a new year than by getting married? Is there an easier way to remember your anniversary than by getting married on New Year's day?  The answer to both of those questions my friends is an emphatic "No"! (Well I guess if you get married on your birthday it's pretty easy to remember as well but then you might miss out on some birthday gifts...)

Paul's a Marine (hence the title of this blog post) and Christina's a small business owner (UN-shameless plug - if you ever need some cooking advice or cooking tools/gadgets, Christina's your gal!) from FBT that are madly in love with each other. They were constantly chatting and laughing during both our engagement and wedding shots (some of the laughing perhaps buoyed by Paul's whispering sweet nothings into Christina's ear. I'm not at liberty to divulge what was said but perhaps Paul or Christina will tell you if you ask nicely.  Don't worry, it's nothing you couldn't find in the Bible.)

I never posted Christina and Paul's engagement session because I thought it would be cool to show the different uniforms Paul would be wearing. We did their engagement session at the Lincoln Memorial and had some really cool shots with the Washington Memorial as well.  We even had a chance to have fun with the Navy guys doing some PT early in the morning.  The Navy guys sure couldn't resist giving Paul a hard time for being a Marine.  However, Paul was confident in his Marinehood and just kept a gentlemanly smile despite the ribbing.

The wedding was a lot of fun too which is to be expected with Paul's Marine buddies both being part of the wedding party and a couple extra guys there for the sword ceremony as well.  Tears of joy and sadness were shed that day as Paul and Christina chose to honor Christina's brother James D. Boelk, who gave his life to our country. James was one of the honorary groomsman during the ceremony and a Fallen Comrades table was set aside as well during the reception. The joy of the families being united did help lift everyone spirits and the beautiful wedding ended with some fun shots outdoors where the weather was unseasonably warm for January.  There was a little bit of a challenge trying to avoid stepping on goose poop as we walked to the field but Marines didn't have too much trouble with it.  The girls with the open toed shoes on the other hand...I'll just leave it at that.  At the end of the reception, Paul and Christina were sent off with a sword ceremony.  As they got to the end of the row of Marines, Christina's brother in law sent them off with a nice little going away present which involved a complex maneuver with his sword. I made sure to capture the beauty of his swordsmanship in the last photo.  Please feel free to congratulate Christina and Paul by leaving a comment!