Real Couples // We Knew After A Month: Amanda + Lauren
/"The two of us will have been together for six years on November 12 (and it took us all of four weeks to figure out this was going to be a forever thing), so we've had ample time to talk about and imagine what our life together would be, and occasionally that included our wedding. For example, before we were ever engaged, we knew we didn't want our wedding to feel incredibly formal (big ballroom weddings are great, but didn't quite seem to fit the two of us), we knew we wanted to have our ceremony outside if at all possible, we knew that Amanda wanted to wear her mom's wedding dress, and (no lie) we knew who we wanted our wedding photographer to be—all the important things, clearly.
Our ceremony was, and is, the most meaningful aspect of our wedding for the both of us. Lauren wrote the whole thing. (Amanda: I would love to take even partial credit for it, but I can't. I contributed maybe ten words total. The rest of the time she just read me what she wrote while I cried. Good tears, obviously.) We loved that our vows were written to reflect our lives together—our joys, our struggles, our shared experiences—but it was also important that we each repeated those same vows to one another. Every part of our ceremony reflected a piece of us and our history, including the fact that one of our best friends (and one of the first people to ever know we were a couple) officiated. We feel so incredibly lucky to have shared that moment with our closest friends and family, and we had the best time celebrating with everyone the rest of the evening.”
Photos by Amanda Summerlin
Hello, my name is Amanda Summerlin, and I’m an artist and explorer. At least, that’s what my business cards say. I’ve been an artist since I first held one of those nice chunky Crayola crayons. I’ve never wanted to be anything else. I drew my first portrait when I was four. Even though it was on the wall, it still counts. All through grade school, I drew on anything that would hold still (including myself and some of my friends and most of my textbooks too). Then I went to art school, where I earned a BFA in painting, and while I was there, took my first few photography classes and was hooked for life. Although I still draw and paint, and I will always love painting, for the past few years photography has completely stolen my heart.
