I had a job. I had a boyfriend. I had an apartment. What I didn’t have was, a whole lot of friends.
It was just a couple months into my move from Florida to Milwaukee. After a long day’s work, I walked down the hallway of my apartment complex, phone in one hand, fruit and yogurt parfait in the other. “I think the power is out in my apartment building … I’ll call you back,” I said to Tommy as I fumbled for my keys.
I set down my cameras and lit a few candles. An early bedtime was calling my name.
Just then, I heard a laugh. An unmistakable, upbeat, power-outages-are-the-best-thing-ever, laugh.
I looked through the peephole of my door and saw a few of my neighbors gathering in the hallway. One them was Charisse — dressed in PJ’s, smiling wide, cracking jokes, and making conversation with people she’d never met. “Who is this girl, and why don’t I know her?” I thought to myself. “We simply must be friends.”
The next morning, I slipped a note under her door: “It was great meeting you … here’s my cell number, give me a call sometime if you want to grab lunch.”
And so it began — the start of a friendship. The beginning of endless lunches, numerous coffee runs, nightly laptop parties on our couches, loads upon loads of laundry, complaints to the apartment management about the rotten smell in our parking garage (turns out, we both had rotten fruit underneath our car seats … oops) … and …
… amidst it all, along came Nikki. They were high school classmates, but never dated. A decade later would provide an entirely new chapter to their story.
I remember their first date. Nikki took her on a motorcycle ride, but halfway through the ride, Charisse’s purse fell off the cycle. A passing motorist found it and brought it to the police station. The police, of course, assumed Charisse was dead. Thank God that wasn’t the case, which brings us to their wedding day. 🙂
If there’s a man in the world who is meant for this girl, it’s Nikki. These two can be tailgating one day and working on their PhD’s the next. They. Never. TIRE. They never stop laughing. Or smiling. Or loving.
Thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity to photograph your special day, my friends. I will never forget the happiness on your faces and the love in your hearts.
Beautiful, isn’t she?
Their ceremony was held at the gorgeous Grant Park …
The next photo was taken immediately after Charisse and Nikki exited their ceremony. Whenever possible, I love to follow the couple back while the recessional is occurring, in order to capture that first raw, candid, personal moment as husband and wife …
As Charisse and Nikki made a toast in their limo, they both yelled, “To the best friends in the world!” And you know what? They feel that way. They truly, honestly do …
Love and hugs, my dear. 🙂
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