I once read that one of the things that ends up defining us the most as individuals is – ironically enough – the people we choose to surround ourselves with on a day-to-day basis.  They influence us…the change us…they become integral parts of who we become.

I admit that I haven’t always made the best decisions in that regard.  Part of that was not really knowing the other person well enough…and part of that was not really knowing myself well enough.  Either way…it didn’t generally end well.

The last decade for me has been a lesson in selectivity.  A lesson in recognizing what’s good for myself and the people around me.  Learning to tell the difference between those who intend to lift us up and those who intend to tear us down.  Learning that – ultimately – being happy is a choice that only we can make.

Since becoming a photographer, I have spent a lot of time at a lot of weddings.  Which means that I’ve also spent a lot of time merging myself into groups of people that have spent a lifetime together; through childhoods…through dorm rooms…through the trials of finding their way in this world.  And each of those groups have played a part in making the couple that stood before them on that very day.

I can say – with utmost certainty – that the group of people I encountered on Lindsay and Aaron’s wedding day were some of the most wonderful people that I’ve ever met.  From the moment that I first arrived, they welcomed me…they helped me…they included me.  Everyone from the wedding party to the MCs to random guests here and there, they all just made me feel as though I was one of them.

For the record – this didn’t surprise me in the least because from the moment I met Lindsay and Aaron, they made me feel the exact same way…as though we had always just known each other all along!  But their wedding gave me the chance to see all the wonderful friends and family that contributed to these two lives coming together.  The choices that they made as individuals and as a couple.  The choices they made to be happy.

And that’s the thing about amazing people; they end up creating amazing couples…who end up creating amazing love stories…that inevitably get filled with even more amazing people.

So, without further ado, I bring you Lindsay, Aaron…and just a few of their amazing people…