Katie and Malachi

As a relative newcomer to Missouri, I've always thought of Branson as the show-town of the midwest -- kind of like an alternative Las Vegas without the gambling.

Branson is a show town, yes. But it has much more of a down-home feeling than the perceived glitz of Nevada. Instead of the large well-known hotels, the flashing lights, the big gaudily-decorated main streets, there are rolling hills, lots of small theaters and attractions, theme parks with at least one tall roller coaster peeking through the treed hilltops (that my wife wanted to try from the first time she spied it), a large lake with steamboat rides, and lots of midwestern hospitality.

When Katie and Malachi confirmed that I'd be photographing their Branson wedding, just a few weeks beforehand, I was quite excited -- it would be only my second trip there. What I'd not counted on was that, unlike Las Vegas, Branson pretty much closes down over the holidays, I guess because the Missouri winter weather diverts people to other places with sunnier climes.

So my plans of going to see the Beatles (band-impersonators) didn't happen because the theatre was closing for the winter season. Even the small cafe where I had breakfast was running out of supplies, such as sugar and milk for my tea, because they were about to close down for the season. (Yes, I understand that not too many people in this neck of the woods drink their tea with sugar and milk -- it's just a legacy of my old-world origins...) So all this points to a return trip in the first few months of 2009!

But the main event of the trip was quite a treat. Katie and Malachi had a wonderful wedding at a small chapel owned by Kanakuk Kamps, a very supportive community of business people and fellow camp workers. The chapel is a rustic, one-story wood building nestled in the backwoods of the city and, even with leafless winter trees, is quite photogenic.

Malachi's mom used to be a wedding photographer back in the days of film and helped out with some of the shots, holding reflectors for me. I only had to ask for help and she already understood what I needed and how to hold the reflector. I had definitely gone to photographer's heaven!

After taking some preparation pictures of the bride and bridesmaids, the grooms party arrived: walking down the pathway to the chapel. I saw someone that looked like Malachi and started talking to him about the photo arrangements. He said "Uh... I think you want my brother." Because we'd booked only a short time before the wedding, I'd missed that the best man was the groom's twin brother! Talk about deja vu all over again... Fortunately for me, they wore different colored ties till I learned to tell them apart.

If you can tell at a wedding that a marriage will be successful, then I'd say this is the one. The couple were a treat to photograph because they were so obviously devoted to each other. Before the ceremony, Malachi arrived at the bridal preparation room and spoke lovingly and reassuringly to his bride from the other side of the door, so he wouldn't see her dress till it was time. All through the ceremony, they both beamed with the kind of joy that warmed everyone's heart. They were full of life and even suggested some of their own staged fun shots after the ceremony.

I'll keep this reasonably short as they've been waiting patiently to see the first wedding images on here and on the Love and Life Photography Facebook page. Congratulations to you both and thanks for allowing me to be part of it all. I hope you had a FUN time in Florida while we were up here in the cold and snow... :)