Weekend Re-Cap

Happy Monday, ya’ll!!!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend and (if you are hanging around here in Virginia Beach or Obx) that you stayed dry and warm and lazy!!!

My weekend was the best kind of weekend… a wild weekend that went by so fast I barely had time to blink!  I’ve actually been waiting for this weekend for almost an entire year now!  I actually may have been waiting an entire year, I can’t remember!  It’s seems too far back to even try to remember.

Growing up I lived on a cul de sac and we were truly blessed with some of the most amazing neighbors.  I’m not really just saying that… we really had the best neighbors there ever were (and my parents still do!)  Christie and her older brother Matt (who was a year older than I was) and her younger sister Stephanie lived one house over, and the four of us were always playing together!  I actually can’t think of my childhood without thinking of Christie, Matt and Stephanie.  This time of year was especially fun because if we weren’t outside splashing in the cul de sac because it was flooded from the rain (and the Herman’s had all the best toys for that!) we were gearing up to go tour the entire neighborhood for Halloween trick or treating with our dad’s!

We were all walkers, which meant all four of us walked to and from school together every single day.  We would drop off our back packs and usually decide quickly where we were eating snacks and whether we were playing outside until dinner or in the Herman’s upstairs playroom!

This weekend… I had the incredible honor of shooting Christie’s wedding in Kitty Hawk.  She and Adam were surrounded by all of their family and their friends and they said ‘I do’ right in the middle of a pretty epic Nor’Easter!

*You can always tell those that have a true love and have hearts that are called by the ocean!  Beach lovers aren’t just made, they are born with a stirring that rests within the depths of their souls.  My bride was born at the beach and despite the wind and the epic rolling “angry” waves;  she took off barefoot in her beautiful wedding dress, without a second’s pause, to run and breathe in the salt and the mist.  I would love to say she ran down the beach, but we really had no beach!  The waves were crashing so high, but Christie was stunning as she navigated the small path of sand in her lace!  Adam is her perfect match because without taking his eyes off his new wife (AHHH just saying that makes me grin ear to ear) , he took off right after her!  He had this light in his eyes that just oozed love and mush and yep that’s my bride fearless, fun and oh so breathtaking!

I will never forget that moment.  I will never forget Christie’s smile as she was finally able to let go, relax and stand on her beach next to her new husband!

-Here are some other things/events I learned or that happened this weekend:

• If you take your shoes off to shoot on the beach, place them either on an available pier, in a bag with a friend to watch over, or if all else fails in extremely high ground (higher than you think is completely necessary!) I lost my shoes to the waves on Saturday during our epic romantic portrait session!  If you follow on instagram (@kbrooketucker, I posted a pic!) I thought I placed them high enough in the dune grass but sadly, the ocean had another idea!  As the bridal party and I  walked back towards the pier, we all had a good laugh as we saw my black flip flops rolling through the waves being tossed here and there!  We did rescue one!  I ended up walking barefoot the rest of the night and that was actually amazing.  Maybe I will “lose my shoes” every wedding!
• Fried Green Bean Chips~  Ok I know this is NOT what they are called.  It’s not even a great description.  Let me just tell you the story!  Vicki and I (my incredible second shooter and friend) stopped off and Morris Farmer’s Market on the way home from the wedding yesterday.  If you haven’t been, it’s super cute and it quickly became my favorite little farmer’s market down there.  Vicki and took the time to sample every possible item we could and enjoy our little stroll through the goodies.  We came to the nuts and the dried fruits and chips section and I noticed… dehydrated/fried green beans.  They were bright and vibrant.. I love that.  They looked salty and crunchy, another bonus.  So I tried one, skeptically.  OMG HOLD THE PHONE PEOPLE!  They are amazing.  I ate an entire bag on the way home.
• It’s EXACTLY 3 WEEKS until we leave for Florida to see some of my favorite people and also trick or trick with Mickey!  YEP!  I can hardly contain myself!  I don’t even want to talk about yet because it’s too far away (yet ohh so close!)

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!  In the meantime… just look Christie and see how stunning she is!  I can’t wait to blog this wedding!  She and Adam are seriously the perfect match and soul mates in every way!  I thought I would cry more AT the wedding and I was a little weirded out that I didn’t.  I realize now that I saved all my tears because NOW (I guess in the comfort of my own home) as I cull and work my way through editing… I’m sobbing friends!  It’s embarrassing actually… I’m really glad I wasn’t like this Saturday!  But seriously… look at my childhood friend…