Call me biased, but this was the most beautiful wedding I have ever been to.

More than just a wedding, it was a week long love and laughter fest involving friends and family from all over the U.S.

To give this some perspective, this wedding was after 20 months of our first meeting each other and it was 13 months after moving in together on a boat.  It felt like a very natural progression. The kids were getting along as well as could be expected but there was a missing element.  It seemed that during the hardest of times it would be vocalized that they were NOT yet officially brothers and sisters  and that to try and tolerate one another might seem futile if this whole thing falls apart.  A wedding would be necessary to seal the bond.

Laura and I felt the same towards each other both before and after the wedding.  Best friends living out their dreams together.  But the kids needed more time, or at least, more shared bonding experiences.

And along comes the wedding!

We anchored our home in Outer Bay in Lopez Island’s southernmost peninsula. Agate Beach was awash with noise and splashes of fifty of our closest friends.  We rented out the three largest beachfront homes and celebrated with potlucks and campfires for days.

One of the most memorable dinners was the Fiesta hosted by Bill and Miguel Scherer.  The builders and forty year stewards of our great yacht Tuwamish.  We all loved pouring through the boat’s Baby Book.  The years of  blood, sweat and tears were well documented in fading photos. We will always try to honor the pride they felt in building such a marvel.  She is nautical treasure.

The next day was wedding day.  It was one of the best days of my life.  Most of these images from this day will seem familiar  if you have seen Seth’s blog post over at Rising Heart Photography.  He is my protege turned friend and I feel proud of his accomplishment in telling our story. Thanks Seth.

The rest of my proudness turns towards all the friend and family who pulled this event together. Except for the island’s best salmon cooker (Dennis) cooking the world’s best salmon (Copper River Sockeye), this wedding was 100% Do-It-Yourself.  (Pretty much scrapped together about in the last 48 hours or so.)

And since I am about eight months late on delivering this post, I guess I can comment on how the wedding effected the kid’s outlook….

It worked!

We are closer than ever and even accidentally throwing around words like Dad and Mom sometimes. These three kiddos have been so good for each other.  This family of 5 is here to stay.

Enjoy the story.