Sommaripa Wedding – Morongo Valley

This was such a special day in so many ways!  It was so amazing that in the middle of a pandemic, family and friends pulled together to make this such a special day for Amory and Jessica.  It would have been so easy for everyone to be discouraged because of the restrictions placed on weddings at this time, but there was nothing but joy and laughter all day long.  There were so many gestures of love and faith in every part of the day. Beginning the day with the bridesmaids was so wonderful!  To walk into the room and be greeted with smiles and warmth is always a blessing!  They were such funloving women and I really appreciated how they were so daring to take their pictures in the middle of a cactus garden!  However, we did have one casualty as the brides’ sister walked into a cholla cactus! She was such a tough woman and barely made notice of it!  That shows just how devoted these sisters are to each other.  This day was all about making Jessica feel loved and encouraged.  They did a spectacular job!

The venue itself was owned by a family that the groom has been close to for many, many years and the service was performed by another life-long friend.  It was so encouraging and touching to hear the stories of their years together and the love their families share for one another.  It was nearly impossible not to cry throughout the ceremony as the officiant shared his heart.  However, that was nothing compared to watching the groom watch his beautiful bride come down the aisle with her parents.  He melted!  How can you blame him, she was beautiful!  Their vows also brought tears to Amory and Jessica as they pledged to love each other forever and in funny, special ways that everyone who knows them appreciated and laughed about.

I just love spending time with this group of young adults.  Some of them I know and some I just met on this day.  They are truly a joy to be around, especially at weddings!  Groomsmen tend to be a little on the rowdy, silly side and I just love that about them. This group of guys were characters!  Getting men to take pictures is a little like herding cats, but with lots of laughter!  They took wonderful care of their buddy though and it was wonderful to see how much they all respected one another and how happy they were for the bride and groom.  This seemed to all culminate at the end of the night in both the toasts and the dancing.  Two sisters and two best friends all shared about Amory and Jessica and the tears began again.  At least they did for me!  I just found them so touching as they spoke about the years that they had spent together.  Both siblings are younger and it was so apparent how much they appreciated their older brother and older sister and how grateful they were to have been protected and cared for throughout the years.  Justin, the best man had such a touching tribute to his best friend which was, of course, sprinkled with his amazing sense of humor!  And then there was dancing!  This got a little crazy at times but the best part of it all was when both Amory and Jessica were housted into the air on top of their dancing friends!  This is not an easy feat since Amory is 6’5″!!

Of course, the best part of the day was being able to participate in a small part of this amazing love story between Jessica and Amory.  They had waited so long for this day and it was such an honor to be a part of this event and to capture their love for each other in images.  The way that Amory looked at Jessica all day long was priceless.  Jessica was beaming from the second she started to walk down the aisle and caught his eye.  It was so apparent in every little way how much they love each other and how excited they are to spend their lives together.  Nowhere was that more apparent than when they left the reception, got through the sparklers, and then Amory whisked Jessica up in his arms and ran to his truck!  Then they sped away as fast as they could to start their honeymoon!