The Art of the Small Wedding

I met Sara and Shane early last summer to talk about their small wedding at Willows Lodge in Woodinville.  They had made reservations at Willows for the special package called “I do for two.”  Willows Lodge is such a lovely place to have a wedding — small or large — and I was excited to be invited to be their officiant.

I have had the pleasure of officiating all sizes of weddings — from 2 to 400 guests, on hiking trails in boots and all dressed up with wedding parties of 22!  I am mostly always prepared for surprises and ready to hit the ground running in any situation.  I have to say that Sara and Shane’s wedding totally took me by surprise because it was small in numbers but absolutely gigantic in emotion.

Both Sara and Shane had their parents fly in from different parts of the country and they would be their only guests.  Sara looked gorgeous in her gown, hair and jewels, and the men wore tuxedos with bow ties.  What was so outstanding was that although there were only six of us at the ceremony, it felt like the space was filled with the love of a 1000 hearts.  Who says you can’t have a royal wedding with only six people?  After Sara and Shane’s wedding, I know I never will.  Special thanks to Renata Steiner at Nataworry Photography for capturing the emotion, especially the love, so brilliantly in the photographs below.