Michelle & Matt

The family house filled up early. Michelle's bridesmaids sat together on a couch under a wall of framed family photos, all in the same dusty blue pajamas. Her grandmother, in a navy floral dress, laughed from an armchair while a woman in teal stood behind her. In a sunny doorway, a woman in teal did up the back of Michelle's gown. Elsewhere, Matt sat in a cream armchair and read a letter, his bow tie already on.

Then Michelle climbed up onto the back seat of her father's dark green convertible, bouquet in hand, veil lifting off her shoulders in the breeze. It rolled off down a quiet residential street toward the church. Inside, Matt waited at the altar and saw her for the first time as she came up the aisle. They sat side by side in front of the altar during the service, and she wiped away a tear partway through.

The Candlewood Inn sits on the lake, with a white railed deck that runs along the water. Tables inside were set in soft blue and silver with the lake right outside the windows. As the sun went down, the water turned silver and pink behind them, and her long veil caught the wind off the lake. Inside came the first dance, a toast from the head table, Matt's dance with a woman in burgundy, and a sparkler send-off to finish.