Wedding at the Temple

All the pictures I have of the wedding & reception are taken with my own camera.  We should be getting the professional photos in 6-8 weeks & I'll be sure to post those when they come as well.  But for now, here's just a few snapshots from the day. 

(I tried really hard to NOT have my phone out much of the day because I wanted to experience the excitement & moment with my sweet Cadence firsthand.  So many times we get trapped behind those phones when taking photos.  It was a beautiful day with a beautiful bride!)

Getting ready for the wedding.

My favorite part of pictures all day was the "first look" with Amkaa seeing Cadence for the first time in her wedding dress.  The love these two have for each other is tangible & it was beautiful watching this happen first hand.

Their photographer was great & was taking SO MANY PICTURES the entire time.  She did photos with the wedding party, with the families, with cousins, they were all going to turn out beautiful.  I can't wait to see them.

So many wonderful friends from Mongolia were able to be there with Cadence & Amkaa.  They truly felt loved from both sides.

And we happened to bump into my Aunt & Uncle at the temple that morning.  (My dad's brother).  It was such a fun little happenstance.  They got to see Cadence & Amkaa come out of the temple as newly married husband & wife.

The ceremony inside the temple was beautiful as well.  My favorite part was watching them kneel across the alter & thanks to 2 mirrors behind each of them, they could see into eternity together as a married partnership.  It's beautiful.  In our religion we don't marry until death do us part, we marry our spouse for time & for all eternity & to me, it's the most beautiful promise we can make to each other.

My brother & I both cried throughout the ceremony because we felt the presence of both my mom & my dad there.  There were exactly 2 empty seats in the sealing room, but Justin & I knew they weren't "empty."  What an incredible blessing.  With how bad their health was there at the end, I truly believe this was the ONLY way they could have attending their granddaughter's wedding & I'm grateful they were there in spirit & could witness it from the other side of the veil.  I miss them so much.

After the wedding & pictures, we ran over to the church where the reception would be & enjoyed a wonderful family luncheon catered by Olive Garden.  It was SO NICE to just sit & not worry for 1 whole hour. . . then of course we got back to work to prepare for the reception.