Vijay and Anitha renewed their vows in a beautiful ceremony on March 17th at BSU Christ Chapel, with a reception at the Boise Train Depot.
“WE DO” Again
Weddings are always a special event, but there is something extra special about a vow renewal. Saying yes again after years of journeying together, after going through peaks and valleys, after knowing each other’s quirks (even the ones that annoy you at times)—and still choosing each other over and over and over again? That’s worth celebrating.
For Vijay and Anitha in particular, who have known each other for 20 years and have been married for much of that time, this was also a chance to celebrate their marriage with their friends and family here in the States and especially the friends they made attending BSU, since they originally had their wedding ceremony in India.
They also wanted all the traditional America elements, including the white princess dress, the clean-cut suit, the four-tier cake, the catered buffet dinner, the DJ, the toasts, the whole nine yards! It was a great blend of American culture with an Indian flare for boisterously celebrating life!
Carefree Spirits
One of the things that struck me the most and made me smile the biggest was that their crew of people were free spirits to the core. Vijay and Anitha and their friends are truly fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants, enjoy-life-no-matter-what, dance-until-you-drop kind of people. They authentically wanted their day to be about declaring their love and enjoying every last drop of the day with those closest to them.
These two weren’t concerned with the timeline—it was more of a “kinda sorta” timeline, and “if it works in this time frame, awesome, but if not, who cares as long as we’re together” kind of timeline. Their giggly, sweetly loving, joyous energy bounding from one moment to the next was so infectious. I wish we could all live a little more like that.
Most weddings are not this carefree, so I appreciated it! I love to flow in the moment with people, because that’s when I think a lot of magic can happen. Don’t get me wrong; I deeply appreciate a timeline, which is why I create one with each of my clients. But it’s nice to have a carefree attitude attached to it.
Hospitality Masters
It also gave me the warm fuzzies to see how welcoming and gracious they all were. I met them at a home in Boise for getting ready photos and quickly found that even though it was a smaller home, it was bursting with people who invited me in as if I’d been staying there the whole time!
I really did feel like I had instantly become part of the family. After almost every photo, they would say “thank you!!” as if I wasn’t hired but was just a friend taking pictures. And since I take a lot of pictures, you can imagine how many times I heard those words throughout the day. ;) And they even wanted the driver of their limo and me in on their big group shot! There was no separation of “workers” and “attendees.” It was heart-warming!
Vendors
Catering - A lively chef catering
Bar Catering - Traveling Bar
Florist - Boise Albertsons