Friends Since Birth

My dear friend Isabel got married about a month ago in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I was so disappointed that I couldn't be there - we were born only a day apart, and we've known each other our whole lives. (I spent the whole weekend taking a prep class in Charlotte for the NCIDQ - not nearly as fun!) Here we are about three years ago, playing with the wedding ring favors at her sister's wedding.


And here are a few pictures from her wedding day by Ashley Merritt Photography:


Beautiful!


The church has striking architecture!


Such a cute couple! And isn't her ankle-length wedding dress gorgeous?! I finally got to meet her husband Wyatt this weekend at their reception in Shelby at the Owl's Eye Vineyard.




Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Bradford! It was so good to see you both!

And We're Back

After a blog hibernation this winter, I'm back on the bandwagon (thanks to a little encouragement from Lisa this weekend). We have been busy over the last few months with weddings, birthdays, Christmas, a cruise, work, classes, church, community group, and more! I'll try to go back and blog about some of it over the coming weeks.

To start things off, we were in Greensboro yesterday celebrating with Ryan and Lyndsay Semchenko! Their wedding was absolutely beautiful and such a testimony to the work that God is doing in their lives!


The reception was held at the LEED certified Proximity Hotel, which I loved!


Asian details reflect their mission work and where they started dating. The Chinese writing on their delicious cake says "Love." They will return to Asia later this year, but we're excited that they'll be in Cary as they raise support before they leave.


And here's Daniel, who told me that he is keenly aware when someone is trying to take a candid picture of him - and he makes a face like this. I took it as a challenge. I got a few candid shots when he wasn't looking, but I had to be so quick that they turned out blurry.


I also headed to Shelby for Isabel's wedding reception - I'll post some pictures from that soon. And now that we're back - is there anything you'd like to see me blog about?

Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Lagstrom!

Yes, it has been awhile since I last blogged - what can I say, we've been busy! This past weekend was filled with fun celebrations for Allison and Scott's big day!


Their fiesta-themed rehearsal after party featured a mariachi band and mustaches for everyone!


Their elegant wedding was held at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary! Taylor shared a wonderful message relating Christ's love for the church to the love of a groom and his bride.


Beautiful details from the wedding - a bridesmaid's bouquet, the most delicious cake, and tall centerpieces!

As they left, bubbles filled the air! Seriously - there were tons of them! Congrats Lagstroms!

Also on Saturday, the 13th

My friend Sean (who I've known since middle school) got married about a month ago to his lovely bride Jamie! They met the same summer that Kyle and I did - and in a similar way - through a Summer Beach Project with Campus Outreach. I remember talking to Sean that summer, telling him about getting to know Kyle and hearing about the beginning of his relationship with Jamie. I hated that we were unable to go to their wedding since it was a destination wedding in the Bahamas, but we saw the newly-weds last weekend at their reception in Shelby. They used the same wedding photographer that we did - I can't wait to see more shots from their big day!


Haha... I like this picture because it is such a Sean face, and Jamie looks beautiful! What a gorgeous setting!

Kyle and I with Mr. and Mrs. Collins at their tropical-themed reception. Kyle had fun with the decor. Congratulations Sean & Jamie!!

Saturday, the 13th

This past Saturday, our good friends Ashleigh and Justin tied the knot after dating for five years. We traveled to the other side of the state for their big day, and it was such a fun wedding! So fun that I didn't take very many pictures, so some of these I stole from Facebook.

Wedding colors - marigold and navy.

To the left is Rachel, myself, and Sara. We were all in Community Group together, along with Ashleigh. This was actually Rachel's last day in North Carolina - she went straight from the wedding, with her car packed, to Orlando. We'll miss you!

Ashleigh's beautiful bridal portraits by Blend Photography.

Dancing! I loved the bridesmaid dresses (from J. Crew), modeled by Holly. At one point, the groomsmen surrounded Ashleigh on the dance floor - she had fun with it!

One fun fact: Ashleigh's maiden name is Bishop, as is mine! And her sister's name is Lauren. It was the first time I'd ever met another Lauren Bishop!

Ashleigh and Justin: Congratulations! What a beautiful day to get married! As Taylor said, 50% of marriages end in divorce today, but not this one! And not because of anything that you do, but because of what God has done for you. We love you both!

Our most recent and most hilarious wedding gift

Poor potato. This unfortunate character was illustrated by Don and embroidered by Stacie, two of Kyle's coworkers. I bet your dish towel isn't nearly as interesting as mine.

I love weddings

As I headed to Shelby the weekend before last to attend a wedding, I looked forward to a beautiful wedding that at the very least, would produce a couple with the same name. Yes, Morgan & Morgan Young. I always like weddings - such a happy time, but this wedding was a really neat experience as well. Everything was beautiful! I wanted to share some shots from the wedding.



Morganna (as my mom always calls her) and I lived in the same neighborhood for most of our childhood. In high school, Morgan, being two years ahead of me, had her license. She invited me to go shopping with her one weekend. I was pretty excited - it wasn't often at that point in my life that I got to leave the house without my parents.















If you'd like to see more amazing pictures from their wedding, click here. (Photo of the couple by Smitten Photography.) Congratulations Morgans!

The day I became a McKay...

To recap a bit, Kyle and I were married on August 2nd, 2008 in my hometown. After dating for three years, I was excited to live in the same city and spend every day together. I married the love of my life, and it was such a beautiful day! Here are some clips of our wedding day that our videographer uploaded to YouTube:

[I have to say it looks pretty funny to watch us dancing when you can't hear the music we were dancing to.]