“I will love you as a drawer loves a secret compartment, and as a secret compartment loves a secret, and as a secret loves to make a person gasp, and as a gasping person loves a glass of brandy to calm their nerves, and as a glass of brandy loves to shatter on the floor, and as the noise of glass shattering loves to make someone else gasp, and as someone else gasping loves a nearby desk to lean against, even if leaning against it presses a lever that loves to open a drawer and reveal a secret compartment. I will love you until all such compartments are discovered and opened, and until all the secrets have gone gasping into the world.” -Lemony Snicket

The dock swayed and bobbed gently as they walked down it towards the boat. Suitcases and backpacks, babies, sunhats, swimsuits, and anything else you’d need for a weekend away at camp. Emily & Brad’s guests were in for a weekend of fun. A weekend of watching the Princess Bride on Friday night, witnessing a marriage on Saturday afternoon, and enjoying a great brunch on Sunday morning before walking back down another dock and back to normal life. Camp for a weekend.

The morning came, sunlight touching the tops of the trees and running down to the floor of the forest. She headed down to the water with one of her best friends for an early morning “pore-cleansing” swim in the awakening waters of the Pacific Ocean. After breakfast, he headed down to the dock to welcome more guests and get the marriage license that was left in their apartment in all the hustle (things never go perfectly on a wedding day, you know). They met in a little while, in the middle of the forest, ready to get married.

I can say so much about Emily & Brad’s incredible wedding by the sea. About personal vows, her brother officiating the wedding, a scotch hour before the reception, hand drawn birds of prey as table numbers, lawn games, picnic baskets at the ceremony, and the stars, oh the stars. But at the heart of their wedding was a big love. Emily and Brad are the kind of people you want to be your best friends. They are interesting, they are kind and caring, they are thoughtful, they are genuine, and they are up for anything. If we could photograph people like Emily & Brad every weekend, arriving to their weddings via a trip across the waves, hey, I wouldn’t mind that so much. It was the kind of wedding that inspires and energizes. The kind of wedding that reminds you of the why: of the big love.

See Emily & Brad’s slideshow here.