Leilani and Pete l Philadelphia Wedding Photographer

Leilani and Pete are the third veterans of the War in Iraq that I've photographed as a wedding photographer. As a newspaper photographer, I was often on the darker side of stories of soldiers. Whether it was about a then mysterious nervous system syndrome suffered by veterans of the war in 1991 or soldiers overcoming injuries at Ft. Bragg in North Carolina or an African immigrant serving the U.S. Army in hopes of gaining his citizenship and ultimately dying for a country he only hoped to be a citizen of. Now as a wedding photographer, I get to connect with veterans unaffiliated with their role as soldiers on a rather joyful occasion. Either way, it's always an honor to tell their story.

Theirs was my final wedding of 2008, two days after Christmas. It was a chilly night at Normandy Farm with lots of cross-cultural joking going on between Leilani's large and fun Philipino family and Pete's small Polish-Italian brood. I was also thrilled that Leilani donned that great hat and veil for the reception. It's one of those things that always make a woman look even more elegant and gorgeous.

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Their ceremony was full of all kinds of wonderful, and important, symbols in Philipino culture including a literal knot of rope draped over the couple by their mothers and the mutual exchange of coins.



Below is a stolen moment between the couple as their families gathered for one of the traditional family portraits. See folks, this is what you get with a veteran photojournalist, always looking for the unexpected moments that tell you something wonderful.