Colin & Holly!

I had the honor of being the photographer for Colin and Holly's wedding on December 16, 2006.  They were married at St. Thomas Episcopal in Medina and had their reception at the Edgewater Hotel in Seattle.  Photographs by Cory Parris.  Here is their story as told by Holly.

 

I believe Colin’s first words to me were something like, “umm…excuse me, is there anyone else here?”

 

I was doing my homework in my dorm room, when “Romeo” came looking to hang out with my roommates. Clearly he was not interested in hanging out with me, so I shook my head and silently thought, “What a jerk!” Though I know now he meant nothing by it, I fumed all night about how SPU guys were all the same—boring and rude. Luckily, soon after this incident, my opportunity to retaliate came.

 

Colin’s roommate Chris and I had been hanging out together, not exactly dating but not completely friends either. To be honest, I blame it on the fact that Chris is pathological flirt (as am I), and we spent many hours together talking and hanging out. At first I was able to ignore Colin altogether, as he had initially ignored me. But the more I spent time with Chris, the more I ending up spending time with Colin. Gradually the two of us became the three of us, and we all hung out together as friends. Chris and I had a “talk” and together reached the conclusion that nothing more than friendship would work between us.

 

The turning point for me happened on a Saturday morning that January of my sophomore year. I had stopped by Chris and Colin’s dorm room before I headed off to work. The boys were asleep on their bunk beds, and I woke them up when I opened the door. Both of them had awful bed head, and their room smelled like sweaty boys. I leaned over to hug Chris and I saw Colin on the bottom bunk, trying to stay awake long enough to say goodbye to me and looking too cute. The only thought in my head was, “I wish it were Colin I was hugging right now.” After that I attempted relentlessly to woo him, and to get him to hang out with me. Finally countless nights watching movies, IMing online, and eating meals at the cafeteria together paid off, and we became a happy couple!

 

Planning the wedding and finishing school at the same time took up a lot of energy. I consider myself incredibly blessed, though, because, for many of the details and arrangements, I had friends who helped. My flowers were arranged by my brother’s friend’s mother whom I’ve known my entire life. The invitations and all the stationary were done by a friend of the family. The church (St Thomas in Medina) was a no-brainer because Colin and I were members, and one of my good friends agreed to do my make-up for the day of the wedding.

 

I had plenty of help for all of the details from my mother as well. To be honest, if it wasn’t for her making sure all of the plans were sorted and taken care of, there probably would’ve been no wedding! Even the pre-marital counseling was provided by friends of Colin’s father, who arranged for us to take a weekend counseling session with Life-Trac ministries based out of Cashmere, WA. Colin's dad, Mr. MacGregor, had helped the ministry when it first started out, and the McPherson’s had since been long time friends with the MacGregor’s. Colin and I had a fantastic time, and we would recommend the “Pre-Pair” weekend session to all couples hoping to start out their marriage with thoughtful preparation and planning. Greg McPherson is a great speaker, and we both felt it was such an opportunity to reflect on marriage and life together.

 

The morning of the wedding was beautiful. The storms, which had knocked out power to most of the city just days before, had left and blown away the rain. The snow that fell the day all my relatives arrived had mostly melted, and the tree that had fallen on the road to the church had been cleared.

 

I drove across 520 to Gene Juarez and watched a gorgeous sunrise over the cascades that turned the water of Lake Washington into a deep pink. I don’t believe I even felt a bit nervous until I had arrived at the church and was getting my make-up done. When my bridesmaids left to go to the church, leaving me in the dressing room with only the flower girl I nearly had a panic attack. Luckily I didn’t, and the entire ceremony went off without a hitch! Once the ceremony was over, I finally felt like I could breathe. What a joy it was to see all the friends and family who had come out to celebrate our wedding; we both felt overwhelmed with gratitude. I wanted to stop and take it all in, really concentrate on saying, "Hi," to everyone and being in the moment. Everyone always says that weddings are over before the bride and groom realize it, and I for one wanted to remember my wedding!

Holly recommends:

• The Michael Benson Band
• The Edgewater Hotel
  
• Gene Juarez Salon
• Macy's Gift Registry
• Target Gift Registry
  
• La Belle Elaine's
• the Rolls Royce was excellent - British Motor Coaches
• Cory Parris....obviously!