Amanda and Joe get married at the Lake Union Cafe

Last Saturday I was the photographer at an event that I had been anticipating for months, the wedding of Amanda and Joe at the incredible Lake Union Cafe in Seattle.  Just a couple of months ago I had a fantastic engagement session with Joe and Amanda, and I had been looking forward to the wedding since then.  And I was NOT disappointed by the actual event, it was a blast!

The Background Story

Amanda and Joe met way back in 2007 when they were both students at Evergreen State College, and also both working in the Residential and Dining Facilities student worker program.  I won’t tell the entire story here, but let’s just say that their initial impressions of each other were something other than favorable!  In their own words, they “bickered frequently”.

After Amanda graduated college she moved into the apartment complex in downtown Olympia she’d been eyeing for years. It was above a Starbucks, and Amanda is a Starbucks junkie. As it turned out Joe managed the maintenance of that building. They dated briefly but it didn’t take.

Here is their description of what happened next – “Several years went by with both of them moving from Olympia and settling in Seattle.  Occasionally they frequented the same house parties and would partner up for beer pong.  They barely kept in touch.  Finally, they reconnected when Amanda got the courage to invite Joe out to the bar she was at with coworkers.  Joe was complaining all day online about sitting home alone and that just wouldn’t do.  They fell in love.”  And this time it DID take, and the wedding was the ultimate result.

Getting Ready

Joe and Amanda chose not to see each other before the wedding ceremony, so we had to play the game of “Hide the Bride” when Amanda arrived at the Cafe.  Joe and most of his family were already there, so I had Joe move to the back of the venue where he would not be able to see Amanda as she entered the Cafe and made her way downstairs to the Bride’s Room.

While Amanda and her mom Sandra got ready, the guests began to arrive and were directed to their seats.  It was a pretty good crowd, and the entire room was pretty much at capacity.  Finally the music started and the ceremony began.  There was a small glitch with the processional music, and the music that was supposed to play when Amanda came down the aisle (from the Throne Room scene in Star Wars Episode IV) was played early.  But the DJ realized her mistake and was able to get the music cued up again when it was time for Amanda and her father Steve to make their entrance.

The Ceremony

The ceremony was officiated by their friend Trevor Lind and went very smoothly, and a short time later Joe and Amanda were pronounced husband and wife.  After they recessed from the room they headed back to the Bride’s Room, where they were joined by Amanda’s mom Sandra, Joe’s mom Susan as well as officiant Trevor and several friends who would act as the witnesses for the legal paperwork.  The Cafe staff had put together a large tray of snacks, as well as champagne, and Joe wasted no time in popping the cork and serving the bubbly!

The Reception

After the paperwork was all dealt with and the guests upstairs had had a chance to partake in their own appetizers, Amanda and Joe came back upstairs and made their grand entrance to the reception.  Next came what was (to me, at least) one of the coolest moments of the evening, when Amanda’s father Steve played Clair De Lune on the piano for the newlyweds.  I have heard a lot of very good pianists, and Steve would rate right up there with almost any of them.  The man can PLAY!

Now it was time for dinner, something that I always look forward to when working an event at the Cafe.  They always do a marvelous job of preparing a fantastic meal, and tonight was no exception.  Everyone made their way through the buffet line and sat down to enjoy the delicious food.

Right after dinner Amanda and Joe decided it was time to cut the wedding cake.  They actually had both a wedding cake and a wedding pie.  Time for a little more backstory – as you might have gathered from Amanda’s choice of music for her processional during the wedding ceremony, both Joe and Amanda are serious Star Wars fans.  When we did their engagement photo session at Pike Place Market they made sure that they got their photo taken with the life-size cutouts of various Star Wars characters.  So I was not at all surprised when I found that the topper on the “wedding pie” was a Yoda figurine (just scroll down to see the photo).

After everyone had a chance to have some cake or pie, it was time for the toasts, followed by dancing.  Amanda started by dancing with her father, and then she and Joe had their first dance together as a married couple.  After that the dance floor was opened to everyone, and the dance floor was very busy until it was finally time to say goodbye.  For their exit they had bought some great Wedding Sparklers, and I organized everyone outside the Cafe so they could give Joe and Amanda a great sparkler send-off.  And they did a fantastic job, as you’ll see when you look at the photos below.

It was a wonderful evening, and I hope you enjoy the selection of photos I have included.