Eight days before we were planning to meet up for their engagement session in Burnet, Renae’s message started with “So there has been an interesting new development…”

Renae is currently teaching in Japan and won’t be home permanently until this Spring.  When she was discussing with her family what days in May would be a good day to tie the knot, most days were already taken.  Someone, somewhat-jokingly, mentioned that the family would already all be together for Christmas.  Renae, also somewhat-jokingly, repeated this to Ronnie, who was 100% on-board with the idea!  He, after-all, always wanted a Christmas wedding, but never promoted the idea since it wasn’t part of Renae’s “2-year plan” – the plan that also had them getting engaged this past summer, which happened right on cue.

With that, Ronnie and Renae decided to get married on Christmas Eve (nine days after the idea was first mentioned).  Her family had already rented out a space to hold their gathering, so the wedding would take place there, immediately after everyone exchanged gifts.   The two would get ready while everyone was enjoying snacks and come back to have a “Christmas-surprise” wedding, as Renae called it.

When I opened up her ring box to find this note from Ronnie, my heart did back flips!  When she told me I could just leave the ring out of the box, I can’t even remember what words came out of my mouth, but I did NOT want her to miss this sweet note.  Then, she immediately said she’d already seen the note.  HA!  Ronnie had taken a picture of the set up on his phone to send to her.  Way cute!  Also, the earrings are Renae’s “Something Borrowed” from her sister.

After this family prayer, everyone’s faces came back up with tears.  It was a sweet moment, for sure!

Since Renae’s dad was performing the ceremony, her brother walked her down the aisle.  

During the ceremony, Ronnie’s and Renae’s parents joined them to pray over their marriage and their journey together.  

After placing their hands in this position, Renae’s dad told Ronnie to enjoy the moment, as it would be the last time he would ever have the “upper-hand.”

PS – I was ALSO crying behind the camera.  Yea – that really happened…

The tallest ring-bearer I’ve ever seen.  Ever.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12:

“Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.“

YAY!!!  Officially MARRIED!!

Their cake may be the one of the best wedding cakes I’ve EVER had…. Really.  They ordered the Lemon Rosemary cake from Chez Zee!  YUMMY!

After a quick reception, we headed off to what Renae deemed the most important photos of the day (and I TOTALLY agree): the romantic portraits.

One of the first things Ronnie ever gave Renae was the bracelet she wore on her wedding day.  I seriously had the HARDEST time not turning all of their romantic portraits into black and white.  THIS is why:  Now that the secret is out, I can share these photos and am absolutely honored that Ronnie and Renae chose me to capture such an important day (and that they chose to spend two of their seven afternoons together with me, since their wedding happened the day after their engagement session)!  Congratulations, you two!  I hope that your last few days apart goes quickly and that your life together is beyond blessed!

 – Mylah Renae

Burnet Wedding Photographer

www.Eureka-Photography.com