She was my childhood best friend. We lived across the street from each other for three years, then my family moved sides of the street and we shared backyards for another nine years. When people say, “we grew up together,” they can mean a lot of different things. Jenna and I really did grow up together— more like sisters than friends. We shared everything from losing teeth, to reading through Little House on the Prairie, to first crushes, to backyard political campaigns, to growing into a love for black americanos from our shared favorite coffee shop downtown. We’re more alike than any other person I know, and vastly different at the same time, and I love us for all of our similarities and differences.

When Nick stepped into Jenna’s life, it was in the same crazy-story way that most things come about in Jenna’s life. They met through the death of a dear & mutual friend. One weekend of sharing grief and caring for their friends’ family, and Nick decided to pick up his life and move from the midwest to Virginia, just to pursue her. It took a bit of persuading and patience on his part to get her on board, but once they began dating, it became very clear, very quickly, what the end of their story would be. Upon meeting Nick, I knew almost immediately that he was serious about loving her, and that there was no one else alive who could better care for her.

They were married just a few weekends ago, and I had the privilege of standing next to this dear couple as they vowed their lives to each other. A few weeks before that, we spent an afternoon together in some of their favorite places in DC, documenting their everyday love.