Christmas Day Magic at Nevada Beach

Drought is a bad thing, except when you’re a bride in a sleeveless dress who wants to get married on the beach in Lake Tahoe Christmas Day. It is hard to believe this photo was taken Christmas Day, but it was! The lake was like glass, and the sun shone brilliantly.

My couple was a spontaneous one; they’d just moved to Tahoe two weeks before Christmas with their bird, whose name is Birdie. They had been together for eight years, and her grandmother had prayed fervently throughout 2013 that this was the year they would finally tie the knot.

They consulted a seer who told them December was a very auspicious month for them to wed. What day of the month could be more auspicious than Christmas, when the whole world is just a bit more jolly and peaceful and filled with hope and goodwill? Christmas it was, then! Birdie had a chest cold, so he could not attend. Chewbacca the wedding dog was happy to fill in for Birdie.

I love all my couples, as anyone who’s read my wedding blogs knows. I love my loud couples and my fierce couples. I love the feisty couples. There is a special place in my heart, however, for my gentle couples. This Christmas couple was the gentlest of couples; they make me hope it’s true the meek shall inherit the Earth. May it happen during their lifetime together!

Kathryn was in rare form as the wedding photographer; maybe it was the day, and maybe it was the couple. The wedding started at noon, which is the hardest time of day to shoot. People end up with Pinocchio noses from the shadows of a sun that’s directly overhead.  She wasn’t thrilled about the big Bernese Mountain Dog attending the wedding, and thought he might pose problems. He has attended so many weddings, though, so he knows to just lay at my feet and gaze up into the couple’s eyes. He was no trouble at all, and Kathryn was able to shoot some spectacular shots of a spectacular day. The wedding made our Christmas joyful!

Happiness to all!

Pamela Camille, Reverend

http://www.laketahoeminister.com

 

Sunset Wedding at Nevada Beach

The lake’s famous “zephyr” was in full bloom. Not a mere gentle breeze, this zephyr was blustery. The groom and his mom and friends came early to construct an arch by the water. I watched carefully so I could tell someone else how to do it. They used PVC pipe: Two long, straight sections about six feet long, and one angled PVC that joined and arched at the top. They all fit together. To make sure the pipe stayed in the ground in the blustery wind, they hammered two sturdy metal straight pipes into the ground first. These were about twenty-four inches long, and it was brilliant the way the PVC pipe fitted right over them. They had brought some beautiful purple fabric and lots of zip ties to cover the white PVC pipes. Voila! A purple arch was born! They used wires and zip ties to attach beautiful braided tassles and some silk flowers to each side of the arch. They brought some other lovely fabric as the runner, and we kept it from blowing away by covering the sides of the runner with lots of sand. They’d brought some pretty white chairs, and we had quite the stunning, instant wedding scene!

The bridesmaids wore beautiful one-shoulder dresses that swayed perfectly in the breeze. (Thankfully, as they began their procession, it was not so much a wind as a sturdy breeze.) The light changed, as if by magic, when we first saw the bride approach: From normal daylight to that glorious, peachy, Tahoe-sunset light that is most radiant at Nevada Beach. Her entire face was blazing with peach-colored love and bliss.

Part of the ceremony included a “Fight Box,” and it was my first time including a Fight Box in a ceremony. This couple had a copy of the beautiful vows they’d written for each other inside the wooden box with a bottle of wine. They both hammered the box shut at the ceremony at the same time. The idea is that, somewhere down the line in their life together, should they ever fight, they will open the box and be reminded of their vows to each other, and what it’s really all about. It’s a great concept!

Happiness to all!

Pamela Camille, Reverend

www.laketahoeminister.com

Cascade Falls: An Adventure Wedding Above Lake Tahoe

This wedding site is for adventurous couples who are mobile. The hike is not difficult; those who’ve hiked to Cascade Falls in the past will love the new trail. My son helped the mountain man who designed it; it is an enchanting trail filled with hobbit glens and fanciful rock formations. As you hike up, there is a stunning lookout pad that affords the full view of Cascade Falls. The falls are perfectly named, tumbling and cascading down the rocks above Cascade Lake. The hike takes a normal hiker about half an hour to reach the top. At the top, the sound is deafening right next to the falls, but you look down on Cascade Lake and Lake Tahoe beyond it. There are many rocky pools, a beautiful stream, and a gorgeous granite canyon at the top.

I hiked up the Cascade Falls Trail to give the trail builders pizza in 2007, when it was built; I carried three giant-sized pizza boxes, so I know the trail is easily climbed. I later climbed with a wedding party–all of them in nice clothes and hiking boots–in autumn after the trail was finished. It had been a big winter, so the falls were loudly rushing, but the rush of water was much smaller in autumn than in spring. The wedding party consisted of eight people: Three bridesmaids in pretty Hawaiin skorts with bright turquoise Tommy Bahama blouses, three groomsmen in khaki shorts and Tommy Bahama shirts–very cute–and the bride and groom. The bride wore a gorgeous, short, Tommy Bahama silk print dress in bright Hawaiin sunset colors.  The groom was a vision in sunset silk and khaki. These were stylish, pretty people, and the scene would have made an amazing advertising spread for Tommy Bahama!

When we reached the top, all the ladies got out their rhinestone bridal flip-flops, and I pulled the simple bouquets and boutonnieres from my backpack. (Yes, that is the correct spelling for the little bunch of flowers pinned inside each man’s pocket.) The most difficult task for this wedding was getting all the flowers to the top looking fresh.  Because of their hardiness, I chose Alstroemeria–also known as Peruvian Lillies, or Lilly of the Incas–in a bright, hot rose-pink. The bride also carried pink Stargazer Lillies for the ceremony, and were they ever a pain to carry! The contrast of the bright pink flowers with the green pines and red-rock surroundings, and all the wedding party’s turquoise and sunset-colors was striking. It was a really gorgeous affair! I love my job!

Happiness to all!

Pamela Camille, Reverend

www.laketahoeminister.com