These photos make me want to squeeze their cheeks and kiss their noses.  I may be partial, but they are pretty stinking cute, aren’t they?!

I’ve had the distinct pleasure of getting to know Lillian as well.  During the past couple of years, we jetted back and forth to Vancouver with regularity, being with Sherman’s dad as his health declined.  Amid these often tough times, Lillian would call us up, take us out, shower love on our kiddos, and make us feel happy.  We were thrilled when she introduced us to Ken.  Theirs is a true love story–they met while Ken was vacationing in Vancouver from his home in the U.K.  Despite the long-distance, they were determined to be together.  And now they are!

They had the best kind of wedding.  A beautiful setting.  An intimate group of dear friends.  An emotional ceremony.  Heartfelt, hilarious toasts.  Yummy cake.  Children passing out next to the dance floor.  Delightful!

I’ve been to a couple of Canadian weddings now, and they have two great traditions that I think we Americans should adopt.  First, they sign the marriage certificate during the ceremony.  Second, they insist upon a “midnight snack” toward the end of the reception (cupcakes, in this case).  Awesome ideas, eh?!

As both the photographer and a guest at this wedding, I relied greatly on my talented second photographer, Niki Flynn.  I met Niki over the internet via a lucky but unlikely set of someone-I-know-knows-someone-you-know connections.  It was an awesome fit.  All of the fantastic details shots (other than the first two) are hers.  I especially love the image she made of the bouquet and of the lodge at dusk.  She also covered the groom’s preparations and most of the dancing (as you’ll see, I’m even in the background swirling the kiddos).  Aren’t her images of the father of the groom and the couple’s first dance especially striking?  Niki is delightful to work with and we quickly felt like we went way back–despite meeting each other the day before the wedding.  (And for my family and friends, this means you can catch a rare glimpse of the Zemler Wu’s in this gallery!)

Congratulations, Lil and Ken.  I’m honored to be part of your lives.

And, since the Zemler Wu household was (okay, is still…) officially in newborn mode, our family and friends all rallied to bring brunch fixing over to our place.  We didn’t cook or fix a darn thing.  How great is that?!  We did make special arrangements with the Easter Bunny for an egg hiding/hunt for all of the kids.  We had five kiddos, all under age three.  We’ve been fortunate to celebrate Easter over the past couple of years with the same set of friends, and this was the first time that the kids were REALLY into the search.  Each had a different technique.  Ryah was so excited, she just ran from room to room–occasionally picking up an egg, but mostly just bouncing around.  Jay opened each egg to see if the loot was good before adding it to the basket.  Mia claimed a small corner and rapidly collected more eggs than the rest.  Sonia, a brand-new walker, got one egg open and wandered around feeling very pleased about the whole thing.  As for Elliot, he just chilled out in the baby swing.  Next year, little buddy, next year!

With springtime wishes to all,  Marie

Here are a few of the first photos of Elliot, from his birthday last Wednesday and his first full day at home on Thursday.  He’s “scheduled” with me for his first real photo session later today…  so more photos to come later this week!