Tully and Justice Richard Palmer Get Married in Elizabeth Park

When I got an email a few months back from Nancy Goldstein, from Amazing Celebrations and Events,  for a wedding that was going to take place in my ‘hood, Elizabeth Park, and I was excited. And then when I found out if was for a dear friend of mine, Tully, I was elated! Tully and I go way back, to the early years before I had children. We used to hang out and travel with our ex-husbands and laugh, have cocktails and dinner and… laugh some more. See, Tully is hands down one of the funniest people I have ever met (don’t worry Dominique, (my bestie from first grade) you’re still the funniest). We lost touch over the years but recently reconnected thanks to Facebook, but still didn’t see one another as often as I would have liked. Tully is just so fun to be around. She is kind, and self-deprecating and did I mention she makes me laugh? Laughing is my favorite, so you can clearly see why I enjoyed being around her!

Tully had her son, Jace, right when we started to really hang out back in the early days of my marriage, and it was the ease of life with this little guy Jace that helped my husband Dave, really see how ready he was to be a Dad. Not soon after, we had Jackson, then Tully had Hayden, their daughter and we followed up with our Georgie Girl. Life with our little babies became harder for us to hang out, and we drifted apart, still fond of one another, but you know how life ebbs and flows with people. I knew we would connect again!

Little did I know HOW connected it would all become! So I get this email from Nancy, Tully’s planner, just randomly checking to see if I am available, and as it just so happens I was. I was elated and so beyond happy to be able to see Tully marry her love, and just be the happiest, funniest bride in all of the land!

So then, the plot thickens… I find out that Seyenah, Dominique’s daughter (my best friend since first grade) is dating… wait for it…. BABY JACE!! I mean, homie is not really so much of a baby anymore, he just graduated from high school and is like 8 feet tall! As if this isn’t enough to make my heart stop, Dominique reminds me that Seyenah came over WITH the other Baby Hayden for one of my random Essential Oils Hosting parties I had at my house months ago! I photographed those little babies so much, I changed their diapers (OK, mostly I just emotionally supported Tully while she changed them) but, guys, I WAS THERE! This all felt like the matrix to me, I am not sure why as I read this back, but just so you all can get a sense of how excited I was for this day.

So you can see how special Tully is to me!

Then you bring Dick in, who is legit one of the nicest humans in all of the land. He is tall, and kind, and super smart, I should be calling him Justice Palmer (go on and Google him! lots of game-changing things in his career, thank you Justice Palmer!) ‘On October 10, 2008, Palmer wrote the majority opinion for the Connecticut Supreme Court case Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health, granting marriage rights to same-sex couples in Connecticut, striking down a law passed in 2005 granting civil union rights to them.^{[‘ BAM!!!!}

Good thing I googled him after the wedding, or I would have planted a big fat kiss on this man’s cheek for that one! I still will, when we hit the links at Tumblebrook!

While the day was oppressively hot, the love between Tully and Dick was so easy to see. The way they looked at one another, and those toasts- especially by one of Dick’s good friends, holy smokes he knocked it out of the park! I left that day really feeling like I knew who Dick was and how happy Tully had made him, just be being her normal, goofy loving self.

Tully, Dick, Jace, Hayden, Max + Jordan. I was so so happy to be there with you all on such a special day. The stars aligned and made it happen, and I couldn’t be more grateful! Congratulations to you all, on your beautiful new family! Big thank you to Nancy and her team for running a wonderful event!

Not so baby Jace, snuggling Seyenah! My two not so baby Quasi-Adults, off to college in the fall!

Let there be wine! And the tree was happy, because: wine.

This family portrait is so pretty it looks like the kind that comes with the frame!

Would you ever really know it was almost 100 degrees here??

Hayden grew up to be super shy. Just like her Momma!

Tumblebrook Country Club in Bloomfield is GORGEOUS in the late afternoon. It was also the first time I found myself staring longingly at the golf course because I wanted to go PLAY GOLF! I am obsessed. The jazz trio was spectacular, by the way, thank you Hartt School of Music!

One of the most beautiful women in the universe. I could not stop looking at her and convinced her to let me photograph her. Here she is reacting to me telling her how beautiful I thought she was! So much personality, and sass and style!