Somebody upstairs must really like Kate Burns and Joe Coleman.

When I arrived at Kate's house on the morning of her marriage to Joe, raindrops were falling on my car and the sky was looking ominous. Later in the day, when guests were safely inside for dinner, a monsoon let loose. And when I drove home late in the evening, the heavens were getting ready to start again. But here's the rub: everywhere in between, when it needed to be absolutely, faboulously gorgeous, it was.

That's a pretty neat trick, if you ask me. Rain at the start, rain in the the middle and rain at the the end but not a single drop when it actually mattered.

I should have seen it coming. A month or two ago, I shot Joe and Kate at the Capitol for their engagement photos, and we literally took our last frame before the skies opened up. I'm not talking 15 minutes, I'm not talking five minutes. I'm talking six seconds after we had finished. We barely had time to get to the nearest tree for shelter. I'm not sure this constitutes a trend but it's the kind of luck I'd like to have going in my own life.

Kate deserves this kind of sunny luck because she's always smiling. She starts with a knowing smirk and a few seconds later erupts into a full blown howl. Those of you who have been reading these words for the last couple of years know, I have a thing for brides who like to laugh. Not fake laughs or nervous laughs, mind you. I'm talking the real McCoy. Kate giggled as she was getting her hair done, she laughed with her mom Nancy as she was about to don her dress, she laughed with her sister Jaime, and she laughed with her father as they sat side by side during the limo drive down to Washington.

In fact, about twenty minutes ago, I got an email from Kate asking if this blog post would be up soon. I told her "soon," and she replied: "Like today. :)" It's not easy to tell one smiley face from another. They're just characters, right? But with Kate, I can actually envision the smirk that went along with that smiley face.

Kate and Joe were married at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in downtown Washington. According to its website, St. Patrick's parish was created in 1794 "primarily to meet the needs of Irish immigrants at work on the White House and the Capitol building." That's pretty cool. About 90 years later, the current church was built and it's been there ever since. In a city like Washington, one that has regrettably torn down a lot of its own history with the the march of time, it's so great to be able to hold onto and experience a beautiful church like this one.

As Joe and Kate found faces in the pews of friends and family, making eye contact and smiling, I smiled to myself. There are so many emotions running through your brain  these moments--excitement, reverence, and just plain silliness. You could see all of them plainly.

After the ceremony, we made our way to Congressional Country Club for the reception. It was cute: Kate felt embarrassed asking me if it was alright if she and Joe took a limo without anyone else--namely me--in it. Silly Kate. Of course I didn't mind.

Outside at Congressional there were some big, lingering clouds from the rain earlier in the morning. But as soon as I picked up a camera to shoot Kate and Joe together, the sun popped out and we had gorgeous backlight, my favorite kind. We made use of all of the Adirondack chairs out in front on the club and took some fun group pictures. And is usually the case, the best one of those pictures came in between, when Kate rested her head on her husband. (What was even funnier was seeing all the empty beer cans behind the Adirodack chairs after eveyone left!)

What more is there to say? Gorgeous cake, fun dancing, particularly Kate and her dad, who didn't opt for the safety of the  typical father/daughter slow dance, and a great band that had everyone on the floor for hours.

Since I know for a fact that Kate is chomping at the bit for pictures, I won't stand in the way. To see a mini gallery of fun pics from the wedding of Kate and Joe, click here.

 As always, take care.

Matt