Beloved : Sonoma Wedding Photography

“We love because He first loved us…” – 1 John 4:19

One major reason that draws us to the Christian faith is this notion that we are God’s “Beloved”. What a secure feeling it is to know that the God who created the entire universe also created you – and that He sent His only Son Jesus Christ to come to the earth, die on the cross, and rise again three days later to save us from our sins and the sins of the world. We believe this not because the Bible says so, but because Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, James, and Paul said so (they were eyewitnesses and friends of eyewitnesses).

1 John 4:19 reminds us that love all started with God. He loved us (flaws and all) first, and that gives us the ability to love others. This simple, yet thought-provoking idea makes all the difference in our own marriage. If you don’t already know, marriage is not easy (sorry to burst your bubbles, you hopeless romantics! *wink*) what with the union of two personalities, characters, habits, cultures, families,… it can be too easy to get on each other’s nerves. However, once we are secure inside God’s unconditional love, we find that we start cutting each other a lot of slack – whether or not the “slack” is deserved. For us, knowing that we are God’s beloved makes it that much easier to love each other (yes, flaws and all!)

We were so pleased to know that Renaldi and Nita have learned this “secret” even before even stepping into marriage. This theme was apparent during their wedding in beautiful Sonoma County, CA. It was a glorious wedding involving a radiant bride, a charming groom, a super special first kiss at the altar, a quaint Italian-esque villa with a sprawling Sonoma vineyard as the ceremony backdrop, a perfect 70-degree weather…and two very happy photographers :)

Thank you Renaldi and Nita for reminding us once again about this important truth. We love you both and hope that these photos capture the love that we all felt during your special day. Enjoy married life!

“I am loved, I am loved, I know I will always be; And I love, and I love, cause You first loved me” – Sidney Mohede