The inter-net is a vast arena where all manner of things happen. Much of this is surely of someone’s conscious intent. Amazing things take place, though more of it is also pretty mundane and of little consequence in the greater scheme of things. It doesn’t matter because things happen. This is one such happening that bends the mind.

In February 2002 I received an email from a couple indicating they had discovered my website in a search for content for their wedding ceremony, and were touched by my photography and written sentiments throughout the site. They wondered if I would consider covering their wedding in Washington, D.C. in January a year hence.

Thus began an incredible journey through the nether reaches of the inter-net. My first question was whether they were aware that this was the Berkeley that was all the way over on the left coast – they assured me they were. After this initial clarification we began discussion in earnest.

Still in wonder about being discovered on the inter-net and throwing caution to the winds, I suggested that it could work if they covered the cost of airfare for me and my wife in addition to a night in a hotel in exchange for my covering the costs of my time and efforts in photographing the wedding, the wedding album, and for all the negatives of one of my wedding packages. We would plan to stay beyond the wedding for an extended vacation in our nation’s capitol and consider that compensation for my work. They thought this sounded reasonable, and we soon agreed in principle it could work. We finalized a contract in early May and put the date on our calendars.

In an added touch the couple offered us the use of their apartment for the week following the wedding since they would be on their honeymoon, and the apartment would otherwise sit empty. For us this would make our extended stay in our nation’s capitol that much more special. Our plans were set.

The wedding was held in early January 2003 at the Friends Meeting House of Washington, D.C. with the reception nearby at the Great Falls Grange in Great Falls, Virginia. Because no recording devices are permitted during a Quaker service, there would be no photos of the ceremony. No matter, permission was granted for me to photograph during the ceremony rehearsal the evening before so all was well.

This hallowed union was a warm and intimate gathering of the families and friends of both men. The wedding ceremony saw the coming together of two families, one Vietnamese, the other richly southern from Texas. How great was that? With strong support of both families and dear friends, and of a community of Friends from the meeting house, it could not have been more perfect.