I met Charity in a studio class at Peabody; she was outrageous, funny, had the most unforgettable voice I'd ever heard. She wore bejeweled bracelets on both wrists that read "Charity" and "Sunshine", her middle name. And, as it turned out, she had Pulmonary Hypertension.
She met Yoni, her future husband, volunteering on a political campaign, and while their romance blossomed slowly, he was there after the deaths of her grandfather and father, there after she received a double lung transplant, and there after a month long coma and the road from recovery to the operatic stage.
Her TEDMED talk is amazing, and goes much further into her incredible story.
Charity and Yoni were engaged this May, and sandwiched their wedding between additional surgeries, her Lincoln Center debut, hospital visits and countless other performances, but as Charity explained, "We wanted to get married so we did." It was a family effort to pull together their October wedding; sisters Mercina and Glorianna (affectionately referred to as Four and Five on the blog Charity shares with her four sisters) arranged the one hundred and fifty sunflowers they'd ordered with wildflower picked in the freezing rain, while her uncle Justin Dick of Hunter Creek Design created their lovely chuppah. Charity asked everyone to dress in her color palette, white, tan, gray and yellow, which brought color to the morning wedding. They had a spectacular brunch at the Columns Bed & Breakfast starring baked goods Charity is still raving about, and her family, uncle Joshua Gat, sisters Liberty and Glorianna Tillemann-Dick and Margot Dick captured this joyful celebration that Charity was generous enough to share with me.
Charity and Yoni's wedding may not be featured in the pages of Martha Stewart Weddings or pinned to death, but that's not what made me cry the first time I saw these photos, or as I write this now–it's these two incredible people, promising through very real obstacles to love, support and be thankful for one another, and the joy that shines in the faces of this incredible family.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, and may we find things to be thankful for each and every day.
She met Yoni, her future husband, volunteering on a political campaign, and while their romance blossomed slowly, he was there after the deaths of her grandfather and father, there after she received a double lung transplant, and there after a month long coma and the road from recovery to the operatic stage.
Her TEDMED talk is amazing, and goes much further into her incredible story.
Charity and Yoni were engaged this May, and sandwiched their wedding between additional surgeries, her Lincoln Center debut, hospital visits and countless other performances, but as Charity explained, "We wanted to get married so we did." It was a family effort to pull together their October wedding; sisters Mercina and Glorianna (affectionately referred to as Four and Five on the blog Charity shares with her four sisters) arranged the one hundred and fifty sunflowers they'd ordered with wildflower picked in the freezing rain, while her uncle Justin Dick of Hunter Creek Design created their lovely chuppah. Charity asked everyone to dress in her color palette, white, tan, gray and yellow, which brought color to the morning wedding. They had a spectacular brunch at the Columns Bed & Breakfast starring baked goods Charity is still raving about, and her family, uncle Joshua Gat, sisters Liberty and Glorianna Tillemann-Dick and Margot Dick captured this joyful celebration that Charity was generous enough to share with me.
Charity and Yoni's wedding may not be featured in the pages of Martha Stewart Weddings or pinned to death, but that's not what made me cry the first time I saw these photos, or as I write this now–it's these two incredible people, promising through very real obstacles to love, support and be thankful for one another, and the joy that shines in the faces of this incredible family.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, and may we find things to be thankful for each and every day.
25 comments:
Oh, I love this wedding. I've always imagined getting married in my home! That would be so special. Happy Thanksgiving!
Such a special wedding... Happy Thanksgiving ;)
Naaaw, how cute!
In Norway we have a saying 'det enkle er ofte det beste'. Meaning something in the lines of 'simplisity is often best'.
So true *smile*
Hugs,
Signe
Happy Thanksgiving Lena! Sweet wedding!
xx Vivian @ http://diamondsandtulle.blogspot.com
love is all that matters. and that wedding is just adorable. please stop by sometime to visit. :)
Super cute photos, the wedding photos just resemble true love <3
http://cupcakesandtreacle.blogspot.com/
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What an amazing story. This is wonderful!
What an awesome story. Love is a pretty amazing thing!
An absolutely perfect post for Thanksgiving. You couldn't have said it better--"it's about two people promising through very real obstacles to love, support, and be thankful for one another." I love that, Lena. Thanks for sharing these beautiful photos and reminding us what really matters. I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving and all your cooking was successful! xoxo
Utterly, and completely in love with every inch of this wedding and Charity. Just watched her TED talk through tears and laughs and am so grateful to you for having shared her story. As far as I'm concerned, this should be on the cover of Martha Stewart's weddings.
What a beautiful wedding!! Thanks for sharing the photos!!
Happy Thanksgiving!!
xox,
karen
www.rubytuesdayfashionanddesign.blogspot.com
Oh my goodness, so sweet and what a great story! :-)
& now I'm crying too! What a beautiful wedding. So pretty & so much heart!
I adore the intimacy of this wedding. So sweet, the whole family together. How timely considering the Thanksgiving holiday. Wonderful!
I watched her TED Talk yesterday at my kitchen table and couldn't tear my eyes away. How magnetic is she?? My sentiments are completely aligned with both yours and Kimia's...this is the type of inspiration we need more of. Thank you for sharing it with all of us.
How sweet! What a beautiful wedding. xo style, she wrote
beautiful wedding and story! and I love that she asked them all to dress in her color palette - it's lovely!
Oh and the yellow details and sleeping children. How perfect!
Such a delightfully happy couple. Lovely being married in one's house. Hope you had a nice thanksgiving. Happy Monday;-)
How beautiful! Such a touching story. Thank you for sharing, Lena.
~ Clare x
even before reading this story, the pictures were overwhelmingly beautiful - you can tell how much love was in that room and how special it must have been to be there! Such a gorgeous couple and a beautiful love story...thanks so much for sharing!
i LOVE this. that is what marriage is about.
life spelled jen
Beautiful couple and beautiful story!Love all of these!
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