Warm and Bright Eastern Montana Wedding | Josh and Mary | Makoshika State Park

This just might be the longest blog post I’ve ever created in my life.  Josh and Mary are two of our best friends and we had the joy of not only photographing their wedding day (with the help of two other photographers), but also stand up for them on their big day.

It’s true, we thought Josh would end up a single old man.  He has been our 3rd wheel for a long time.  He went to highschool with my husband, Eric, and became one of my best friend’s too within the last few years (even though I still like to introduce him as Eric’s friend, Josh).  Over the last 4 or 5 years Josh would come stay with us on the weekends or for his vacation and naturally I became the third wheel in all our endeavours.

After Josh would leave our house Eric and I would talk and brainstorm girls that maybe we could set him up with, but none of them really met our standards…or his.  Josh lives in a very small town in Eastern Montana and we pretty much knew his options for someone moving out in the middle of nowhere were very limited and he couldn’t move due to his business that is located in Montana.  So, we prayed for him, his future, and that God would bring someone perfect into his life.

Boy, did God deliver!

Josh ended up meeting Mary at a Bible study.  Mary was living with friends in Glendive all the way from Nigeria.  Mary had no long term intentions of staying in Glendive, but then she met Josh.  I truly get tears still when I think of the way God answered this prayer.

Last year around this time was the first we ever met Mary.  The winter before, Josh came from Montana to South Carolina to vacation for a week and he started talking about this girl he met at Bible study.  It was really the first we had heard him mention a girl he was “talking to” so after he left we continued to ask him about Mary.  After us visiting Montana once, and them coming down here to South Carolina once, we pretty much knew these two were going to get married.  Sure enough, right before last Christmas, Josh was talking to Eric about buying Mary a ring.

Honestly, those few times we met Mary, we were watching for any red flags.  Josh was our close friend and we wanted the absolute best for him.  However, God doesn’t make mistakes.  Mary was perfect for Josh, and it was all the more confirmation that God brought a woman, a beautiful, kind, and funny woman, all the way from Nigeria, so that Josh didn’t have to live out the future we had painted for him…sad, lonely, miserable, sad, and very, very single.

We love you guys!

• Photography: Jessica & Eric Simonton with Jessica Simonton Photography
• 2nd Shooter: Hannah Wilson with Hannah Wilson Photo
• 3rd Shooter: CJ McCullough with CMJ Photography
• Flowers: Glendive Flower Basket
• Brides Dress: Allure Bridal and Step N’ Out
• Grooms Suit: Main Street Men’s Wear
• Rings: Riddle’s
• Bridesmaids & Groomsmen Attire: Birdy Grey
• Cake: Cake me Away Montana
• Jewelry: Sugar Plum
• Catering: Rub it Out

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