Katie Drake

I was looking through my photos on my computer today and came across these photos taken of my siblings from last Christmas.  I thought it’d be fun to share them with you and a little look behind the scenes at why taking them was so special.

For the first time in years, all five kids in my family were able to spend Christmas together. My little brother still lives at home, but all three of my sisters live far away, and it was extremely special to get to spend the fews days together that we did. We have become so much closer now as adults then we ever were as kids and we truly treasure every minute we get to spend together. One thing I thought we could do that would make our visit memorable and special was to try and take photos together. Because we all live so far apart this is a rare occurrence, and after all the efforts, we still didn’t manage to take a complete family photo with our parents! haha We did however, manage to take a few siblings photos before our little brother had to leave for a wrestling tournament.  These were the first we’d done in years!

Ever since my two younger sisters were married a few years ago, I’ve wanted to take photos of all four of us in our wedding gowns. I had no idea when we’d ever make it happen, so when I knew we’d all be together at Christmas I called them all up to ask if they’d be willing to travel with their dresses when they came! They were all really excited about the shoot and said they’d be willing to bring them. Amy was driving from CO which meant she had to lay her dress out in between them in the truck the whole way. Stacy flew down from WA and carried her dress on the plane with her. Leah, who lives in Mexico City, already had her dress stored here at the farm, and it’s a good thing too since she was traveling by herself with her two kiddos!

My sister Amy arrived first and could hardly wait the few days for the other girls to arrive she decided it might be a good idea to try on our dresses early to see if they still fit. (I think she just wanted an excuse to put on her dress) As our mom looked on, Amy told her she should try her wedding dress on too! My mom laughed out loud and said there was no way after 34 years and five babies she’d ever fit into her dress. Amy kept insisting she at least try it on, and even if she couldn’t zip it up she could still share a good laugh with us. After much pleading my mom finally agreed and we ran upstairs (mind you we’re both still wearing our wedding dresses!) and helped mom into her gown. Amazingly enough, she was able to put it on and completely zip it as well! I think she was the most surprised of all. :) Since she fit into her dress, we told her she’d have to be in the wedding dress shoot as well.

The day of the shoot arrived and it was FREEZING outside!(Freezing for Northern California at least :)  There was no telling when we’d get another chance to do this together, so we braved the cold and headed outside. All our husbands and kids watched and laughed from the safety of the warm indoors. We weren’t gonna let anything stop us, and though it was crazy cold, and I had to photoshop out a lot of goosebumps, we endured, and the pictures we get to enjoy made it all worth it!

 

 

Despite the cold, I couldn’t have imagined the pictures turning out any better!  Aren’t my sisters and my mom just gorgeous?!  The day couldn’t have been possible without the help of my two incredible friends. A huge thanks to Morgan Fairchild of Fairchild Photography, and Erin Watkins who did all our hair (fun fact: she also did Stacy and Leah’s hair for their actual wedding days) I will treasure these photos for a long time and hope you enjoy taking a look at some of my favorites! ~Katie