Ali + Cam | Roanoke Virginia Wedding - elizabethhillphotography.com

Roanoke Virginia Wedding with Shades of Blue Accents | Ali & Cam | Elizabeth Hill Photography

Friends, this wedding a joy to share! When Ali & Cam reached out to me about their wedding, I knew it was going to be special! They both love the Lord so much and it was evident in every part of their wedding day. I knew from the moment I heard their story, that I was going to share it, exactly as Ali had written it because it was real. It was honest. It has parts that are hard and things that not everyone does these days. And that is exactly why I love it so much!

From their family, to their sweet friends, to the moment Cam saw Ali come down the aisle, I was shedding tears behind my camera throughout the day!

So here, before you see their gorgeous day and the love they have, hear from Ali, on how this day all came to be:

“When you read how we met, you can see that it was quite the process for us to end up together. We realize now that God was sanctifying us both as individuals so that we would be ready! I still remember briefly after meeting Cam thinking “This could really be the guy!”, and then he started dating someone else. But now that we’ve ended up together, I can still remember how strong that feeling was. Our relationship truly began when Cam chased me down at church to ask for forgiveness, and he explained everything to me. He wanted reconciliation, but I needed to build trust first!

So naturally I left the country for six weeks and didn’t give him my Asia phone number so he couldn’t talk to me the entire time! I prayed that God would remove anything that was not of him over those six weeks—and our feelings only grew stronger. As soon as I came back to the US in July, we started dating. At first I kept the relationship quiet because I wanted to be sure it was of the Lord and that it was going to last. By September, we both knew that we wanted to get married to each other. We set a boundary and said we wouldn’t consider engagement until at least 6 months had passed. We didn’t want to get caught up in feelings!! We also had decided not to kiss until the day we got engaged, which made the wait even harder for me! Cam proposed on March 31, almost nine months after we had officially started dating. He completely surprised me…even though I am a very difficult person to keep secrets from.

What I love about our story is that its REAL. There was hurt and pain and we had to build our entire relationship on the basis of forgiveness…and that is EXACTLY the same as our relationship with Christ! When my college girls talk to me about how cute our story is or how happy I seem, I remind them that its not always what they see on instagram, but it’s the reconciliation after the big fight and the tiny whisper of forgiveness even when I feel hurt that makes it all worth it! Cam and I have completely bought into the idea of a multigenerational family team that lives on mission. We’ve been mentored by Jeff and Alyssa Bethke and have been gobbling up everything they have for us, and all that we have been learning from them makes us really excited about the home and family we are about to establish!

Thank you sweet Ali and Cam, for sharing your life, your heart and your love for Jesus with me! It was such an honor (along with the rest of my second shooting team that day!) to capture your incredible love for one another. Now enjoy lots of our favorites from your day!

Ali had such a fabulous group of girls! I loved getting to know all of them and see all the joy they had all day for sweet Ali!

Matching PJ’s! This is my kind of getting ready attire!

Lord friends, I wanted to make this a canvas the instant I snapped it!

About to see her dad for the first time!

This first look had me crying behind the camera. Cam and Ali knew they wanted this as part of their story and gosh I loved being able to capture this sweet time for them before the wedding began! They got so many more portraits because we spent this time together!