How to Save a Life {Shalice & Stephen} 6-12-10 | San Jose Country Club, San Jose Hills

Being in the wedding videography business means hearing lots of great love stories over the years. Sometimes though, unique stories rise from the others.

One such story belongs to Shalice & Stephen.  Usually I have the opportunity to get to know my clients before their weddings at consultations and throughout the planning stages. In this case, though, I only met Shalice & Stephen on the day of their wedding because of their last minute booking.  During the ceremony I heard the minister mentioning that their first kiss was actually whilst performing CPR.  I was intrigued, to say the least.

After the wedding I talked with some of the bridesmaids to fill in the details and found out their amazing story:

Shalice & Stephen and had only recently met and started to date when they planned a fun filled day at the beach with some of their close friends. Stephen, eager to show off to his new-found girlfriend, decided to hit the waves.  Shalice was of course was watching, but soon she could no longer see him in the water.  She began to worry and quickly realized the situation was urgent. She called upon a local surfer named John Funky to go in after him, she asked him to find her boyfriend and please tell him to come in.  As the surfer went into the ocean, he saw Stephen was being carried away in a rip-tide but by the time he actually reached that spot, Stephen was gone.  He dove into the water, desperately looking for Stephen.  Like a needle in a hay stack, the surfer finally found Stephen’s lifeless body.  He pulled him into the beach and Shalice quickly began performing mouth to mouth resuscitation.  They hadn’t even kissed yet and she was called upon to save his life.  Later, as he was coming out of his coma, he said to his mother, about Shalice, “Doesn’t she just light up the room?”

This nontraditional first kiss certainly created a bond between the couple & 3 years after they met, Stephen proposed to Shailce on that very same beach.  Two weeks before their wedding they journeyed back to this special spot once again, to collect sand for their wedding centerpieces.

Congratulations on your new life together and thanks for allowing us to capture this special day for you!  Here is Stephen & Shalice’s handmade wedding trailer.