Marriage is magic
Yesterday I had the loveliest day, shooting a wedding. The nerves around wedding photography should not be underestimated, they are mega!!! Like, sleepless-nights-for-weeks-before kind of nerves. But that’s just because I know what a huge deal the photographs are to everyone involved in the wedding.
I’ve done a good few weddings during my photography career, but yesterday something really dawned on me. I was in the bridal suite, with my lovely photography partner, Jake, planning on the perfect set-up for the wedding dress shot. I took the huge dress bag off the ornate mirror and unwrapped the dress. I suddenly had a really overwhelming weepy moment (I have a lot of these at weddings) where I realised how much I love wedding photography. We were trusted to tou
ch the dress, to take it out of its perfect packaging, man-handle it into a shot that showed all the gorgeous details and put it all away again. But the main thing was; I saw the dress!!! Before anyone else at the wedding who were waiting for the surprise of seeing the bride for the first time and her choice of dress. I saw the dress!! What an honour eh?
I suddenly felt very overwhelmed with how much of someone’s life you get to see on their wedding day. It’s the conclusion of months, sometimes years worth of planning all coming together in that one day. All the loved ones are there in one place, and I get to be a part of that and document it all!
I don’t take my responsibilities lightly when it comes to wedding photography, I make sure all my equipment is charged with far too many lenses, memory cards, back up memory cards, spare cameras, flash guns, batteries, tripods and my Mac to download the pictures throughout the day. But when the day comes, I get swept up in the lovely moments and the real, raw displays of emotion.
I squeezed the bride and groom goodbye last night when I left the venue, got in my car to drive home and felt like I’d been wrapped in a lovely warm blanket. Nothing beats being around those people for a whole day, everyone just wanting the best for this couple starting their journey together and all the positive vibes that are utterly contagious.
I love weddings, I cry a lot, and I cry some more when I’m doing the editing for a few weeks afterwards, tears of happiness remembering all the lovely tender moments from that day. It makes all the nervous sleepless nights totally worth while!
Congratulations Katy and Jim, the new Mr and Mrs Peace, thank you for letting me in to your magic life for the day!
