I love that I still get to photograph the occasional wedding, especially smaller, more intimate ones that give me the chance to just document the goings-on and keep those skills in practice.
Andrea (the bride) already has an almost-teenage son, and now, with Wade (the groom), a young daughter. Their ceremony joined not only two adults, but bound a family together. I loved that they made a point to include the children, reading letters to them and giving Andrea’s son a special gift. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room (including my own).
Weddings like these are special to me. I’m trying to put my finger on why. I think it’s that, being on the farther side of forty-something, I get that life doesn’t always go the way you think it’s going to and I'm finally okay with that. Tragedies happen, plans fail, skeletons pile up in your closet, and you find your life doesn’t fit the expectations you had for yourself when you were, say, 25. It's messier, and not so black and white. But miracles and joy shine on. And if it isn’t love—in all its infinite forms— that sees us through it all, I don’t know what does.
