I recently shot a wedding with my good friend here in Austin. I ain’t gonna lie… it was a challenge. From the lighting, to the venue, to the general energy surrounding the event. Particularly with the kids, some of who acted like to ask them to smile was akin to tossing them into a dungeon. Yeah, they hated us.
What I want to share is, though, is that when I stopped worrying about all the technical stuff, and instead took a minute to stop and care about them. I then decided to ask one of the family members if everything was okay. My heart broke when they went into detail about how this was a second marriage for both the bride and groom, and that some of the kids weren’t completely happy with the idea of this new union. Loyalties to one parent, resentment toward new step parents. Talk about an awakening: It was not about me AT ALL. My compassion for the depth of what everyone was experiencing really hit me. And at that moment, everything changed for me. The story was so much more than just the joining of these two people, but the joining of these two families!
But here’s the part that really choked me up. Later on in the day, during the reception, I was doing my thing and noticed that the bride and her new step-son were talking… and playing… and laughing, alot. I flashed back to just a few hours before when the bride was crying during her portraits and the son refused to be around her. And yet, here they were now, talking about the fun they would have on the honeymoon, which included all the kids, and hugging. I saw the love in both their eyes. The family was joining, and the love was winning over the anger. And witnessing that even made me take a moment away from the reception to wipe my eyes (after taking the picture of them first, of course).
Anyway, I know I’m a sap, so don’t hate. I’ll be honest, something always touches my heart at every wedding. But this one particularly reached me on a deeper level. It was a huge learning experience for me. One that was also a huge reminder about what I’m doing as a photographer is capturing the love, not the “perfect” image. And really remembering to see the day “from the heart” and not just my head.
