Mary Claire & Max + a farewell to Duke

As I’m sitting here typing, my eyes are filled to the brim with tears.

I guess I should start by saying I absolutely adore these engagement photos of Mary Claire (MC), Max and their adorable four-legged child, Duke. I love MC’s adorable shyness and how Duke was a little skeptical of me and this whole shindig from the start. I love the authentic joy captured, the intimate moments & tiny gestures of love they exchanged. I love it all. But more important than all that stuff, I love these photos because the capture a chapter in this couple’s lives that has since ended. Sadly, A few weeks after our session, I learned that Duke let go and went to Doggy Heaven.

And my heart broke for them then, just as sorely as it does now. I’m honored to have met Duke, he was one seriously awesome dog and when the dreaded day comes for me to say goodbye to my Zoe, I hope that she finds him and they become the best of friends. I’m beyond honored to have been chosen to document this tough-but-also-beautiful time for this couple.

And for Duke? Well he loved every minutes of it. He smelled allll the things and got in the water at the riverfront in downtown Nashville and at Percy Priest, and got extra cuddles from mom & dad all day long… Even if there was this weird lady with a camera following them along everywhere….

Rest in peace, Duke.

“What do you say, Percy? I am thinking
of sitting out on the sand to watch
the moon rise. It’s full tonight.
So we go

and the moon rises, so beautiful it
makes me shudder, makes me think about
time and space, makes me take
measure of myself: one iota
pondering heaven. Thus we sit, myself

thinking how grateful I am for the moon’s
perfect beauty and also, oh! how rich
it is to love the world. Percy, meanwhile,
leans against me and gazes up
into my face. As though I were just as wonderful
as the perfect moon.”

“The Sweetness of Dogs” by Mary Oliver from Dog Songs

Intimate Airbnb Elopement with Jules and Max // Nashville, TN

Backyard Airbnb Elopement in Nashville, TN

When Jules & Max first reached out to me to photograph their wedding, I had no idea I’d be spending not only that intimate wedding day with them, but that a year later I would also be with them and 38 (to me) strangers, making bonfires and hiking through hangovers to arrive at one of the prettiest views my eyeballs have ever seen. Wait, whuuut? Ok so Jules & Max opted for a super intimate Airbnb-style elopement in Nashville last year. I was one of 15 people blessed to witness this day of love and celebration. Two of the others, Sarah (Jules’ best friend since childhood) and David (Sarah’s then boyfriend) got engaged not long after and decided to have a mountain get away wedding earlier this month that also happened to land on the weekend of Jules and Max’s anniversary. And yours truly was also there to document it all = why I spent their anniversary with them! And what better way to spend an anniversary than surrounded by love? Love for your best friend. Love that reminds you of your love for each other. Love is love is love and it’s fire burns brightest when more is added to it.. (p.s. you can see that wedding here).

When we were in the woods, I’d overheard someone ask Jules how the first year of marriage had been since it’s “supposed to be the toughest one.” Jules just shrugged, looked at Max and said “It’s actually been pretty easy for us” as casually as if someone had just asked how the coffee was. Not the type to take themselves too seriously or opt for the spotlight, this Airbnb elopement was the perfect representation of who Jules & Max are individually, and as a unit. The type to always check in with each other with little back touches or bringing the other water or Dayquil or any other small-but-still-big gesture of love, I can only imagine that it really has been easy for them. Both of them are insanely smart, observant, helpers, genuine, laid back and funny— oftentimes with a quick or brutal wit that will leave you like “daaaamn ok I see you.”

And those are always my favorite types of humans. Ones that listen more than they speak, that don’t spend a gajillion dollars on their wedding day and fret about the most minute details. Ones that just want to get together with a few key people, eat, drink, be merry… oh yeah, and somewhere in there marry their best friend.

And that is exactly what they did:

From the bride and groom:

“WE ARE OBSESSED WITH KATE AND HER WORK. We knew we didn't want super-posey, traditional wedding photos b/c we're not those people, and after looking through Kate's stunning portfolio and meeting her in person, we knew we had to work with her! We had a small, 16-person wedding and Kate was a seamless fit. By the end of the evening she was chatting with our guests (while still taking photos, of course) and giving everyone goodbye hugs. She made sure we got the shots we wanted and the shots we didn't even know we wanted. We love her photojournalistic style and the beautiful little moments she captured. If you get the opportunity, work with her! You will be so glad you did. Thank you so much, Kate!"
-Jules & Max