I’m just gonna go ahead and say this bold statement: This wedding did more for my soul than any wedding I’ve ever shot, and probably will ever shoot.
These people. This location. The laughs. The crys. The crying because your laughing and the laughing because your’re crying. The feeling at Home with 40 perfect strangers for a long weekend, not at all feeling like “The Photographer.” I hung with them for three days, morning/noon/night on this beautiful property just right down the road from Mt. Rainier in Washington. I was going through actual hell in my personal life when this wedding happened, 24/7 taking care of my terminally ill mom who would pass just a few weeks after this wedding. It could have been an awfully stressful trip- hanging out with 40 perfect strangers could go a lot of different ways obviously, especially when you’re already not on solid emotional footing. But this trip was a literal Godsend for me and these two will forever have a special place in my heart because of that. All of them will. I could say one million things about this wedding and how special it was for me, but I’ll let these excerpted words from David’s “thank you” post say the rest, because honestly they just perfectly encapsulate everything that I loved (and needed) from this weekend and this crew.
“Our hearts are filled beyond what we might have guessed as their capacity. The weekend of September 15, 2018 an amazing woman, by anyone’s measure, came with me to the woods, and took my hand in marriage. Surrounded by friends, indistinguishable from family, and from all across the country, we celebrated love. Love being that most uniquely human of endeavors. Love between Sarah and I, and love between all 38 (plus 2 dogs and a baby) of us.
Thank you to everyone who came out, thank you for the birthday and anniversary that would need to be celebrated on the road, to make it happen. Thank you for the colds that were powered through, for the gifts that were brought, for the ponchos that were donned, and for all the helping hands that were lent. Thank you for the long talks and generous attitudes. Thank you for the smiles. Thank you for all the congratulatory messages from near and far. But most of all, thank you ALL for knowing us, for loving us, and for being in our lives. We are not unaware of the fortune you all give us, and we are grateful and humbled to think we might share the same with you.” -
The groom, David a few days after the wedding
—- I mean COME on people. There’s just no way that any wedding could ever beat this weekend. It was a family of friends in the woods laughing and not a bad vibe in the air and then nature was there to smack you in the face with all her powers. Truly unbeatable, and a wedding any of us should be so fortunate to have.
DAY 1:
bear hugs, yard games, belly laughs, edibles, hikes, cold beers, yard games, bonfire hangs
DAY 2:
champagne toasts, wedding vows, you may kiss your bride, you may now dance your faces off
