Liz and Brett: The Ultimate Backyard Wedding
Summer weddings can get hot. Some couples opt for fans while others have totally different ideas. Check out this awesome wedding that really embraced the crazy times and the crazy heat.
Liz and Brett’s wedding was dynamic. When Liz first contacted me a couple months ago- she was really looking to just have some bridal party photos done because, like most couples, their original plans were tossed around by the pandemic. As time went on their portrait session evolved into something that was really cool and unique.
The plan was to have a small wedding ceremony at the venue that more or less connected to their backyard. After a short ceremony, a couple dances, cake cuttings, and group photos, the celebration would move back to their house- complete with an in-ground pool, giant inflatable water slide, bouncy house, and food vendors.
It was fun to spend time with a group of people who seemed to totally be at home with each other. Everyone was joking around and having a blast. Shortly after I moved back to the states from Korea, I landed a freelance reporting gig covering local government. The Maid of Honor had a very familiar voice and I recognized her as the former school committee chair from one of the towns I covered. I had heard her speak a million times but usually about budgets or bus companies- it was fun to see her outside of an official meeting. That’s one of the things I like about weddings- people come back from whatever role they play in society and are back to being just family or friends.
It was a great way to spend a few hours and I love covering these smaller, less formal wedding celebrations. It was all fun but there was something that really put it on another level. Liz and Brett, under their own freewill, jumped into their pool in full wedding clothing. I mean, as a photographer you really can’t ask for anything better than something like that. It also speaks to them as people. Anybody who is willing to do that is cool as hell in my book.
Congrats Liz and Brett!
Rebecca and Jason: Love in the Time of Corona
The Corona virus pandemic has forced us to accommodate strict health guidelines in our lives- including our weddings. Just because our weddings are smaller, quieter, and, well, different doesn’t meant they aren’t full of love and celebration. Check out some photos from this socially distant wedding in Worcester, MA with a portrait session at Elm Park.
So much of the past few months has been about coping with the situation that we are all in. If I were to go back 6 months ago and tell my past self that the wedding season, spring portrait season, headshots, event photography and basically every other part of my business would be at a standstill for months, I wouldn’t have believed myself. To think of how much our lives have changed since spring is so utterly bizarre that I sometimes have trouble walking through everything that happened. Sure- life is different but love still calls us to get married. Weddings certainly look different but the meaning and the impact is still there- maybe more so. This was definitely true for Rebecca and Jason’s socially distanced wedding in Worcester.
Rebecca shot me an email a couple weeks before their wedding. Like many other couples, their big dream wedding was sidelined by the pandemic. They decided on an intimate church ceremony with just immediate family present. I feel for all of the couples who have seen their dream weddings necessarily altered, I really do, but Rebecca and Jason’s wedding is proof that you can have a wedding that is just as special without a ton of extras.
Rebecca and Jason’s wedding photographer canceled shortly before their wedding. They reached out to me and luckily I had the day free. This is really not a shocker- most of my days are free. I go on and on whenever given too much space to write about how I love the storytelling aspect of photography. Every wedding is a story but its not super often that I get to tell a wedding story that is on a level of intimacy that this level was on. Within a few minutes I knew pretty much everyone involved and I felt that I was able to spend at least tome time with everybody. It’s easier to see how people fit together when things are a bit simpler. It was also great to see their ceremony being live-streamed straight from the church.
Afterwards, we headed to Elm Park in Worcester where we grabbed some quintessential photos on the bridge (you know the bridge) and attracted a lot of attention.
Check out some of my favorites!
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