WANT TO KNOW HOW TO BE FILLED WITH THIS MUCH JOY ON YOUR WEDDING DAY? NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS?! We learned so much by observing and capturing this sweet bride and her groom (back in March…a bit behind on our blogging. Hehe)! I really don’t remember the last time we saw someone this joyful on what normally can be a bit of a stressful day. Yes! I know part of it is her personality. There is that. But we noticed that there’s much more to it than that. It all came down to a ONE little thing!
This was truly one of the most simplest weddings we have ever photographed (but that’s not the secret)! Everybody was packed in a small condo (the bride, the bride’s family, the makeup artist, the wedding party…even the groom and also his family at one point). But there was absolutely no squabbling or arguing. All selfishness was set aside to love on this beautiful bride and her handsome groom!
We entered the scene to the makeup artist putting finishing touches on the bride but running late on getting her hair done (no fault to the makeup artist, really. This kind of thing just happens a lot of the time and can’t be predicted). There’s almost always a snag, ya’ll! It happens at every wedding. But the bride just sat there smiling and taking in the day. She didn’t stress or worry about what time the sun would set or that there was a storm brewing on the horizon and could have affected her entire wedding ceremony! She just smiled and laughed and soaked up each moment! It really was a beautiful thing to witness!
We began to quickly realize that her only focus was her groom and marrying the man of her dreams! She didn’t’ stress about each detail or worry about how everything would turn out. As a matter of fact, there were very few details to stress over. There was a simple, yet lovely gazebo set up on the beach, and inside the condo was a small cake and cider for a toast to celebrate the bride and groom before sending them off. We know that not everyone chooses this kind of wedding, and that’s okay, but we really loved it! We loved that she didn’t have to worry about if the food would make it on time, or the DJ, or if the flowers would arrive on time or be wilted. It was just very simple. Part of that was due to the timing of it. Sometimes when you marry a military man, you realize that becoming his bride is more important than having a million little lovely details to fuss over on your wedding day! And this is what she chose! She chose simply to be his wife and keep things quiet and easy. Of course this isn’t to say that absolutely nothing went wrong. She was freezing on the beach (as a storm was blowing in) during the ceremony (but of course didn’t complain), and it was hard to hear due to the wind, so the family and friends formed a tight semi-circle around the bride, groom and officiant (her grandfather). It was really very sweet! Not according to their plan, but even sweeter. They chose to embrace the unplanned moments and just keep on smiling and soaking it all up!
So we learned something from this bride…(as we do from each of our brides..we have the best brides and grooms, yall!). We learned that since her focus was on her groom and on the joy of that day, she didn’t let the things that went different than she planned steal her joy! She kept right on smiling and laughing and loving life! It was delightful to behold and be a part of! What made it even more delightful was that we have had the sweet blessing of watching this young lady grow up! We are good friends with her family and all used to go to church together. Then they moved away. (insert big crocodile tears) But we have kept in touch and they have given us the honor of photographing their sweet family as they grew together. So it was such a privilege to be a part of her special day and capture all the joy and love!
So…BRIDES…if ya want to be chill on your wedding day and not be stressing out, the secret is FOCUS!!! Not just any focus either, but…Focusing on the most important detail (this is what we tell all of our couples). Things may not always go according to plan. Vendors may not do things quite as you envisioned. People may show up late. It may rain. But through it all, keeping the focus that the most important detail is that you are marrying the man of your dreams and it’s one of the most special days of your life! This will bring you so much joy and allow you to walk down that aisle with a genuine smile…no matter what else is happening around you. We have been to weddings where a veil was almost blown off by the wind, ceremony & reception details have blown over, vendors have been late, unpredicted storms blew in, some of the wedding party showed up…um…not quite sober, family members were fighting, etc…and then we have been to weddings also where NONE of that happened and almost everything went smoothly…BUT every wedding we have captured has had at least some small snag and FOCUSING ON THE MOST IMPORTANT THING has saved the bride…every single time, allowing us to capture pure, un-distracted, epic joy between the bride and groom! Just like these two! So this is what FOCUS looks like yall! Hee-hee.
CONGRATULATIONS MR. AND MRS. WALKER! MAY YOU ALWAYS BRING EACH OTHER AS MUCH JOY AS YOU DO IN THESE PHOTOS!