Sally & Rodney's Wedding

Wow. I think that's the best description of this wedding... wow. Weddings like this make my job so easy. I could be the worst photographer in the world and still walk away with amazing pictures because everything was just so beautiful. The location, the people, the details, the expressions ...beautiful. Often times you run into beautiful locations and people that guard their image by being pretentious or unfeeling. Not this couple, not these guests, and not even this beautiful location.

Sally & Rodney were married at the St. Philip Catholic Church in Battle Creek, MI and their cocktail hour and reception were held at Brook Lodge in Augusta, MI. One of the things that Sally & Rodney told me when they met with me was, "We look best in black & white." Now, while I knew from looking at them, that wasn't entirely true, I did make sure that I took plenty of my favorite B&W film with me. Sally also mentioned that she really wanted a "fine art look" for her photographs. This gave me the freedom to be a bit more abstract at times, and because we had a pretty liberal schedule after the ceremony, I was able to take more time to create some fine art portraits with Sally & Rodney while guests were enjoying the cocktail hour.

One thing I have to rag on Sally about is her five hour hair, which caused her to show up an hour late to her own wedding. (Sally, you didn't think I'd forget to mention it, did you??) ;-) Now, because I wasn't asked to go to the salon with her, I don't know exactly what happened in those five hours, but I do know that I made the most of that last hour by taking pictures of people waiting in the lobby, pictures of Rodney frantic on the phone, and then Rodney reassuring guests that his bride was indeed going to show up... eventually.

Ladies, let this be a lesson to all- plan way more time than you need for your hair and makeup. Just about every time a wedding starts late, it's because of hair & makeup. Sally is not the first, and she won't be the last. Because we were running behind, pretty much everything was rushed into the least amount of time possible until we got back on schedule at the reception. Despite the rushing, I still managed to grab some awesome images that look like everyone was calm and happy.. ahh the magic of the lens.

The one thing that I must commend this couple on is their ability to stick together on their wedding day. I can't tell you how hard it is to get great candid moments of a bride & groom together because they often split up to talk to different people at the reception. Sally & Rodney made my job easy and gave me plenty of opportunities to candidly capture them dancing together, talking with each other, and enjoying their guests together. I only wish every couple was so aware of staying together at their reception! I'm so grateful that I met Sally & Rodney, they are wonderful individuals, and an amazing couple. I feel very lucky that I got to be the person on the other side of the lens.

Click on any image to view a flash slideshow of their wedding day...





(Can you tell how much I love kissing pictures??)