Wedding shenanigans
“I’ll do it - but I’m not shooting staged photos…”
That was my response to Maurice Jager when he asked me to photograph his wedding.
Truthfully, I hate photographing weddings, and Maurice knew that going into the ask.
But, when one of your closest friends who has been by your side through some of the darkest moments in your life over the past 7+ years asks for a favor, especially one this important to him and his wife on their special day, you simply don’t say no.
Since I agreed, he hired another photographer to cover all the group photos, bride and groom shots, and details of the rings and other wedding-related stuff.
My job was to cover the post-ceremony reception, dinner and socializing, as well as the party that covered the majority of the evening.
I was unable to photograph the wedding ceremony because I was in it as a co-best man, so I had my dance card already filled for that :)
(Side note - it's an interesting experience being part of a wedding where you don't understand 99.9999% of the words being shared…)
I’ll spare you all of the details regarding the photographic challenges of the venue and people presented throughout the day - no one cares to hear that part.
And, honestly, in hindsight, neither do I.
What matters most is that the wonderful moments and memories captured throughout the portfolio will live forever for the bride and groom from shot-to-shot.
As we drove to the airport, they told me that the night before, they cracked open the link I sent them, put the photos on their living room TV, and looked at every single photo.
And they could not stop thanking me for them.
Maurice said that I captured every important moment, including the kitchen sink - metaphorically speaking, of course :)
While these photos were my gift to them, their reaction towards the images was their gift to me.
It was a beautiful day shared with someone very important to me on one of the most important days of his life - and we have the photos to prove it.
It doesn’t get more magical than that.