Ack – this wedding. THIS WEDDING. You know – sometimes, late at night, when I’m aimlessly scrolling through generic wedding hashtags on instagram instead of sleeping, I start to feel my blank, unblinking stare at all the square images that start to look eerily similar and this thought thumps through me in a low, deep whisper: I hate weddings.
Insert nervous laughter here. You know, cause I’m a wedding photographer. But I can explain. Weddings can just be the worst. Wait. I can explain better. Weddings can also just be the best.
Take Lauren + Sam. These two got married last month up here in Hudson, NY at a venue called The Hill and the entire day just blew me away. They brought their (amazing) families together with a bunch of great dancers friends and threw the best, happiest party right in the middle of thunderstorms + rainbows. They hired quality people (i.e. Hoopla Events FTW!) + everything felt intentional, beautiful and for me, inspiring.
And so yes, I freely admit that there are things about the wedding industry that make my skin crawl that I don’t prefer BUT there are also people that are creating the type of days that speak to who they truly are + how they love and I am lucky — LUCKY — to be able to witness those days, let alone document them. They find their dream dresses on ebay (POCKETS!) and their Dad wakes up early that morning to handpick all the flowers and create the bride’s bouquet and they have a wedding cake pinata over a plain ol’ wedding cake and they choose to include traditions that are important to them and they write their own vows that make the photographer cry like, super hard.
These two – and their amazing wedding – all the reasons I love what I do. Lauren + Sam – you are magic!
team:
Planner / Adina of Hoopla Events
Venue / The Hill (Hudson NY)
Florist / DIY
Hair / Alyse Camara
Makeup / Jillan Burraby
