So. By now, I think I’ve established (again. and again. and again.) how very much I absolutely love weddings and an awesome job that lets me photograph them. Weddings. Love. Happiness. Warmth. Awesome. And this wedding was particularly awesome and important to me because it’s such a departure from big (and equally awesome) celebrations that I’ve become so accustomed to photographing. Why? Because the beautiful simplicity literally took my breath away.

Beth and Ben have the cutest “how we met” story ever: they met in elementary school, and then, fast-forward more than a decade later- a decade full of life and changes and cities across the country- they reconnected. They decided on a small, intimate ceremony in the prayer room of their home church and made it clear from our first meeting that photography was not only very important to them, but that it was also the only real “vendor” they wanted to be a part of their wedding. To be there on their wedding day- in such a private, emotional setting- was perhaps the biggest honor I think I’ve ever been given. The ceremony was one of the loveliest, most peaceful weddings I’ve ever been a part of- it was just such a wonderful celebration of love- and afterwards, we went back to the very elementary school where they’d met as kids. Bride and groom on a swingset? ABSOLUTELY.

Call it whatever you like. Small. Intimate. Elopement. I strongly believe that the most important thing you can do to begin your marriage is to do it in a way that makes you happy… because you two- and you two alone- are the ones in this thing. My favorite thing about my own marriage is the fierce sense of us- of being a team. I know that no matter what may come, it’s the two of us together. And starting out your marriage by doing it your way, making your own rules, and celebrating your love in a way that is most befitting to your story… well. There’s no better way to start writing that story than to begin at the beginning. We should all be so lucky to find the one who imperfectly fits us in a way that only our soul can really ever understand. It’s very me + you, just us two. And it’s precisely why I do this photography thing. I get to tell your story- from the beginning.

Beth and Ben, thank you. So very, very much. Congratulations, best wishes, and lots of love for a lifetime of happiness and remembering where you began. You. Are. Awesome.

Atlanta. Wedding. Photographer. Elopements. Travel. Love.