Wow… All I can say is this wedding was fantastic. I really wasn’t sure how everything was going to turn out. It wasn’t going to rain, then it was, then it wasn’t. Oh, dear. It was going to be held at the farm, then at the chapel. Oh, the chapel… the lights. It’s not that I can’t do it. It’s that I have had the least experience working with indoor lighting, so it makes me nervous when I have to. Not to mention this indoor lighting was surrounded by wooden walls and blue stained glass windows. When we got the official no-go on the farm, we knew we had to set up lights at the chapel. Thanks to alumni-intern Whitney who second-shot with me and her husband Tri, we were able to get in there and play around for a little while to make sure that we had lighting to make it look good. Whitney was able to shed some good insight to me on everything, and I feel good about how it turned out! All I can say is that it pays to have someone with you for a second opinion.

I have always said that I am a realist, however, I am also annoyingly positive. I think realists can oftentimes be dubbed cynics, but I am definitely not that way. Nope! I have always believed that having a positive attitude about what you’re doing reaps better results. So all day, rain or shine, I kept my head up and believed we would have amazing pictures. The good news – It didn’t rain until right before Savannah and Cris were about to leave the reception towards their honeymoon vacation. And yes, we shot some amazing pictures.

Savannah and Derek are just precious people. She couldn’t have looked more beautiful than she did on Saturday, and I could see it in Cris’ eyes that he felt the same way. I’ll admit, I get choked up at weddings, but that’s why I love photographing them. So much raw emotion lies everywhere you turn. Joy, Hope, Healing, Happiness, and Love Love Love. I was sitting in the tiny little aisle of the chapel as the bridal party finished walking through, and when the doors finally opened for Savannah to walk in, tears came to my eyes. I love getting caught up in the moment.

One thing I took away from this experience was that it is always important to share in the joy of the bride and groom. I can honestly say that I shared in Savannah and Cris’ joy, and now… I invite you to do the same.

xoxo

Kristen. Bell. Found. Lovely. Weddings. LeahAndMark.com