April + Justin // Santa Ana, CA
When my husband and I got married, we were given every opportunity to have a wedding that made us happy. We went through the usual list: a fairytale garden estate, Disneyland (obviously!), a yacht in San Francisco, a barn with exposed beams, etc. But when it came down to it, we knew one simple thing was true: we love each other and the license is the same regardless of how you marry. We knew that after the details, the dinner, the cake, the type of music we chose, even where we had it, in the end we were still the same married as any other couple.
So we made the next logical decision: Palm Springs. It’s where I grew up, and it’s where it made sense to us to have a traditional, church wedding, with just our family and a few close friends. I didn’t wear a long dress, we definitely played the Star Wars wedding march, and we traded a carburetor for the best carrot cake we ever had. In the end, the wedding was so quintessentially us that anything else would have just been ridiculous.
I knew that worrying about the details, stressing about the timeline of the day, obsessing about every little thing wasn’t going to make me happy. I knew that nothing planned is ever perfect, and I also knew that I was marrying my best friend.
So I found a photographer on Craigslist, paid her $200, and told her I trusted her. I believe that putting that trust in her allowed her to take better photos, because she knew she could work creatively and freely in her element. And I absolutely love the photos that she captured. She was new to the business but she perfectly embodied our day. I wanted to give someone the opportunity to jumpstart their business and now she is very widely known for her wedding photography. It just goes to show that it isn’t the equipment or who they are or where they are from that makes a great photographer; it is their ability and their eye that makes them great.
We also gave her some moments that she can add to her resume for perfectly negotiating around! Because it’s really not a wedding day unless things go wrong, right? And that’s why it isn’t necessary to worry about everything being perfect, because in the end, you are marrying the person that you love, and that is what makes it perfect.
I absolutely love capturing weddings that embody this principle. Weddings where the couple is so wrapped up in their love for each other that everything that happens is just part of the day. They are memories. I love working with couples who put their trust in me to capture their unique wedding day and tell a story, despite anything that happens, and knowing that they trust me to tell their day better than another photographer could.
Working with couples like that is what brings me joy as a photographer. Working with couples who know that I am great at what I do, but also that I want to bring out what is great in their day. I put all of my faith in the couple to trust me and to let me do my job to the best of my ability and serve them, and it is always a pleasure when I can work with couples who allow this to happen.
