Wedding du Jour: Chris and Sharay

::: To those how are growing weary of the endless stream of wedding photos, take heart: The Wedding du Jour tour is nearing its end. To those of you who can't get enough of this stuff, there are still a couple more to go before I'm all caught up. :::

I hope this isn't a dangerous thing to say, but sometimes my favorite photos from the day happen before the bride ever puts on her dress. I know, I know: Primping is decidedly girly, and many male photogs don't have a high tolerance for it. I've had corrosion on my lenses from being around so much hair product.

But unlike a wedding, the prep time is almost never scripted, and it can be prime time for grabbing some color that says a lot about a bride (or groom).

In the case of Sharay, she and her girls had their hair done at a family-owned salon in town. It's a place where a photo of Madame CJ Walker - a 19th Century woman who became the first African American millionaire by selling hair products - looks
down upon patrons and employees wearing an inspiring gaze.

Sharay and Chris must have caught that gaze some time ago. They are a savvy, business-minded couple who worked their way together through two MBAs at the University of Kentucky. They're the sort that seems to have everything put together far more than I ever will. And best of all, they're one of the most unassuming, easy-to-please couples I've ever met.

However, that didn't stop Sharay from sneaking away periodically to call the shots from her cell phone in a dark corner of the church. :)

Chris and Sharay, your wedding was a pleasure. Thanks for letting us be a part of it, for dancing incredibly well, and making us feel like part of the wedding party.

Wedding du Jour: Sam and Amber

Sam is the kind of guy you think about as you're watching the Olympics and wonder, shouldn't he be there?

Both he and Amber are the athletic match made in heaven, and they happen to also be great friends of ours. We wonder sometimes if we were their friends or wedding photographers first, and we're really not sure. Their wedding was so full of joking and laughter that we couldn't help but enjoy ourselves. Their chemistry as a couple is second to none, and I'm confident they will touch many, many lives for good in the years to come.

Most memorable quirk about their wedding? Their moniker as a couple, "Samber," was plastered on orange swag like coffee mugs and t-shirts, and given away as wedding favors. The groomsman politely cooperated with the theme by wearing the t-shirts for part of the reception, though one (anonymous) groomsman confided in me: "I don't quite get it, but I like Sam, so I'll do it for him."

I myself just sipped my coffee the other morning from my shiny Samber mug.

Wedding du Jour: Ryan and Erika

I have to admit, I was a bit nervous about Ryan and Erika's wedding. The day of their engagement shoot, Ryan seemed especially uninterested in the photos -- odd because I'm usually pretty good at making just about anyone comfortable in front of the camera.

Turns out Ryan was fighting with kidney stones that very day, and only got more sick before the wedding. Luckily, he recovered in time for the ceremony and we all had a great time. Somewhat at his expense, of course, as there was no shortage of kidney stone jokes at the ceremony and reception. :)

Ryan has a reputation as a hard-working, perseverance sort of guy, qualities that are essential to any good marriage. Congrats, you guys, and may your marriage be blessed all the days of your lives.

Wedding du Jour: Tyler and Kayleigh

Humor and irony are two of the most important elements I keep an eye out for when shooting a wedding. Maybe it's the mood I'm in depending on the day, but some weddings produce so many funny moments that I laugh through almost the entire post-production process.

Tyler and Kayleigh are easy-going, light-hearted people to begin with. And their wedding, at a seminary in Wilmore, KY, took on an especially whimsical feel for us - from the bridesmaid who decided to hang her dress from the boardmember portraits to steam it, to a glimpse of the sometimes unglamorous life of a DJ (I wonder how long it will take someone to capture a glimpse of the sometimes unglamorous life of this photographer?).

It's cliche but worth mentioning, as something I've learned in my own marriage: Laughter goes a long way in overcoming the often absurd little things that threaten a marriage.

Wedding du Jour: Matt and Mackenzie

One of my favorite behaviors at a wedding is when a bride or groom laugh a lot, because it's just about impossible to not shoot a beautiful wedding when everyone is having such a good time that they're laughing.

So luckily for me, Mackenzie almost never stops laughing.

Matt and Mackenzie are a remarkable couple because their responsibility and maturity are instantly apparent to everyone. Erika and I enjoyed watching just how much their family and friends looked up to them. Clearly, this couple is a source of strength for many people.

Erika ended up shooting one of my favorite images from the day, just before the garter toss. Often these images can be very routine, but there was something about the way Erika captured the men's expressions and their almost looming presence over the bride that is both comical and ominous at the same time (click on the photo to get a better look at their faces).

Wedding du Jour: "Bo" and Erin

Beautiful vineyard and cute kids. Hard to ever go wrong with those. Bo and Erin's wedding was packed with both.

They lucked out with a not-too-hot summer day for their ceremony and some beautiful afternoon light to accent their reception. They both had so many great interactions with their families and friends, we were practically stumbling over good moments to photograph.

Congrats, Bo and Erin. May these photos always be a reminder for you of the joy of your day for years to come, in good times and hard ones.

Aaron and Katie

Apparently, I like shooting feet. Occasionally, it pays off.

Aaron and Katie's wedding was a case in point. A super couple, they have good-looking faces, to be sure, and we took plenty of photos of those. But their feet are what made this wedding for me – especially the white go-go boots.

Sometimes a wedding party is so warm and so excited to have you there capturing everything, that you actually feel energized and refreshed at the end of the day. That was this group, all around, friends so close that a stranger would think they were siblings.

And who would have thought that a reception with jungle animals painted on the walls, anchored by Ale8 bottles, would be so classy?

Aaron and Katie, you relate to each other in a way that inspires and challenges me. Thanks for one of the most pleasant weddings of the year.

Nate and Courtney

If wedding photogs have nightmares, it would be shooting your close friend's wedding, only to have the limo driver speed away from the reception with almost all your equipment in the trunk. And then he would decide to turn his cell phone off.

Luckily, Nate and Courtney were incredibly gracious with me and, despite my having little more than a single camera, the wedding was a blast and the images turned out great. As often happens, my amazing wife worked tirelessly to fix everything – she phoned the limo driver until his inbox was nearly full and, after an hour, convinced him to drive across Louisville late at night to bring our gear back. In fairness, he was genuinely nice and super apologetic about the whole ordeal.

The theme for Nate and Courtney's wedding was good light. It followed them throughout the entire day. We've known Nate for years and have been blessed to grow closer to Courtney. We liked them so much we thought it would be great to move in down the block from them!

They have since welcomed us to the neighborhood by inviting us over to eat gallons of homemade vanilla ice cream. A good sign.

Nate and Courtney, you are both an encouragement to Erika and me and a joy to have nearby. We cannot wait to see where you end up as a couple.

Wedding du Jour

I've decided, it's time to buckle down and catch up on the slew of weddings that have never been posted here. So many good ones that it's hard to know where to start.

The goal: One wedding a day for as many days as it takes to get them posted here. But one caveat: Every wedding we shoot has so many great images, so many defining moments. In order that they don't all blur together too much, I'm posting just a few images from each. Not necessarily the ones that Mom and Dad will order prints of, just the ones I'll always remember from each day because of their uniqueness or even quirkiness.

And by the way, these will appear in no particular order - I don't want to get in trouble with anyone, and you know who you are :). All weddings are from the last few months.

Here we go...