The night of my glorious wedding, hours after the guests had gone, I couldn’t sleep. I sat in bed and tried to replay the day in my head. Although the festivities had lasted 18 hours, from prep time to bedtime, I could barely remember any details. What did the ceremony look like? Did my parents look happy? How did the bridesmaids look in their dresses? Wait, forget that, how did I look? (It’s all about the bride, isn’t it?) I had checked myself in a mirror only once that day.
Unless you’ve been married before, you have no idea how quickly it all speeds by. Experiencing your wedding day is like watching a video on fast forward. And, just at the moment you need it the most, the pause button is broken. You try, but you just can’t imprint all the memories into your brain.
I know my friends and family were there, supporting me. I know the tremendous surge of joy I felt when I stepped beside Dave, my husband-to-be, in the church. I just need a nudge in remembering the fine points. That’s where our magnificent photographers Huy and Gulnara, his assistant for that day, come in.
This week, I saw the photos they made and finally experienced my wedding the way it was supposed to be experienced. I saw it in slow motion. As I clicked through the pictures on my laptop, I wiped tears from the keyboard. Did you see how Dave looked at me in the church? Or how I stole a kiss from my father as Dave and I walked down the aisle? (I don’t even remember doing that!) Did you see how happy Dave and I looked on the dance floor? Well, I sure did. And now I can see it a thousand more times if I want to, thank you very much.
Huy and Gulnara captured those special moments for Dave and me, for our family and friends, and for the future. There are beautiful posed pictures and absolutely priceless candid shots, and I will treasure them forever. A single glance at those images sparks a wonderful wave of emotions that I felt that day.
In wedding photographers – the artists in charge of documenting the happiest, craziest, most spectacular day of your life – what more could you ask for? For me, those photos captured the overwhelming happiness of a perfect day. Even if I could, I wouldn’t change a thing.
– Juliet M.
Recently I had the honor of photographing the wedding day Juliet + Dave, two journalist friends from my newspaper days at the Dallas Morning News. The wedding was rich with lovely moments and true happiness and Juliet proved herself to be a capable planner and caretaker of every aspects of the celebration.
Here’s a show from their wedding :
Personally, one moment that really stood out for me was the car ride to the church with Juliet and her dad in which she recounted (to her dad) some of her memories of them from her childhood. It was obvious that she treasured their relationship. Seeing them together really made me want to be the best father that I can be.
And since Juliet’s a fabulous, world-reknowned writer, I asked her to share some words to go with some personal faves from Huy and Gulnara, our special guest star photographer from New York City:
