Where do I even begin on this wedding. I become attached to every one of my wedding clients. As weird as it is to say, in capturing their day, I share in their emotions which makes me feel connected to them. I’m am empathic person, so when my clients are happy, I’m happy. When they are sad, I am sad and every range in between. That’s one of the many reasons I love weddings- it’s such a beautiful thing to FEEL the love surrounding my clients and to witness and document their joy and create deeply meaningful photos that they can relive throughout their lives. I knew from Amanda & Nate’s Salt River engagement session that these two were the type that wore their hearts 100% on their sleeves. Amanda found me because she was looking for a photographer that was a little different- one that specialized in documentary style wedding photos for her summer Encanto Park wedding. Moments are my motivating force behind why I do wedding photography, and there were no shortage of beatuiful moments at their wedding. Yes, I said summer wedding- mid June, in fact. I’m not going to lie, I was more than a little concerned when I was looking at the forecast the week of their wedding. Their wedding was Saturday, and temperatures were forecasted to reach record highs of 120+ Sunday and Monday. At one point during the wedding day, my car’s thermometer read 118 degrees. With a good number of guests coming in from out of state, I was concerned that we’d have someone pass out during the ceremony, so I brought some cooling neck towels and quickly became the wedding party’s best friend! Luckily, we had no heat exhaustion or fainting! And Amanda & Nate were even interviewed on the news on a story about the heat! Every one of my clients are deeply thoughtful people who truly love their “tribe”- their family and friends who support them but Amanda & Nate stood out especially in this regard and in turn, their family & friends deeply reciprocated that fierce love with gifts from the heart and surprises throughout the day. It was truly a blessing to witness and in part share in that- as cliched and frou-frou as that sounds, I mean that as deeply as these two love each other and their tribe.
Vendors who made this beautiful day happen!
Venue: Encanto Park
DJ: Rockett Events
Catering: Birt’s Catering
Dessert: Le Grande Orange
One of Amanda’s bridesmaids gave her a jar full of teensy daily affirmations for the year. She drew a random one on her wedding day and read it out loud while getting ready- and of course it was the most perfect one. “I have a personal ambition to live my life honestly and honor the true love that I’ve had and also the people around me.”
Amanda & Nate had a family friend make their rings which were simple gold bands. The goldsmith told them that the gold used in their bands were especially valuable- he used gold from family & friends’ jewelry and gold from his wife’s ring, truly precious gold.
During the mother of the groom’s toast, she recalled the day that 3 year old Nate asked about the meaning of Valentine’s Day. After explaining it to him, he excitedly set off making something. “Who is that for?” his mom asked. “My future wife,” Nate exclaimed. She asked him if she wanted him to keep the gift for his wife when the time came and kept it until his wedding day. No doubt, Nate had completely forgotten about the gift, judging by his reactions as his mom gave Amanda the gift from the 3 year old Nate…
One of Amanda’s bridesmaids learned to play the ukelele and surprised Amanda with a performance of “Can’t Help But Falling In Love With You”.
