One year since my fiance saw me for the first time in my wedding dress.
I’ll never ever forget that moment: time absolutely stood still, and we were the only people in the room… I’ve watched the playback on CreativeLive (admittedly maybe one too many times) and I can’t believe how LONG it was. We had so much build up coming to this moment, so many stressful moments in planning a four week wedding, it all clashed together right when we saw each other. It was all worth it for this moment. I think I really realized that no matter if we had planned our wedding in 18 months or one, we would have had the same family drama, the same decisions over linen color, the same stressful tears. Ours was just bottled up and served in a 4 week time frame. We held each other during our first look, and both of us let go, it was here. Nothing could stop the freight train now, and at the end of tomorrow the only thing that would matter is that he would be my husband and I would be his wife. I laugh now, because most of my first looks as a photographer last about a minute tops. Ours was probably almost ten. Sorry about that.
One unreal experience.
For those of you who don’t know, a year ago, my husband and I got married live on the internet. We won a contest that provided us with our dream wedding for free. It was part of a wedding photography workshop offered by CreativeLive with uber famous and talented rockstar photographer Jasmine Star. Today marks the one year anniversary of the first day of the rest of our lives. I’m so thankful for everyone who made our “I do’s” possible. I’ve been pretty quiet about the entire thing, both here and in real life. Honestly, I was trying to live it like a bride, and I think afterward I suffered from a slight-to-moderate case of PTSD.
One amazing photographer.
It’s never good to open on a bad note, but I want to address that I heard through the grapevine, some people had a negative attitude while watching the class. I guess I should expect that everyone will have opinions, and success generally breeds jealousy and envy. Dale Carnegie said, “The person who gets the farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore.” Jasmine really took a giant leap in putting herself out there for the sake of educating other photographers, and as a photographer myself, I’m grateful for her fearlessness. It’s no easy feat to be placed in front of the entire world of your peers. Criticism is to be expected, but to those who were cruel and personal about it, shame on you and your small ugly minds. It’s easy to forget that words have impact, and as my father always said, “if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it at all”.
I want to say a few NICE words from a brides perspective on working with Jasmine as my photographer. First off, I will admit, I knew Jasmine before this all happened. I started reading her blog 3-4 years ago. Her canter and her wit made her blog a nice escape from my desk job at the time. I wasn’t a wedding photographer, nor did I have aspirations to be one. I was climbing my way up the commercial photography industry with dreams of becoming the next cover of Gourmet magazine, or maybe just being published.. anywhere… ever. Food, lifestyle, architecture, that was my life. I felt first love for Jasmine, and then understood her work. When I made the decision to change my path, I attended her very first workshop. So yes, maybe I’m biased, because I love her and don’t feel threatened by her openess. In fact, I hope it’s contagious and I catch it.
Seeing photographers from a Brides perspective was a different way to view the world I lived in. I’m a visual person. I realized the vision of what I wanted my wedding images to look like. How I saw myself through the camera…. Jasmine might not have been my first choice. Let’s be honest, she wasn’t even in the running because I’m not necessarily her bride, I’m poor. As it worked out, the thought of having Jasmine as our wedding photographer was as much a thrill as the wedding itself. We understood the connection she made with her clients, we could see it in her work. We put our trust wholeheartedly in her.
Jasmine’s selling point isn’t in her technical ability, her Photoshop skills, her posing, her eye. All of those are strong, this is true, but none of those are what we saw in her work.
Jasmine connected with us. She KNEW us. What we see in our wedding images is our connection with each other… and that was made possible because we are relaxed and comfortable with her. She took the time to learn about our family and friends and made them feel important and included. We saw that, we noticed that. She must have asked me 5 or 6 times on my wedding day how I was doing, how I was feeling, did I need anything? She and JD (and maybe another photographer or two?) made a point to take a gorgeous portrait during cocktail hour of every guest that attended our wedding. Our images might not be heavily composed, or lit, or photoshopped. They might not be cutting edge poses, or something you haven’t seen before, but they are of US, and we cherish them because they remind us of how we felt on our wedding day, of how our photographers made us feel while we were taking them, of how we felt toward each other, of how our guests felt about being there. These are all things that make our experience as her clients unmatched. We will forever be evangelists for her and her business.
Can you believe I have nothing negative to say? I’m trying to come up with something to keep it objective…. If I think of something I’ll edit it in.
I’ve only ever shared detail photos on this blog, but today I wanted to share with you some of the images I cherish from our wedding day. I hope you’ll be surprised.
I love this photo, it’s of me and I can’t believe how sexy, feminine and glamorous this makes me look. It’s just of my feet! Which I’ve never liked by the way. This photo makes me love my feet, and especially those shoes on my feet.
This photo is SO BILLY…. it cracks me up. This is how he puts on his shirts every morning. Why would his wedding day be any different? Notice: the tie is already tied on the shirt, and it’s completely buttoned. Weirdo. I adore this image of him.
Each one of these women means the world to me.
This image perfectly illustrates what I was trying to describe. I am so soaked in him, and when I see this picture it takes me right back. It was so natural. I love that I’m holding his hand behind my back, and intertwined with him like I never want to let go. It still makes me cry to see this.
To me, this image exudes confidence. Neither of us were scared, timid or unsure of the commitment we were about to make. This images shows the strength of our love.
One image that says it all.
This is it. If I only had this one image from our wedding day, I would be happy. This is the moment right after we exited the building from our ceremony. It’s a split second, and I can’t believe Jasmine was even there, I don’t remember her being there. This image sits framed on my desk, and every time I steal a glance, it makes me cry. I love this image above every other.
This is somewhat of an inside joke. But I can share with you that it involves a very embarrassing moment between one of my bridesmaids, and my father-in-law. I’m not sure which photographer snagged this gem, but I love you forever.
This picture is so perfect on so many levels. These two can gab on the phone for hours. It’s ridiculous. You would think I live with a 13 year-old girl with the amount of giggling, feet kicking and hysterical banter that goes back and forth. These two are soul mates, well second to me.
The atmosphere of the evening… so memorable, so awesome.
One Million Thank you’s:
Thank you Jasmine, JD, Sachin, Nate, Victoria, Stephanie, and Audrey for your breathtaking imagery and commitment to making this entire experience for us about us.
Thank you Celeste for being a shoulder to cry on and an advocate for me, and for holding everything together. To you I give: producer of the year.
Thank you Craig for believing that everything I could dream was possible.
Thank you Chase for letting me have my chairs.
Thank you world wide web for all of your cheers and congratulatory tweets on our wedding day, it wouldn’t have happened without you.
Thank you Billy for asking me to marry you, and agreeing to take this leap of faith in life starting with this very bizarre way to plan a wedding.
One incredible year full of life’s unyielding changes and triumphs.
One UNREAL honeymoon to Europe (which I can’t remember if I blogged about, so probably not… maybe I should do that).
One amazing meal on the day of our wedding.
Or actually two if you count last night. Last night we went out to Russell’s to celebrate our first year of marriage. Chef Ben Riggs re-created our wedding menu just for us. It was like living it all over again… so divine. We were so busy hiding during cocktail hour, coupled with the fact that they were so delectable, the appetizers went really fast. I didn’t get a single one. AND my bustier was so tight, I couldn’t enjoy much of my dinner. In fact, I got up halfway through the main course, went in the bathroom, took it off and threw it in the trash. The next person who threw their paper towel away was probably pretty alarmed. :-) Russell was right… with everything going on at the event, the only thing the guests still comment on, is the food.
Last night I wore a really comfortable outfit and stuffed my face.
One tiny life that is growing inside of me. Loved already so much by these two parents. Maybe it’s the hormones, but I’ve never felt happiness and excitement quite like this. We are overjoyed with the realization that our dreams of having a family together are very near.
Looking at the above picture now, I probably shouldn’t have been holding Billy’s wine. But that’s just my sense of humor :-) I promise, I was only smelling it.
Thank you for reading this far.
All our love,
Laura and Billy
2 people have commented
Adore the truly rustic feel of this wedding. Stunning work!
Love, love, love their portraits! Such a beautiful wedding