It's a surreal experience when one of your brothers--even brothers-in-law--gets hitched. Especially when you've never gone to a family wedding before. You get a glimpse of the true love, blood, sweat and chocolate that goes into even one event (though not at the same time, hopefully) that, as a guest, or a vendor, or a photographer, you never see. That being said, most of those moments still don't make it in the album very often, for various reasons; the number one being that it's nigh on impossible to keep track of all the little things each member of a new international alliance of families does to make it special.
What I can tell you, hinted at in these photos, when you're first-degree family of the bride and groom, a wedding is a labor of love. For instance, looking at the lovely details, you may just see something you'd pin on Pinterest, but what you won't see is that those vases were handmade, arranged and painted by the mother-of-the-bride and came across the Canada-U.S. border just to beautify the tables at the reception in Buena Vista, VA.
You won't see in the photo how the mother-of-the-groom and three sisters spent the better part of a week baking to make the cookies you see in the smorgasbord. Or that every sibling already married in the grooms' family contributed pieces from their wedding receptions (something borrowed, something blue anyone?) to the decor. Or that the bride's sister was designated unicorn watcher for one of the party's youngest guests. Or that Anna and David, the musical entertainment, practiced those songs for hours together before the party started. But if you're the bride and groom, or a knowing guest (or family photographer ;) ), you'll see those photos and that's what you will remember. That's the power of a photo: not just the beauty of what's in it, but the stories they capture or resurrect in our minds decades later.
So while all the cookies I ate last weekend (in polite proportion as a photographer, but perhaps not as a tired and hungry pregnant sister-in-law) may stick to me for a while, I hope these photo-stories stick to me even longer, and to the family, new and old, with whom I shared these moments.
Welcome to the family Sanneke! And congratulations to you and Bill! :) Choose your love, love your choice.
