Okay, first of all, for all you out there who have ever asked me to do your wedding pictures in the past and I simply explained that as much as I appreciated the offer but “I do not do weddings” this wedding was a little different. And here is why; Emily had a photographer lined up, she had been talking to her for several months when at the last minute – the week before the wedding to be exact – the deal fell thru. For some reason or another, the photographer was not able to do it. And that is when Emily called me. She called me on a Monday night (the wedding was going to be that coming Saturday) and explained it all to me. She then asked if I would mind doing the wedding pictures for her. She assured me that if I did not want to do it that she would understand and told me that if I would do it she knew without a doubt that I would get exactly what she was looking for. Now, that was awfully sweet of her, and I had done the pictures of the field asking her to marry for Derrick and then did their engagement pictures, but a wedding? Oh boy, was I nervous! But how could I say no? I mean, she was in quite a predicament. So I agreed that I would do it.

As we pulled out of our drive to head over to the wedding I could feel my heart beat a little faster. I tried to think if I was forgetting anything important; memory cards, extra battery, lens, etc. I confessed to Stuart that I was nervous and wondered if I could do it. He, of course, having all kinds confidence in me, told me that I would do just fine. He told me that it was okay to be a little nervous, he had been nervous at some of his best baseball games. He said not to let it get the best of me and just go “do my thing”… So, with all that being said, I went out and I did it. I took pictures, I pulled on collars, I walked and squatted in heels, and boy do I have a new respect for wedding photographers – It is a ton of work!

But in the end I was quite happy with my images. I had fun, but I was also reminded of why I have turned down weddings in the past. It is just a one shot deal, you can’t redo a wedding, and that in itself is a lot of pressure!

Derrick, Emily and your families:
Thank you for trusting me with your pictures more than even I trusted myself!

Derrick and Emily, I hope you two are loving married life! Congratulations!
Note: some of these pictures are a bit small becuase I made them into a little collage, but if you click on the image it should bring up a bigger picture for you…..