You are the finest, loveliest, tenderest, and most beautiful person I have ever known and even that is an understatement. F. Scott Fitzgerald

Monica is one of the first brides in the long list of girls I’ve worked with that informed me on the day of her wedding “we will be friends after this - you don’t have a choice”. It’s kind of funny to me how many of our brides over the years we kept in touch with. This is a really unique relationship in that we’re paid to be a part of such an incredible intimate, vulnerable day. And there’s so many moments that I am the only witness to that we’re often kind of connected with our clients at the end of a wedding. But truth be told, often as a new wave of brides comes in for the next year and life settles down for a couple after their wedding I often become the photographer friend. The person you’re happy to hug and catch up with in passing but not necessarily the person you think about on a consistent basis. That said, when Monica told me that she didn’t want our friendship to just settle it meant a lot to me. Truth be told everything about this process with these two was pretty unique. Monica is a big personality. She’s bold and opinionated and still somehow against most of the odds of that personality she’s incredibly sweet, kind, and very easy to be around. If you read about her bridal shoot earlier this week you know that we had a blast on that shoot because she showed up completely alone. In that moment I was photographer and bridesmaid and we really had a blast trying to maneuver her in that enormous gown for photos without any help. The wedding day itself was wonderfully without drama. Nothing went wrong all day which is saying a lot considering it was pretty dang cold out and very windy.

The day started with hair and makeup, an important part of the day for us to catch because it gives us a chance to get the girls and the bride calm and ready for a fun day. The candid moments are pretty priceless but in reality this little bit of time isn’t about the photos - it’s about setting the mood for the day. We walk in loud, excited, and ready to party and usually our bridal parties feed on that energy a bit. As we ran out for the group shots and the first look it was completely obvious that this day was going to be a blast. I wasn’t really sure what to expect out of the ceremony since I knew it would be super dark inside this venue. Fortunately with the help of the Bates-Reed girls and Amanda Reed I was blessed with a wedding planner totally willing to help us with the light a bit. And after a super short and sweet ceremony (that we pulled off btw) they dropped the drapes to reveal an incredibly decorate and gorgeously lit reception. The party started almost immediately and ran for as long as Monica was on the dance floor (which was all night) and by the time they left we were all excited to see the snow machine’s do their magic.

I can’t say enough about these two. Jonathan is such a kind dad and just a nice guy. He’s even keeled and friendly to everybody around him and was nothing short of awesome to not only us, but all of the vendors all day. Monica was of course a beautiful bride but watching her with her kids celebrate this marriage was pretty special. They might not be the “traditional” family in that sense, but they’re absolutely an incredible family and those kids are so loved. THANK YOU to Monica + Jonathan for inviting us in and making us a part of the family for the day! I’m so happy to say we’re still friends after the wedding was over.