Elizabeth + Brandon | Married in Arkansas
“Love happens. It doesn’t care if it’s raining. It doesn’t worry about age. It’s not convenient and it doesn’t fit inside of a box but when it happens - you can see it. Just like the fireworks at the end of the night love illuminates the darkness inside of people and brings something beautiful into the night. I’m so grateful I got to witness this love, with these people, surrounded by so many familiar faces.”
I think there’s a few hundred people who may be a little surprised to see these images come out this quickly but I couldn’t sit on them any longer. When one of our team members gets married let’s just face it, there’s some special treatment. The truth is this wedding was like a who’s who of wedding people in Northwest Arkansas. Brandon’s mom said to me about 2 hours before the ceremony “it’s like our son is getting married today, I mean I know he’s like a son to you too” and my reply slipped out super fast “he’s more like a little brother”. The truth is, I didn’t know how much I believed that until I said it. Brandon was instantly a part of this company. There was some baggage there, and some growing pains. We had to learn to work together, and learn to be two pretty type A guys in the same company. I had to learn to understand why video is so different from something I know so well and he had to learn to understand why trusting me as a leader would be good for both of our futures but where we settled wasn’t as me being his boss, or really even his friend - but more like a big brother. Elizabeth came with him. From the moment I met Brandon there was an Elizabeth and I think that’s probably the case for most of his friends these days. The truth is, she’s been there - forever. They’re the kind of couple that found each other and then grew up together. All of the formative years were spent learning to live and love - each other and because of that there’s a maturity and wisdom in them that I really look up to even after ten years of being married myself. She’s calm, beautiful, steady, positive. He’s bold, assertive, smart, creative. Together they just kind of jigsaw into each other in a way that makes the most sense when the other is near by. When I was asked to shoot their wedding I was completely humbled. That’s not a humble brag, that’s reality. I was nervous, excited, motivated and then more things developed. Max : groomsmen. Justin : groomsmen. Jared : pastor. Amanda Reed (and the AMAZING Carol who works with her) : Planner. Genoa : makeup artist. Jordan : Hair. The list could literally go on and on. Don’t even get me started with the guest list. Donny Hubbard (my tailor), Guy (my barber), Jordan Craig (an old friend and another photographer), and the list goes on. For a wedding with 300 people, Brandon and Elizabeth packed some of the most influential, most known, and most beautiful people I know into one very large field and then…. It started raining. We say it all the time : don’t plan FOR plan B. Plan B should be option C. You should have plan A, Plan A.2, and Plan A.3 before Plan B but…. though we usually get a little bit lucky, the skies opened on this one. 250 people sat in a torrential rain storm as the moms walked down the aisle and guess what : nobody cared. As if God had one more little test up his sleeve and these two passed with flying colors Brandon smiled as his bride walked through the wet grass and for some odd reason as she hit the back of the aisle nearly every drop just… stopped. The temperature dropped from 95 to about 80. The clouds broke. The sunset was unbelievable and with the exception of a few random mosquito bites I quite honestly had one of the most fun nights of my professional life. (Complete with the first full slow dance I have had with Melissa in years). I could obviously go on and on here but the truth is if you made it through 125 photos, and then this series of run on thoughts you’re likely already bored so I’ll wrap up by saying this. Love happens. It doesn’t care if it’s raining. It doesn’t worry about age. It’s not convenient and it doesn’t fit inside of a box but when it happens - you can see it. Just like the fireworks at the end of the night love illuminates the darkness inside of people and brings something beautiful into the night. I’m so grateful I got to witness this love, with these people, surrounded by so many familiar faces.
