Best Wedding Photos of 2023

Jan 4

The best wedding photos of 2023

It’s the most daunting task each year going back through our photos and trying to organize the very best images. This year I wanted to do things just a little differently. Instead of a hodgepodge of wild moments from weddings here and there I actually tried to build the entire post out chronologically. A little taste of the images, the style, the moments from every single wedding we shot in 2023. The fun here is that these aren’t the “best” photos in my opinion, but they are totally indicative of the day. Photos and moments and memories that felt like the day, brought back the feelings of the light, the weather, the joy, the emotion. You’ll see in here a vast difference in styles and compositions because I’m such a huge believer in shooting these days as they feel rather than trying to stencil out how the perfect wedding looks. From our very first wedding of the year up in New Jersey at the Shadowbrook to the last one in Port Jefferson, New York with a million Crystal Bridges and Osage House stops along the way right here near home in Bentonville, Arkansas. These wedding photos are all about one important thing, the single thing that makes each wedding truly unique.

The People are the secret sauce.

I spent 2023 trying to get out of the hole that so much of the wedding photography industry has fallen in. A predictable shot list of fake laughter and forced poses and ventured into totally uncharted territory for us. A whole year spent shooting weddings in still frames and imagining them as films. As though each of these images was a still frame right out of a beautiful movie around two remarkable people and their families and their most special day. I cozied up to film makers and videographers to get to know their process better. I became comfortable taking images that are out of focus or just missing moments all together in the hope that what we deliver to our couples is this artistic collision between poetry and prose. All of the facts of the wedding in tact. The way the dress looked, the flowers, the lights and decor and toasts and dances but held together by the glue of beautiful light, texture, movement, emotion. What we were left with?

A completely renewed passion for storytelling.

Mid way through the year we took on the ultimate challenge. I believe it was 6 or 7 weddings in a row at Crystal Bridges museum. Different florists, planners, bands, decor, and certainly couples to work with but the venue would be the same. No breaks. It was a challenge I knew going into the year would either blow the doors wide open on our creativity or send us into a spiral of wishing it would all end. To be fair so much of my career has been spent traveling and shooting at places I’ve never even seen before that the venue often is the inspiration behind a lot of our creativity but during this month and a half right in the middle of the year we’d face the challenge of finding story that includes the location but doesn’t rely on it completely all with the goal of creating unique images for each and every one of these couples. The result? Well - I’m pretty blown away to say we pulled it off but in the process we learned so much. Learned that form and function shouldn’t dictate art. That we can be in the same room over the course of three or four weeks and as long as we lean into the stories of the people in that room every week feels unique. We learned that love comes in many different flavors.

We worked with the passionate couples, the passive couples, the shy couples, the partiers, the romantics, the sarcastics, and every mixture you can imagine.

So where are we in 2024? Well - to start with. Grateful for the reprieve of about 6 full weeks off. Time to celebrate the holidays with our families and organize new projects we’re taking on. Grateful that our 2024 calendar booked earlier than any other year in the last 15 and we have a full view of what our year is going to look like before we even really dial into it. Grateful that we have the friendship of Jared and I working to serve these couples and their families with still what seems like no ceiling to the creativity we feed off of. Grateful that we have our families, our kids, our homes that sustain us when we’re exhausted or depleted or just flat out grumpy from week after week of a fulfilling but very intense job. Grateful for the vendors we get to see and hug at weeks at home and grateful for the new friends we’ll meet on our adventures abroad this year. Besides grateful? Well - we’re booked almost solid, and booking for 2025. We’re taking on some new things this year such as being the onsite creatives for a friend of ours who owns 12 different companies and needs some good idea guys in his corner. We’re midway through the ranch documentary and already chatting with a few new companies about taking on the next one. We’re stretching ourselves out creatively with new equipment, new ideas, and new goals all with the intent of bringing it back to the table each week at a wedding and giving you guys, our couples the very best we have to give.

So if you’re in this list of amazing, beautiful, caring couples who have allowed us to be a part of your special day in 2023. THANK YOU, and if you’re on our calendar for 2024 or 2025 THANK YOU, we’re humbled by your trust and can’t wait to see how your moments come alive through our lenses! XO - Miles

Taylor + Matt. The Shadowbrook. New Jersey

Kathryn + Bryant. Spain Ranch. Jenks, Oklahoma

Olivia + Andrew Crystal Bridges. Bentonville, Arkansas

Serafina + Alex Crystal Bridges. Bentonville, Arkansas

Anita + Taber Crystal Bridges. Bentonville, Arkansas

Caitlin + Collin Crystal Bridges. Bentonville, Arkansas

Amy + Steven. Cooper Chapel. Bella Vista, Arkansas

Abby + Grayson Crystal Bridges. Bentonville, Arkansas

Jessica + Dane Alda’s Magnolia Hill. Little Rock, Arkansas

Alie + Hunter Osage House, Bentonville, Arkansas

Jordan + Jordan Osage House, Bentonville, Arkansas

Claire + Jack, Sole East. Montauk, New York