Connecticut based
wedding and portrait photographer

Emotional Fall Wedding in the Woods in Connecticut

Weddings

November 15, 2024

Jane and Devin’s emotional fall wedding in the woods made me stop and reflect. Looking through these images now, I realize this experience brought me back to myself in a way. Let me explain.

This wedding happened sooner than expected. The couple had planned to do it differently–more extravagantly, perhaps, and definitely larger. But life throws obstacles in our way that change our priorities, and time itself comes to mean something entirely new (as does photographing a wedding.)

Jane, the bride, called me, hoping to book me on pretty short notice. Despite her high emotions, she kept her voice steady as she recalled the sad circumstances that had altered her wedding plans and made them fast-forward everything to the Fall of 2024, in her father’s backyard. Her father was dying, and she was racing to plan her wedding to make sure (if at all possible) he would be there to walk her down the aisle.

Unlike most of my clients, I didn’t have a long time to get to know Jane and Devin. I didn’t do an engagement shoot with them, or spend hours talking through timelines or trusted vendors. I didn’t bring a second photographer, nor did I stay for eight hours. Instead, I arrived barely more than a stranger to make sure these moments were captured in a beautiful and loving way, and left after about three hours. You can see for yourself a bit of how their modest (but beautiful) day unfolded, although this small gallery only scratches the surface of the emotions I witnessed that day.

I sent their sneak peek within a few days of the wedding and sent the full gallery as soon as I could. It turned out my timing was somehow, miraculously, perfect. Jane responded to my email several days later, thanking me. Apparently she was able to look through the photos with her dad when they arrived. He passed away the following day.

When clients share stories like these with me or tell me their deepest, truest motivations for hiring a photographer, it moves me to my core. I’m always going on and on about the soul of my business, but this is it. Documenting LIFE as we live it with our most cherished people–and getting to see something of our realest selves captured, magically, in the act–is what DRIVES ME. Having been there to make photographs of Jane and her dad that otherwise wouldn’t exist; getting to witness and freeze those short moments when he walked her down the aisle, means she gets to hold on to those memories in a more tangible way. When she misses him, as she surely will for the rest of her life, she will at least be able to see herself in his embrace and watch his face light up when he saw her in a way she might not have done in real life. (Moments pass FAST, especially when we’re emotional.)

All of this is not to say how important I am or how amazing this thing I do is–far from it. Instead, I feel deeply humbled to have been a part of this wedding, of this precious event crafted to wring a little more out of life. I’m so grateful Jane invited me to document these memories for her, Devin, and the rest of their families. And if you ever get to thinking wedding photography is superficial or self-involved, remember this: weddings are moments that draw communities together. They are rare, important rituals we participate in communally. And for that reason (and a whole bunch of other ones), they deserve to be documented with respect, emotion, and love. We never know the full import of photos until life changes things we thought unchangeable (a thing life seems hellbent on doing).