Let me put it simply and confidently: you have not seen such a wedding in my portfolio…
Where, where do I begin? First, this is perhaps the silliest bride I photographed. She is gorgeous but making faces is her second nature, making the phrase “crazy beautiful” oh, so fitting! In fact, this phrase was my original blog title until I chose the cover image. You know that I select my titles arbitrarily and seeing this image immediately brought the vision of Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus (1480).
However, the biggest differentiation is the intimacy, warmth, and sincerity, embracing this backyard wedding. “Down to Earth” is another thing that comes to mind and is reflected in both couple’s demeanor and the decor, appropriately set for this rustic wedding. Rustic is my thing, my own wedding was as such last year in Moldova. I’ve photographed such weddings before, from Alaska to Colorado to Vermont, but this wedding is as close to my own as it gets, making it truly unique and personal in my books. As I was watching and documenting, I could not stop drawing and counting the parallels. Consider this: a beautiful but easy going bride, groom flies from abroad, both have teen children, a touching bond between a stepparent and stepchild, rural surroundings, folk music, Baby’s Breath (Gypsophila) flower crowns, sack decorations, swans swimming nearby, even planting a tree! Oh, and this wedding happened the very next day after my wife’s arrival to the US! She was too tired to come help me, otherwise she would possibly have similar flashbacks.
Very special moments were Alexandra’s sister singing and the bride’s emotional dance with her father, accompanied by a nostalgic story from their far past which led to the dance.
Every wedding is different in its way but there is so much special about this rustic wedding, I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.
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