Our Wedding! | Why I Love Documentary Photography & Films | A Personal Post
Our wedding was a long time coming! Jack and I met at our church youth group while in high school in 1998 - I was a sophomore and he was a senior. We had a fairly short, but very sweet relationship. I wasn’t quite mature enough to see the gift that was right in front of me. We were talking about getting back together when he met someone else, whom he ended up marrying and having two beautiful girls with. Their marriage ended six years in and he became the primary parent for his daughters. We reconnected when he came back to Jacksonville after serving six years in the Air Force.
We were together for about a year, but I had some personal struggles that ultimately pulled us apart. After this, we were on again, off again for several years. It felt like we could never get the timing right, though we cared about each other very much. On the off times, I still enjoyed getting together with his daughters and we had a precious relationship through the years. We both dated other people, but seemed to keep coming back to one another. There was something about him, about us, that was undeniably true, pure, and lasting.
In the summer of 2022, we were just friends, but I suspected that perhaps there were feelings still present for him. I knew they were still there for me. At this point, the last time we had dated was many years prior, so I wasn’t really sure how this would go. We had a serious talk and decided that we were certain that we wanted to be with each other. We were done with this back and forth pattern, and felt such a pull toward each other. We went straight from a friendship to an engagement, and then a marriage within six months! Even through all the difficulties, we just knew we were meant for each other.
When we began to plan the wedding, I knew that the first people I’d want to book would be my wedding photographer and videographer. Nostalgia and documentation are such an integral part of my life personally and professionally. I was so delighted that my photographer friend, Angie Tappen, and her husband Danny of Seaglass Photography were available. Angie and I had trained under the same world-renowned documentary photographer and I knew that their photos would be stellar and truly document the moments that were so important to us. I also had seen beautiful work done by Joshua Wicker of Luma Collective and was thrilled he was available to document through film. As I began to incorporate video into my own business, I’ve grown to realize just how powerful films can be. Documentary photography and films tell the truth about the immensity and complexity of emotions experienced. The good ones make you feel something when you see them - immersing you in those moments all over again. I never want to forget the way Jack and I looked at each other, all the silliness, all the laughter. If things get tough, as they almost always do, I imagine these images will help us find our way back. I’m so grateful to my friends who beautifully told our story - the end of twenty-four years of waiting and hoping, and the beginning of spending the rest of our lives together. These photos and film will never get old.
