Back in the spring I got word that a bride was looking for someone to do her engagement photos– and quick!  She’d had several sessions set up that had fallen through and her fiancé was about to deploy.  We talked and she was the sweetest person ever!  She had one window of time left in their schedules and it perfectly coincided with some free time I had, so we met up.

Afterwards, we talked more about her wedding and I found out that not only was it on a boat (which was a first for me), but it was also completely after sunset!  For a wedding photographer, that means we have to know our stuff– big time!  And for a photographer that loves natural light, I definitely had to stop and think for a minute whether this was something I could do and provide the same level of excellence.  It might sound weird, but we do that with a lot of weddings.  We look at things like our calendar, the venue, the style of the wedding, the lighting, and more!  Our goal is to combine our style with the couples personality and vision.

So I talked with Dana, and I made sure she knew that photos in the dark wouldn’t be the same as photos in a field at sunset.  I felt silly afterwards because of course she knew!  She planned her wedding the way she wanted it– not the way other brides wanted it.  I love that.  She looked at our portfolio of after-dark photos and knew that we were more than capable.

Then the wedding day came.  And it rained.  And rained and rained and rained.  It stopped for an hour or so, and we thought Yay!!! Maybe this means the wedding can be on the top deck!  And then it rained some more and at the last minute, Dana + Dave tied the knot in an intimate ceremony surrounded by their closest family and friends.  The smile on their faces says it all.  It doesn’t matter if they got married on the top deck or right next to their tables.  They were married, love was beautiful, and the Spirit of Norfolk did an amazing job helping us navigate through it all!  The captain even let us take some photos with flash up on the top deck once the rain slowed, and we were able to use the empty second deck to get some family photos out of the rain.

Thank you, Dana + Dave for trusting us with your wedding photos. You two are absolutely amazing and it was an honor to be there for your wedding!