A Garden Wedding/Doug and Jennifer
Thursday Aug 4th, 2016 I got the honor of being able to be the photographer at a beautiful garden wedding in Kingston Washington. Upon arrival at this garden I got to take a little trek through the wooded garden with flowers all around, I passed a pond on my right and a hydrangea bush on my left. I felt like Alice wondering around wonderland while I was walking through the gardens, I walked down the paths in search of the venue that would hold the ceremony and reception. I came to the house that had the wedding party and there is where this begins.
I met with Jeni prior to the wedding to go over the details of the big day. She was full of excitement, as every bride should be, for the big day she gets to say "I do" to the one she gets to spend her life with. I was able to see pictures she had taken of the venue while there earlier that week and I was so excited to have the chance to work at that venue. The gardens were amazing and Jeni was in love with this little spot next to a pond in the wooded garden area, which is where we started off their portraits. At the beginning of their portraits there was the "first look" between Doug and Jeni. There was anxious excitement from Doug before his bride made her appareance, you could tell how excited and happy he was about getting to marrying her and anxious he was to see her in her wedding dress. When Jeni made her way to the garden for the first look you could tell how happy she was that her wedding day was here and even more so because it was Doug who was her groom waiting for her in the garden. First looks are one of my favorite things about shooting weddings, there is so much nervous anticipation at seeing each other for the first time on your wedding day, I especially love it when the bride and groom choose to see each other before the ceremony because it gives the two of them such a private moment together without anyone else around except the photographer. It is such a great moment to witness and be apart of.
After the first look, we made our way to the little pond to take pictures of them together. The scenary in this place made my job easy, since everywhere you looked their was something pretty in the background or next to them. It truly was such a great place to have a wedding. After all the portraits where done the ceremony began. It was in the middle of a beautiful area with a ton of flowers everywhere, it was beautiful. The brother of the groom married them which made for a great personal touch during the ceremony. After the ceremony, I awaited their grand entrance as husband and wife and so began their first dance. The first dance is another great moment during a wedding and I always seem to tear up during this part of the wedding. There is just something so special and real in the first dance with your spouse, they are the ones you will now dance all your dances with and it really rings true in that first dance together. It will be the first of many dances in the future and you get to build your life together now knowing that this person will always be by your side and it makes for a truly magical moment between the two of you. It is one of my favorite parts in the reception.
That concludes my time with Doug and Jeni at their garden wedding and I am so happy I got to be apart of their day and they let me capture one of the most important days of their lives. It was a beautiful wedding in the midst of a thousands flowers and a lot of love.
