My Philosophy
THE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE MATTER
The wedding industry is FULL of surface-level bullshit. You need this, you need that. Be trendy. Be skinny. Be white. Be rich. You should have a big wedding. You should elope just the two of you. Spend money. Save money. Do this. Do that.
I’m going to stop you right there.
There’s only one thing that matters. The people.
The people matter most.
You. Your partner. Your community. The people who have made you who you are today.
Why? Because they are the people you can be your most real, most authentic, honest self with. The people who know you better than you know yourself. They are the people who complete you.
When I was growing up, I struggled with feeling like I wasn’t good enough. I was SO hard on myself about everything. I was a perfectionist and I couldn’t live up to my own standards. But when I was with my friends, I felt like I WAS enough. They completed me. I could be my true self with them. My goofy, playful, bold, overly-honest, hard-working, real self.
I believe this is true for many of us. The people in our lives complete us. They are really, really important, and you know what? They won’t be around forever. None of us will. Nothing is forever (except maybe the internet). I know it’s morbid, but it’s a part of life. We love people and we lose them. Weddings are a complicated mixture of love, family, friendship, connection, sprinkled with loss, hardship and pain. There are SO many layers of humanity, so many threads of interwoven stories coming together for one day or one weekend.
I’m a photographer who revels in these backstories. I straight-up love the chaos of a big party where all the people you love have come together into one place. Because they love you. And you love the shit out of them. And because there’s wine (hopefully lots of wine).
Today I use my camera to tell the big stories (your marriage) AND the smaller backstories (candid moments of the people who support you). I also use it as a tool to remind you that YOU are good enough. I know how hard it is to measure up in this crazy world we live in. I know how vulnerable it feels to throw a big party and worry that people will judge everything about it. But photography is powerful, and it can show you the sides of yourself that you don’t always see. Your beauty. Your personality. Your relationship. It can bring you confidence and happiness. And that is why I do what I do.
And of course, because big, bold, vibrant weddings are a freaking blast. But you knew that already!
