And then I photographed a few weddings.
Elizabeth is one of my closest friends. We met almost six years ago when we had both been accepted to Teach For America in NYC. Two years after that, we lived together in the east village before both moving out to live with our respective significant others. Now, we are married to them.
When Elizabeth and Grant first approached me about shooting their wedding, I was hesitant. I shot their elopement at city hall in March (which was easy and similar to a typical portrait session I am used to shooting on a regular basis). By the time their July ceremony and reception came around, I had already photographed a handful of weddings and felt more confident in my ability to document their big day in a meaningful (and technically sound!) way. However, it wasn't until after the day was fully finished that I really felt like I had come into my own.
I am proud of these images and grateful to have been given the opportunity to capture them. Elizabeth worked hard to make her wedding day personal, homespun, and absolutely filled with joy. How lucky I was to be a part of it.
This also serves to introduce my foray into wedding photography! My main focus moving forward will continue to be children & family portraiture, though I am now thrilled to add wedding photography to my repertoire. Please feel free to check out the newest section of my portfolio entitled Love & Marriage. It makes me smile to see all that luuurve in one place.
Venue: Private residence in Erie, PA
Bride's Dress: Ann Taylor
Bride's Shoes: Madewell
Groom's Suit: Suit Supply
Catering: The Concourse
Tent & Furniture Rental: South Shore Rentals
Floral Design: Mrs. Bigwood
Coordinator: Lynne Grychowski
Cake(s): Baked with love by bride's mother, Ann Carmichael
Stationery: Designed & printed by bride
Ceremony Musicians: Abby Badach (violin) & Patrick Doyle (guitar)
*And special thanks to my second shooter/handsome hubby, Tiho
Beyond exquisite Kayla, everything is just beautiful. The pictures convey so much. So proud of you.
ReplyDeleteaw jeez, now my cheeks are pink. xoxo.
DeleteYou amaze me sista
ReplyDeletethanks, lou bean.
DeleteI often frequent your blog but have never commented but had to tell you this time how absolutely gorgeous these pictures are! There is SO much emotion in each photo and the way you capture the light is magical. Hope to see more of your work with weddings soon!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Jenny! I wasn't sure I wanted to shoot weddings mostly because my real passion is capturing candid natural emotion and a lot of wedding photography is about capturing the event in its entirety and not missing a single detail. It was important to me to do that while maintaining my own personal style of evocative portraiture. I hope to feature more weddings soon!
DeleteI think these photographs are utterly beautiful. I hope that if I ever get married, I have someone as talented as you photographing the day. You've managed to photograph so much of the happiness that I imagine filled the day and the photos of the couple are filled with such love! The photograph of your friend and her husband in the sunset is mesmerising. I look forward to seeing more of your wedding photography!! :)
ReplyDeletewell of course! i would expect nothing less from you! congrats.
ReplyDeleteThese images are just so, so beautiful. They made me tear up and smile simultaneously.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your new foray, these are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteYou said, "There was a time I said I would never photograph a wedding."
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it was during that time that I said to Grant, "Maybe we don't need a wedding photographer..." And maybe I wasn't wrong. We didn't need "A Wedding Photographer!!", we needed you.
We cannot imagine our wedding (both of them!) without you. Your presence throughout the day was just like I know you to be always- full of joy, reassuring, thoughtful, and sincerely present.
We love the every one of the photos and we couldn't be happier that you changed your mind about photographing weddings. We're excited to see your "Love & Marriage" portfolio grow!
Lots of gratitude and love to you, Kayla.
totally gorgeous - I absolutely love the one where they are silhouetted against the sunset & I love all the fun & candid moments you captured :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know how you do it, Kayla, but your love sure breaks through.I'm so proud of you, even as I marvel at how well you do it, with such humanity and attentiveness and mastery.Copious kudos, Kayla Mer, and Happy Birthday Eve. xxoo
ReplyDeleteThese are so lovely, thanks for sharing your talent. It has been a rough few days and I loved looking at these. Truly stunning....
ReplyDelete,,,what a lovely wedding. and the photos are beautiful.,,,
ReplyDeleteHa ha… I was just surfing around and took a glimpse at these comments. I can’t believe that there’s still this much attention. Thanks for writing about this.
ReplyDelete