In the handful of years that I’ve been doing wedding photography, this one singular moment will go down as one of my most memorable of all time.
Just 36 hours shy of one of the happiest days of her life, Julie came to the gut-wrenching discovery that she no longer had a wedding photographer. And just like her, my heart simply sank to the ground when I arrived at the very same, dreadful conclusion. I’ve heard of this happening with other couples, but never in a million years could I imagine this happening to one of my very own. In just 36 hours, I would most certainly be shooting a wedding – the bride just happened to be someone else entirely, at a venue almost 3 hours away (or two hours, if you’re driving like a mad-man).
Without going into the sordid details of how this came to be, I tasked myself with the monumental mission of making sure Julie & Tim were well taken care of. After 30 minutes of phone calls and social media blasts, my inbox was flooded with emails from all walks of life; good samaritans willing to offer their time and photography talents for folks they hardly even knew. I was quite surprised that within the hour, we were pretty much all good to go. These two lovebirds ended up with the one photographer in the world who could document a wedding day just like I do: Karis.
Combined with the help of our associate photographers and newly befriended colleagues, we had averted crisis, with 35 hours left to spare.
***
Because I was already booked for a 12-hour, 550+ guest wedding on the opposite end of the state, I never thought I would make it to their wedding later that afternoon.
But I made it, with plenty of time to spare.
(I wish all my brides were this happy to see me on their wedding day!)
Many thanks to the following folks who helped make this bride and groom one of the happiest couples in the universe: To Darling Paumen, JD Land, Rich & Christine Yodsukar, for going above and beyond the call of duty and friendship to help a fellow colleague in need. To my associate photographers Benson, MJ, Connie and Amanda, for being so dependable, awesome and constantly putting up with my crazies this past weekend. To Ann Marie, for agreeing to dive off the deep end with us. And to my amazing wife Karis, for always saving the day, always without hesitation or question. From the bottom of my heart, I want need to thank each and every one of you. I can’t express my gratitude enough, and I can only hope to someday repay your kindness 100-fold.
