Dragonfly Photography
One of the most beautiful things about being a wedding photographer is getting to know each bride. It’s a unique relationship building trust with someone over a year-and-a-half to two years as they’re approaching one of the most important moments in their lives. Cait and I first met when she was the maid of honor in her best friend’s wedding. Six months later she called me and told me that it was her turn and we began the journey of preparing for her big day. Although, because she lives very far away from my local West Palm Beach area in the beautiful destination of Michigan, most of our getting-to-know-each-other was done over video chat, on the phone and through an occasional excited text message (which obviously included pictures). 😉
I love Cait’s kindness, her thought towards other people, her love of her family and her compassion to those around her. She loved planning her wedding, down to every sweet detail and the light color palette. But she never lost sight of the really important things, the things beyond shades of color and details. Things like marrying the man of her dreams and celebrating with her loved ones. I really love brides like that.
Being involved in wedding days, I often have a front seat to a wide variety of different family dynamic relationship trends and the overall adventures that come with putting a lot of people together in a very high-stress/ high-emotion situation. One of the things that I always pay attention to, is the bride’s closest friends. You can tell so much about someone by the people that she surrounds herself with. As I watched Cait on her wedding day, I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen a group of friends more focused on serving and loving the bride than these ones. They were 110% there for her, to love on her, to celebrate with her and to stand by her side. I absolutely adore seeing groups of friends like that.
Oh, and then there was Joey. That man was so excited to see his bride, there are hardly words to describe it. Caitlin and Joey decided to do a first look, which I love and always offer as an option for my brides and grooms. Caitlin told me that she couldn’t have imagined her day without it, and I tend to feel that same way. Just the pure excitement in Joey’s eyes waiting for his bride was one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen. At one point I told Joey that I was headed to go see Cait and I would be back with him in a little while. His response was, “you’re so lucky to be seeing her”. 😉 These two have dated for 6 years and were both just beside themselves ready for this day to finally be here.
Joey was a recent graduate of Michigan State University (and I’m a huge Spartan Fan) so we naturally did their first look on the MSU campus, which is so pretty (in case you couldn’t tell). By the time Cait was ready to go see the man she would marry she was a vision. Just absolutely beautiful to the core. I don’t even know how to describe her; stunning, classic, timeless? She was breathtaking.
There are a lot of images that I just adore from Cait and Joey’s wedding day, but one of my favorites by far is one from right before Cait tapped on Joey’s shoulder during their first look. She was so beyond excited to get to him. Like, nothing else mattered but just getting to that moment… I cannot look at that image without massively smiling. I adore how they love each other.
A destination like Michigan is just so full of greenery and beauty. And all of that beauty is just VASTLY different than the south Florida tropical beauty we enjoy locally. Guys, I even saw a Bambi. 😉 The ceremony was outdoors, on a lake with a massive weeping willow tree in the background. The rain decided to hold out until we were just finished with the ceremony and the guests had time to move inside for the cocktail hour. Thank you very much, Michigan weather… 😉
It was a beautiful classic wedding from start to finish. Caitlin and Joey, it was an honor to be trusted with your beautiful day. You are both kind, caring, beautiful people and I cannot wait to see what your lives will hold. Everyone else, enjoy.
