One of the main reasons we work to get to know our couples as more than just ‘clients for a day’ is because we truly believe that we make better photos of people we love. We choose to not use any zoom lenses (mostly because we feel they have inferior quality) so whenever you see a photo that looks like we were really close to the subject, we were. We also believe the photos that we make because we are close help you feel like you were really part of the story and the action, not simply a bystander from far away. Since it takes a sort of intimacy to get close, we always tell our couples that we come as if we’re family or a close friend… and we mean it.
We didn’t meet Stef in real (non-Skype, non-email) life before their wedding weekend, but she was a great bride – laid-back, yet organized, and completely, 100% trusting of our opinions and experience. :) We’ve known Khalid and quite a few of the wedding party from when we were first married, living in Chicago. He was already dear to our hearts and it didn’t take long for us to feel that way about Stef, as well.
Their ceremony was one-of-a-kind. (Not exaggerating for effect here.) Our dear friend, Lewie, officiated part of the ceremony, but Stef + Khalid were handed the mic for a larger portion of it, as well. They did something we’ve never seen before (it’s rare that we can honestly say that, but it really was). Before they said their vows they individually thanked each of their parents for the way they loved them. Then, one by one, they introduced their wedding party and said “this: ___ is why this person is standing up here today.” It made the wedding party meaningful, not just a group of placeholders wearing similar outfits. We were drawn in. To us, it said: these people really love each other.
Apart from loving Khalid + Stef as people, we loved a lot about their wedding day: the charming street where they first saw each other that day, the bowties, the farm, dodging horses to get fun portraits, the flashmob that happened on the dance floor and we really loved staying to the very, very end of the night.
It was a honor to witness and document their wedding — we hope we did it justice. And because it would be overkill to post 500 photos on a blog, here are just some of our favorites from the day. :)
