I don’t typically shoot weddings, but when an old friend reaches out to see if I’m available, I open up my calendar :)

Obviously 2020 did a pretty solid job at throwing wrenches in pretty much everyone’s plans, and 2021 kept the shenanigans going. For so many couples, this included throwing a million obstacles and adjustments into an already difficult to plan event: the wedding day.

When Matty and Naomi needed to change their wedding date, their original photographer was no longer available. They had started to accept their fate of not having someone capturing their wedding day when Matty’s brother, Eric, reached out to me.

Eric and I met in college when he lived one floor above me and had the most outgoing roommate in the entire building (…entire campus potentially?) whom I had quickly set out to become friends with. My first conversation with Eric actually was me complimenting his pretty eyes before informing him that his shirt was inside out. And backwards. So you could say our friendship has been built on a strong foundation of trust, always looking out for each other. When Eric called asking me to check my calendar, I knew I needed to make it happen. But this story isn’t about Eric, so let’s get back to the focus here!

I’ll get to more images of these two lovebirds below, but wanted to highlight two of my favorite things about their wedding day (sorry, Eric, you didn’t make the cut.)

First, I’m a sucker for nontraditional weddings that really incorporate the people and things that the couple loves. When Matty filled me in that his mom would be officiating, I think my heart squeezed. Maybe it’s being a boy mom now, but how absolutely heartwarming is it to have a mom be able to hand off her son and welcome her new daughter in such an intimate way? And she did a fantastic job!

If I were her, I think I would’ve been a mess when the bride and groom pulled out the vows they had each written.

And for my second favorite part of Matty and Naomi’s day!

When the three of us originally jumped onto a video chat prior to the big day, they shared with me that they had a special spot that they were hoping they could maybe go after all the pictures were done to get a few of just them. They shared that this spot was something that meant so much to them and that they hoped it wouldn’t be too much trouble to make that happen, and if possible they wanted to bring their fishing rods. I knew immediately, before even seeing the spot, that these would be their favorite photos from the day.

Congratulations, Matty and Naomi! I hope every chapter forward is filled with the same happiness as your wedding day.

Enjoy your honeymoon road trip, wherever it may lead!