As I wind up this year to return to my first love and profession (as a wedding florist no less) and think about 11 years of back to back weddings, so many nuptials have hazed into one. Some do stand out in my mind for good reasons (like the wedding where the bride had her dress dyed pantone Fandango Pink 72 hours before the ceremony) and not so good reasons ( the groom's father suffering a fatal heart attack during the nuptials) but between the highs and lows, its the acts of spontaneous joy that come through the wedding fog to remind me again and again, that a wedding really is a monumental life event.
Now, that doesn't mean the wedding itself have to come out of the box with a brass band and bunting, but it does mean, in my eyes at least, that you need someone to capture those unexpected flourishes of your day.
"I forgot that even happened!"
"WOW, look at him!"
"I can't believe I missed that"
"I look incredible in that light"
"I didn't realise how beautiful I looked"
I have heard these exact quotes countless times during the post wedding photo meetup. And nearly every couple have agreed, in hindsight, that they would have photographed more if they'd realised how important it was before the wedding. And when they say "realise" they mean they wished they'd spent more money on it because believe me, I start drumming the importance of a photographer from the first meeting.
Do I ever stop talking about the importance of photographers at your wedding? Nooooo, probably no. But my reasons are good ones: I've seen too many images like the one above, lost forever. Sure, I have them in my mind. But 5 years, 10 years on, I can't even remember the name of the couple, so what use are such emotional snapshot memories I hold, to them?
Sometimes you can't even see the beauty of what is unfolding because you're swept up in the moment of it all. Which is how it should be, don't get me wrong - but after the investment of a wedding, its something that you want to have to look back on too. Please don't skimp on your wedding photographer. Photos like this one and many more besides, are the reasons why.
