Journal - The Pericht's

This wedding was extra special to me. My beautiful cousin Spencer was getting married, and she gave me the incredible honor of photographing it. I will admit, working weddings is a bit more fun when most of the guests are your loved ones. It truly feels like you get to be a part of the party! Being able to create a memory like that while on the job was so meaningful. The only tricky part was, I had to dodge some family during the day because everyone wanted to catch up, but I had pictures to take! Luckily, everyone understood. One of my favorite parts of the day was getting to see my great aunt, Spencer's grandmother, watch everything with so much love. My aunt means a lot to me, especially since she is one of the last few family members in her generation who is still with us. I sometimes had to remind myself to take pictures of other people because it was just so beautiful and irresistible to sit and watch her take it all in.

There were also so many thoughtful elements woven into the celebration. Spencer had taken a piece from her mother's and her mother-in-law's wedding dresses, sewn them onto the stem of her bouquet, and embroidered both pieces with their names and dates of their weddings. She also had the headband my aunt wore on her wedding day, and she embedded a pair of earrings and a handkerchief that belong to her other grandmother into her bouquet. She had a piece of each of the women who are most important in her life with her as she walked down the aisle. The also had a touching tribute to their loved ones who have passed at the front of the reception room with each portrait framed and on display. Then, another sweet moment happened during the first dances. Spencer had danced with her father, Josh danced with his mother, and the two danced together. Just when you'd think they were ready to sit down and enjoy dinner, Spencer goes to the microphone and explains that since Josh's father never had a daughter, she'd like to do a father daughter dance with him to finally be able to give him that experience. The look on his face was beyond heartwarming, and he left the dance floor wiping his eyes. If you haven't guessed yet, of course I was holding in tears all day.

Finally, we came across the happiest of accidents right before the reception. Once we were done with the group pictures at the church, I still really wanted to get some time to focus on pictures of just the couple and get some more of the wedding party. While trying to figure out how to set it up when we arrive at the venue, the couple tells me that they still had an hour left to use the bus, so we hopped right back on and went to a small park nearby. We were in the middle of the Rosemont/O'hare Airport area, I was a bit shocked that there would be a green space that close, but it was absolutely perfect. We all took a moment before starting to take more pictures because the sun was setting, and the light was just so magical shining through the giant tree we were parked by. If we hadn't stopped, we might not have gotten some of my favorite photos from the entire day, including the epic shot with her veil blowing in the wind as her and her husband kissed. I'm not sure if I'll ever get over just how packed this day was with the most perfect moments, and I feel tremendously grateful to have been the photographer there to catch them all.

I just got the whole gallery finished and sent to her right before Christmas, so she was able to sit the family down and they were able to enjoy the slideshow together for the holidays. I hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday season as well, and I want to send you my warmest wishes for 2023. Thank you for reading.