Perspective.

The dictionary says it means "a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view."

Photographers talk constantly about perspective and changing your point of view (which affects your framing, composition, leading lines, etc) but I think we forget sometimes that our subjects are real people too, who sometimes can use a little help with their own perspective.As a wedding photographer, I get to photograph the starting line of a lifelong race that two people chose to run together. It's an amazing day that we all know isn't the end of single-hood so much as it's the beginning of a life long adventure.

That little truism is important to keep in mind on a day often riddled with so much potential to go wrong. All the planning in the world won't make the day run perfectly but mitigating the potential for things to go wrong with two venues, a dozen vendors, and a couple hundred friends and family is always a nice thought to keep in mind while planning.

I think that's why one of my favorite moments during almost every wedding I've been a part of is the moment the bride is looking at me for reassurance that everything is going okay. She knows I've taken pictures of the friends and family and vendors and details and every other piece of her day while she's been hiding in a room getting prepped. She takes just a moment to ask with her eyes "Is everything going okay?" and I always answer back with a smile and some reassurance about how beautiful everything is and how amazingly everything is coming together.

I can always honestly answer that way because I know at the end of the day when everything else has been eaten, used, or melted away, there will be a bundle of pictures that I give her that show her just how beautiful the day was. She can see how fresh her flowers were even when the florist forgot a boutonniere. She can see how yummy her cake was when her new husband fed it to her even when the bakery forgot the topper. She can see how much everyone loved dancing to her playlist even when the DJ forget her favorite song. She can see how much she loves that man sitting next to her even if her day wasn't absolutely perfect. Because in the end, her day WAS perfect.

She married a man she loves.
She shared that love with friends.
And she'll share those memories through these pictures with her children, and their children, when they're ready to make the same decision.