The Wilderness of Water
It was a beautiful, sunny day on the Puget Sound when my spouse and son drove me to the port of Anacortes to drop me off. I was almost an hour early, and as we pulled up, we were greeted with the sight of a giant blue ship; a fishing vessel named Independence. My son insisted the ship was docking for repairs from damage caused by the kraken, one of his many favorite things.
In the bridal suite, it was relatively calm, and joyful. The bride transcribed her vows as she had her hair done, and again after her mother and sister helped her put on the dress. Her dog was sweet but anxious, unsure of what was going on, and just wanting to be at her mom’s feet.
As things wrapped up in the bridal suite, I made my way to the arbor, handmade out of driftwood. The ceremony was beautiful and heartfelt. Their dog was the ringbearer, and everyone sang together. The large vessel was behind the arbor, creating a once-in-a-lifetime scene for a once-in-a-lifetime celebration.
After the ceremony and license signing, the bride and groom and I walked down to a pebble-covered beach right next to the venue to take photos. The water lapped gently at the rocks at our feet, and the air was warm and salty.
The venue is on a pier. The bride pointed out that there was a break in the chain-link fence leading under the pier, and we crawled through to take photos, directly under all their friends and family celebrating. As I took the newlywed photos, we heard a noise and realized there was a deer under the pier with us, standing amid the seashells, seaweed, and dock pilings. She stood still and watched us as we marveled at how this creature had gotten through the chain link fence.
Once we made our way back to the celebration, there was cornhole, giant Jenga, and people mingling, celebrating, and catching up. The bride’s grandparents were there, the loveliest people, who had been married for over 60 years.
One of the things I love about toasts is you get to find out all of these amazing things about the couple, things they don’t necessarily bring up themselves because it’s not something they think to share with their wedding vendors. As the toasts continued, I started to learn what a truly amazing couple they were. The bride is a published poet who captained her own all-female fishing boat for six months in Alaska. They had one date before the bride left for her six-month fishing expedition in Alaska. They had recently gathered a bunch of reclaimed wood from a building being torn down in eastern Washington, transported it all the way to Orcas Island, and built their own house out of it. More than their accomplishments though, the focus of the toasts was on how they loved each other with kindness, and respect, and joy. So many of their loved ones mentioned how watching their relationship had taught them more loving ways of communication and vulnerability.
After the toasts, there was contra dancing, led by the bride’s aunt and uncle who were professional contra callers. This was great fun and had the most people out dancing of all but one other wedding I have photographed. At one point even the bride’s grandparents got out onto the floor, helped by two of their children.
Next up was the cake cutting, but my time was running short, and I really wanted to get some photos of the newlyweds on the dock as the sun set. I had offered to stay late in order to capture these as well as the cake cutting, and I’m so glad I did. They are among my most favorite wedding photos I have captured to date.
Finally, the cake was cut, and then it was time for me to take my leave.
What an absolute honor and a privilege it is to be chosen to capture weddings! These unique and profound events that have so much thought and love put into them, and the couples themselves, giddy and loving and loved.
