The beginning of 2021 has been a year of reflection for this Atlanta wedding photographer, and not because of the politics or pandemic, though they are certainly on everyones mind. I am also thinking of why I do what I do. I look at the past and what has brought me to where I am at now. I look back at what has inspired me to to what I do.

Photography by the AtlantaWeddingPhotographers at AtlantaArtisticWeddings

First, let us look at weddings. What are they? Are they parties where friends and family get together to catch up and, sometimes, attempt to impress friends and family? Are they huge extravaganzas like the ones you see on reality T.V.? Are they a chance for the couple to showcase that they have great taste?

I think the best weddings are the ones that come from the heart, where it doesn’t matter what you wear or what kind of cake you have. Weddings are meant to celebrate the love two people have found in each other and the bonding of two families. They celebrate something special that is way more important some one day ceremony.

This year I had the honor of shooting a wedding that celebrated life. The wedding was between a bride and groom who had been together for years and they had a 5 year old daughter together. The bride discovered that she had cancer July 4, 2020. After a brave, gallant fight she discovered this year that the treatments were not working. She decided the one thing she wanted to do was to get married, and for their little girl to be there.

It was a very emotional day and everyone felt the gravity of the situation, but I did not see any feeling of “why me” anywhere. Instead, it was a celebration of life that everyone felt blessed to be part of. Yes, there were tears like at most weddings, but there were also many heartfelt hugs. Not the brief hug that one usually gets, but a hug that lingers a little bit because both parties feel how special that moment and that connection is.

When I shoot a wedding I call it a documentary of your day because things happen so fast that sometimes we forget little details. There are a lot of people around and a person simply cannot soak it all up at once. That is where the pictures come in.

We found out last week that the bride passed away. I knew it was coming but I still was not prepared for the sadness that came. Then I started to look at the photos from the wedding.

I sometimes wonder what happens to the photos after I have given them to clients. I hope, especially for the bride’s family, that these photos are shared and passed around for years to come. I hope her mom will look at the photos and see her daughter at a joyful occasion, enjoying her friends and dancing away. I hope her husband looks back at the photos and sees the person he loved, and who loved him back unconditionally. Finally, I hope the daughter keeps looking at the photos and remembers her mom, who died too young and who still looks down on her from heaven.

Weddings like this are why we do what we do. Sometimes we are not just taking pretty pictures, we are preserving a moment. We are documenting a day in someone’s life where everyone came together and celebrated everything that really matters, such as family, life, love, and friendship. We take these photos so people can look at them after the moment has passed and reflect on the people and the special time everyone shared together.

Thank you so much for visiting this Atlanta wedding photographer’s blog. I hope you keep coming back and seeing what we have been up to. Please feel free to drop me a line on the contact page at Atlanta Artistic Wedding Photographers | Award Winning Atlanta Wedding Photography (atlantaartisticweddings.com) and I promise I will get back to you soon.

Thanks again!

David

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