*One half of our amazing wedding photographer duo

After Caleb proposed, one of the first things we had talked about was our wedding photographer/s.

And that was the easiest decision we had to make of the entire event.

Austin and Jenna are good friends of ours. I knew them both separately before they were married, and now am able to watch them together as a couple. They have no shortage of joy, creativity, passion, and encouragement when we see and have the privilege of spending time with them. A true powerhouse of a team.

While Caleb and I were figuring out how and when to ask Austin and Jenna if they were available and wanting of photographing our day, we were also trying to figure out who to ask to DO the wedding. Austin kept coming to mind, and I hoped he would like that idea and find it fun - sorry if it wasn’t fun, Austin haha but we loved it. Caleb loved that idea since Austin was a buddy and made Caleb feel more comfortable. I knew having a friend officiate our ceremony would make us both feel a little more relaxed for the only part of the day we weren’t necessarily looking forward to - having all eyes on us.

Austin and Jenna agreed to do it! And we were hopeful and praying that they would enjoy it and see the significance of us asking them to be such monumental parts of our day…and I was selfishly excited to have some friends at our family only ceremony.

We also requested for our wedding to be documented exclusively on film. I’m drawn to the fact that ever since the invention of cameras, most of our ancestors had their wedding portraits made on film…and only film. So the scratches, dents, discoloration, dust, and misprints were all a part of it. It’s how the day was captured for them. And it wasn’t about how many photos they were given, it was that they had a handful of photographs that they cherished and passed on to the generations following them to share their story. Those photographs all carry folds, dents, maybe even tears on the edges after being held generation after generation while telling the story of their marriage. That’s what I wanted.

Some photos fade, and that’s okay.

I wasn’t interested in receiving 1000 photos I’ll never look back on or duplicates of the same moment but captured 10 times to make sure it’s the “perfect” photo. To me, the perfect photo is the one that captures the moment exactly how it was. Blinks, facial expressions, blur, less than ideal lighting and all. Those moments are what I want to continue capturing and are what I wanted for our day. Austin and Jenna did just that, and more.

I brought along the Polaroid 600 camera throughout the day, which was our way of getting some physical photographs to carry with us for a few weeks. The bundle of instant photographs sat on our coffee table for a couple weeks while we spent a few nights looking through them once more before putting away for the time being.

And with my sister documenting with Super 8 film all day, it’s what we wanted. An analog documentation of our wedding day.

It was really, really special to have our friends document our day. I’ve always been one that would rather my friends enjoy an event I throw rather than work it however, this event was very special to have some friends involved in the making of the day happen, sharing their gifts with us on a day that we will look back on for the rest of our lives. And as for our photographs, we’ll be able to know that this was how our friends saw and witnessed our day - something I’ll cherish forever.