Five and a half years ago, Jarrett and Leanna were planning their wedding. Five and a half years ago, I was planning my wedding and preparing to move across the continent. Five and a half years ago, I met with Jarrett and Leanna over a cup of Starbucks and loved every minute of dreaming wedding dreams together.
My cross-country move meant it didn’t work out for me to photograph their backyard wedding awesomeness, but in the power of modern day social media we stayed in touch and I have watched from afar as they’ve walked life (the ups, the downs, the good, the bad) and navigated with such strength and grace five years of marriage.
When Leanna asked if I would be able to photograph anniversary photos during my trip home to North Carolina earlier this month, I almost had to say no — I had been fully booked for several months, so the only option available meant meeting at 7am. Talk about dedication: they were willing to meet me just before sunrise for a glorious, moody, dewy, brilliantly magical anniversary session.
Some of my all-time favorite images are from my last sunrise session (note to self: take more sunrise photos!) AND it rained the whole session! So does that even count as sunrise? (P.S. Just before I scheduled Leanna’s sunrise session, I put one on the books for November — ready or not, here comes more magical mornings!).
Leanna and Jarrett are exactly my kind of people: happy to sacrifice a little sleep for sake of the art, very willing to laugh and have fun even though I’m asking for them to canoodle in the wet grass at sunrise, and ridiculously hilarious as they love each other.
I wish I could remember all the lessons they’ve learned in five years (they kept me laughing while packing good truths in between locations!), but there was one that sounded something like “When [my wonderful, caring, supportive spouse] says ‘you’re right,’ I know [my wonderful, caring, supportive spouse] is lying.” (Name removed to protect the innocent. :-P)
Happy official fifth wedding anniversary, you guys! (A couple days late. :-P) May the next fifty be just as marvelous as the fifth as been.
P.S. We photographed in the same place where they held their backyard wedding five years ago. How’s that for perfect symmetry??
Let’s take a minute to acknowledge: it takes an inordinate amount of brave to be willing to hire a photographer before even meeting in person! And especially to hire a photographer from across the continent to come into your world and celebrate your marriage. But. That’s exactly what Michelle & Zachary did. And I love them for it….
I used to call myself a Photographer. Now I call myself a Relationship Photographer. Basically, that’s means I’m a professional third wheel and an armchair therapist (kiiidding!) and a keeper of the in-between moments that create a well-rounded relationship. It means I love best when I am showcasing and photographing the seasons of relationship –…
“We started dating the same day as my parents did,” Sarah told me proudly. “February 15.” He pulled her close and grinned. She looked up at him with those sweltering blue eyes. And they laughed. “Plus, we were debate partners before we started dating,” Matt piped up. “Just like my grandparents.” “Annnnd, guess what?” (This…
Pitt Lake Engagement Photos are fast becoming my favorite way to celebrate love, adventure, and epic British Columbia scenery. (As proof: this is not my first Pitt Lake engagement photo session this year and I imagine it will not be my last. <3) Between the mountainscape, the lakefront, the bog, the field, the green: I love…
Blissful anticipation with a healthy dose of reality, that’s what they were. Two weeks before their wedding, Kelsy and Sean’s spent an evening with me as we meandered Vancouver’s sidewalk. With a suppressed by palpable excitement, they walked back into the hotel where Sean proposed earlier in the year. They laughed over memories from their…
Hers was a city life. Full of dance lessons and beauty pageants and high heels and pink dresses, she spent a childhood full of ballet shoes and hair spray and nailpolish and lipstick. He spent his days in his field. With his cows. In the barn. At the fair. His cowboy boots and blue jeans…
![Engaged: Kelsey and Sean [Stanley Park Engagement]](https://jennimarie.com/wp-content/uploads/i-RxQ9XwJ-L-768x513.jpg)
