“When all is said and done,
the weather and love are the two elements
about which one can never be sure.”
- Alice Hoffman
The moment I stepped outside I knew that a storm was on it's way. You can just feel it. The dark clouds had started racing up above and the feeling of heaviness that was in the air was difficult to ignore. I looked up to see if there is a slim chance that the clouds might open up and let some sunshine in. Fat chance. I just felt a tiny bead of water land on my face. It was insignificant to the point that I felt it dissipate right away as soon as it touched my skin. But I knew it was a foreshadowing of what's to come. And I'm afraid, on this cold April day, things are not going to go as I planned. This is California by the way, where weather is as unpredictable as the traffic.
It has been 8 years in the making for Anahi and Gustavo ever since that one fateful day in their chemistry class. They were high school sweethearts who fell in love as only two childhood sweethearts only can: innocently, and with fervor that can only be attributed to adolescent hormones. But as boyfriend/girlfriend relationships tend to wane and diminish after highschool or right after prom night, thankfully, theirs only matured and blossomed. All the ups and downs of being in a relationship, and all the laughter and tears has finally led them to this. A relationship full of love, gratitude and mutual respect for each other. And now they are about to embark on the biggest journey of their lives. And to profess their love and commitment in front of their loved ones.
We just stepped out of the car when my phone started ringing. And it was Gustavo."Sup Ollie. Are you guys here yet?" Although he was being polite, I could sense the eagerness in his voice. So I reassured him that we are here. And what initially started as droplets softly pattering on the ground soon became actual rainfall as soon as we came out of the underground parking lot. So we made a run for it. Making a beeline to the entrance to the ceremony while at the same time, carefully making sure every step I take will not land me in the hospital with a broken ankle. Since dress shoes are not the best when it comes to gripping wet pavement. But it was at this moment that I came to the realization that not every wedding will be perfect. And not every wedding will be amazing, And despite the fact, as wedding photographers, we tend to hype up every shoot that we cover, since we never seem to run out of adjectives to describe a particular wedding: "Awesome couple". "Perfect decor." "Beautiful ceremony." And so on and so forth. Behind it all is a photographer sweating bullets because he just dropped his memory card in a field of grass. Or a photographer searching franticly through his pants trying to remember which pocket he put the rings in, when his assistant had it all along. So this wedding got rained on. But it doesn't mean it wasn't special. This wedding made me realize how imperfections are, in it's own way, beautiful. Because nothing beats a REAL and HONEST wedding, where you can just feel the two people in front of your lens are just meant to be together. Rain or shine.
