Landon & Amanda // Wedding [GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER]

July 25, 2022

Landon and Amanda’s wedding day was a highlight of my entire summer. Not just a highlight from my many photo bookings, but a highlight that I look back on with so much happiness and awe. It was one of those days I packed up from and felt like I had not merely left a photography client, but dearest friends. My entire summer of weddings has felt accidental. Upon returning from Russia and Turkey in December, I had no intention of marketing my photo work and really felt an immense lack of inspiration. January felt colder than most I’d experienced, and its grey skies and brown bleakness seemed to mimic the condition of my own heart and headspace. To my surprise, I had an inquiry for a June wedding. I zipped up my coat and braced myself for the cold rush of sharp air against my nose and fingertips. From our brief text exchange, my potential bride seemed incredibly warmhearted; quite the pleasant contrast to winter’s gloom and melted snow. She suggested we meet at her church – the same place for the wedding to be held – and offered to make us coffee there. Those seemingly small gestures told me a lot about Amanda without having even met her yet. There is something about being invited into someone’s personal habitat of sorts that makes you feel welcomed; more like a friend than a stranger or a business endeavor.

And I was spot on. From the time I met Amanda for our initial wedding detail chat, to the time of hers and Landon’s actual wedding day, she carries this beautiful demeanor of hospitality, warmth, and ease. She met Landon at this church, was asked to marry him at this church, and recently got a ring placed on her left finger in this church. I always get a little keyed up before a wedding, because you literally have one shot to capture everything and capture it well. On top of that, it was my first time photographing a Catholic wedding, which has many traditions and sequence of events that were unfamiliar to me. I felt a bit like I was in “student mode”, much as I felt learning about an array of religions, traditions, and cultures overseas. Catholic ceremonies run closer to 70 minutes vs. a standard 30 minute ceremony, but I am fascinated by all of it. It was like being in an entirely different world.

The aroma of incense drifting through the air. The Latin singings. The Scripture readings. The flowers placed by the bride at the Virgin Mary. The lace veils seen throughout the guests. The call to Holy communion. I deeply admire their awe and reverence of God.

I love how sacred they view marriage.

It is not merely a legal piece of paper between a man and a woman. It is not something to enjoy for a few years and then discard when times get tough. It is a Holy binding and contract of husband, wife, and God. There is significance and weight to monogamy; something I rarely see among modern day culture. Catholic ceremonies are full of symbolism and are beautifully aesthetic as is, but the significance they place on marriage is something I cherish. Need I say more?

Landon & Amanda’s wedding day was so joyful and full of life. The ceremony was held in the glorious Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church of Greensboro, NC, and their reception was held at Historic Brookstown Inn, Winston Salem, NC. There was dancing and laughter and it felt as if I had known everyone for much longer than just one day. Despite the fact that I was booked for 8 hours of photography, these people treated me as though I were a guest. I am accustomed to either pushing through on a granola bar or eating in a backroom. I always prepare for this (and am okay with it!) and anticipate a quick dinner and being back on my feet within 20 minutes. Amanda sent a text to me a couple weeks prior that truly was heartwarming. In her kindness, she said she would like for me to relax and enjoy the reception and be treated as a guest. What the what?! And so, she had me seated among her guests, and her wedding director voluntarily jumped in line and set out a plate for me. I absolutely never expect any sort of “special privilege” on a wedding day, as my philosophy is always for the focus to be on the couple. I am purely behind the scenes, freezing time on the day.

Pictured all throughout below, you will see photos of the sweetest man, who is Amanda’s father. He passed away one week after her wedding, and so these photos immediately held even more significance. I always make sure to get candid photos throughout wedding days, but there was this innate pull I had to take extra photos him. In the cocktail hour photos below, I even laughed and told him, “I am just going to photo stalk you all day!” Looking back, I do not find it coincidental. My initial reaction to hearing of his passing was, “Why right after her wedding?!” but just as quickly was reminded that he was alive to walk his daughter down the aisle and to be there. That does not eradicate their grief, but it does draw a peculiar beauty within the pain.

I recalled nearly six months prior and how bitterly cold it was and how far in the future their wedding day seemed. And here it was, warm, vibrant, June, full of life, full of new beginnings. If felt as if months, and one’s own heart and headspace resembled Psalm 30:11 where it says, “You turned my mourning into dancing.” From grey skies to blue, nose nipping air to warmth, bleakness to brightness, two separate individuals to one under God, my friends: