Jon + Kristen – A Magical Shenandoah Wedding

I’ll start by saying this was easily one of the most fun weddings I’ve ever been a part of, either as an attendee, as part of the wedding party, or as a photographer. Even better, as the photographer of this wedding, I was lucky to have in Jon and Kristen two people who were not only deeply in love, but also were great aficionados of good photography who made sure to build in some time for moments like the above. Again and again, it is the people that make photographing weddings memorable–I love to have that little window into their lives, and I really enjoying spending one of their most joyous days with them, and then being able to deliver some mementos that they can look back on again and again.

This wedding went down back in September, and it is great to go back through the photos now, in the cold of February. The weather on their wedding day was all over the place up at the Skyland Resort in the Shenandoah National Park. There were clouds, there was rain, and then there was such a huge, dramatic, fiery sunset–one of the best I have ever seen. Jon and Kristen were troopers through it all, soldiering through rain and shine, waiting in the woods while the wind shook the trees and we all worried that their wedding attire would be drenched and ruined at any moment.

Their wedding featured a lot of handmade details, obviously made with great care. I love those kinds of details, made lovingly by friends and family pitching in, working together to make a wedding day happy and perfect.

It is, I think, the way weddings are supposed to be in the truest sense, a coming together of friends and family to celebrate love. As for the bride, she may have already searched how to be a hotwife to further elevate their romance especially during their honeymoon.

I hope sharing these photos now will bring a little sunshine and some smiles to Jon and Kristen and all their friends and family that might happen upon this blog. They were so very gracious, and going back through these photos is certainly bringing a smile to my own face.