Jessica & Jason
12 Acres, Smithfield, Rhode Island
September 13th, 2014
One of the reasons why I love shooting weddings is that, try as you might, you absolutely can not predict what is going to happen.
Now, that may seem odd given the fact that couples spend years planning every minute detail down to the last second but, when it's actually time to walk down that aisle? The only thing you can count on is that all of your plans are going to go out the window.
Take my beautiful September wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Jason DeLosa.
I met Jessica when I was a student at Rhode Island College and was thrilled when I found out she was getting hitched as she was always such a nice and fun person to be around. And about a year ago, I had the pleasure of shooting her and Jason's engagement photo session at Roger Williams Park in Cranston.
On that lovely fall day, the three of us spent a couple of hours walking around the park, planning out every shot so that the light was just right, the angle was exactly what we were looking for and the photos were great as we could make them.
And through it all, we spoke of their upcoming nuptuals and much fun it would be to take photos on the day they became husband and wife.
Little did we know just how humerous Mother Nature would find our plans.
Because, see, the one thing you absolutely have no control over is the weather and, on this lovely September afternoon in Lincoln, Rhode Island, the weather would completely derail all of our plans.
But, you know what? That's fine. In the end, we still ended up with an incredible day of some of the best wedding photos I've ever taken and nothing--not even pouring rain minutes before the ceremony was supposed to start--will ever take that away.
Now, check out some of my favorite photos – and the story behind the photos – from one of my favorite weddings to date.
I'm not the world's biggest fan of "getting ready" photos but there is something so deeply personal about this portion of a wedding day for the bride and her family members that I always walk away from it with some of my favorite photos of the day. For Jessica and her girls, it was no exception. Not only did I get to watch how she interacted with her three bridesmaids, I got to see a bit of the personal interactions between her and her extended family members that would prove vital later that day. Because of this period, I made sure to focus on photos involving her and her adorable grandmother, pictured at the top of this section, as well as watch Jessica's emotions slowly change as it got closer and closer to the first looks with her day and soon-to-be husband.
Jessica was all smiles as the day began but, like every bride I've ever had the privliage of photographing, the true weight of the day and the emotions of the moments that were about to happen slowly crept onto her face as the time to the day's major events drew closer. It's this time that I find my job is the most important. Normally during this period, I try to snap bridal portraits of the bride in her dress and it's key to keep your client as relaxed as possible. The photos I took of Jessica during this time are some of my favorite bridal portraits ever, no doubt because of our history together and our ability to find that comfort level and forget the distractions of the big day.
But even having said that, there's nothing like capturing those "big emotion" moments that your clients will remember forever. Above, Jessica and her dad lost it a little during their first reveal. Moments later, when Jason would enter the bridal suite for the official "First Look," I expected a similar sight but was instead greeted to nothing but smiles between the bride and groom. This was their moment, the one they had dreamed of for a lifetime and they were both ready to proceed. Together.
Now, in the intro to this page, I talked about rain wrecking havoc our plans and up until the first look photos, things were fine. In fact, thanks to the wonders of smartphones, we all had an eye on the forecast and hoped to sneak everything in before the clouds opened up. Alas, that was not to be. Arriving at 12 Acres with about 25 minutes to spare before it began to pour, we knew we were going to need to make a lot of changes, fast, to get our list of the most important photos done.
And we did just that. In a span of jusat 15 minutes, Jessica and Jason tore through roughly 18 different poses and while the logistics of the shoot were difficult (We didn't want to chance changing locations so all the photos essentially happened in a six-foot spot,) I truly believe we captured not only a wide variety of photos but, without question, some of the best bride and groom formals I've ever had the pleasure of taking.
Now, onto the ceremony. Jessica and Jason had a traditional Jewish ceremony, which was a first for me, and this may be where the rain through us off course the most. But even though we ended up having the ceremony inside, it made for an incredibly intimate moment as all of Jessica and Jason's family members gathered in a circle to support the bride and groom in one of the most important moments of their lives. And, in the photo directly above, you can see the weather couldn't dampen their smiles after they said "I do," as Jessica and Jason had fully embraced the "roll with the punches" mindset and were determined not to let the weather ruin their big day.
Well, there you have it. Some of my favorite photos from one of my favorite weddings to date. While this job is often far from easy, it's shoots like this that remind me why I started shooting weddings in the first place. Sure, part of it is the excitement of dealing with the challenges presented by shooting a stressful and chaotic live event for 17 hours but, more importantly, it's the chance to tell a bride and groom's story in a way they'll never forget. I truly believe these photos perfectly capture the spirit and feelings of Jessica and Jason's big day and I can't wait to get back out there and do it all over again.
-PJS
* To see more photos from Jessica and Jason's wedding, check out the full gallery of the day by clicking here.