Most people think June is the busiest month for weddings, but they would be mistaken. I was surprised to hear that from one of the San Antonio bridal guides with which I've been considering advertising. It seems October is the busiest month for weddings. It's the busiest by a pretty big margin. I can understand why, living in Texas. October is so pleasant and June is just hot. (I was married in June. I tried desperately to not be married in June, I was shooting for May, but our church simply had no openings in May. We took what we could get. But I digress.)
So now I find myself in the midst of October, the busiest wedding month of the year, and I find myself quite booked with weddings. Well, actually two were in late September and one is in October so technically September was my busy wedding month. Regardless, I try to not shoot more than two a month -- I need a family life too.
But as I shot these past couple of weddings I couldn't help but fully grasp the importance that a wedding photographer plays on that day. My own wedding photographer did a horrible job and I've often speculated that that may be one of the factors contributing to my own desire to do such a great job on weddings. When faced with a decision on a client's wedding day I find myself asking "what would our photographer have done?" and then doing the opposite. The wedding photographer becomes a very intimate part of the wedding party. I get to know these brides and grooms in a way few wedding vendors do. I'm there with them during some of their most private moments -- the moment the bride puts her dress and veil on and catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror, the moment her father takes a look at her for the first time in her gown, the moment the groom and the best man exchange nervous smiles before she descends the aisle, the moment right after they leave the altar and are whisked away to a private room while their guests file out -- I'm there.
It's really an honor to be able to take part in these moments with them. And I feel a touch of sadness when their car -- or horse drawn carriage as it sometimes is -- pulls away from the curb to take them to the Bahamas, or Las Vegas, or Hawaii.
But I get an even more exciting destination -- putting together the wedding album that they'll treasure forever.
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