I recently emailed Laura Sanders to let her know her blog entry was in the works and she responded, "Thanks so much for the update. We had such a wonderful time and can't wait to see the photos. We're still hoping we got a few 'holy kamole' worthy pictures." 

That last bit, a reference to an earlier post I had written, made me smile. There are indeed some of those moments, starting with the picture atop this blog right now. Laura and Brian Wyatt were married on New Year's Day in Charlottesville, Virginia, at the beautiful Keswick Hall, and I was hoping for a picture that captured that kind of crisp, mid-winter evening. And the second I shot this picture I knew I had. (I want to say that I said "Holy Kamole" but I think something a bit cruder might have come out instead.) That both bride and groom look like they stepped straight out of 1958, or out of the "Breakfast at Tiffany's" set, makes it all the better. Keswick does such a good job of channeling Thomas Jefferson's Virginia that it would be a shame to leave out the more recent past.

And now that I look at Brian and Laura's pictures, they seem to have that same look of excitement and love in every picture. Whether kissing under an arbor, playfully throwing the paper that packed her dress into the air, or staring at one another during their first dance, this couple looks like they are in love. And they picked the right place to show it.

Keswick is really a gorgeous spot for a wedding. Located just outside of town and with a beautiful view of the Blue Ridge, this inn oozes local flavor. Like all fine hotels, the devil is always in the details. A good hotel might greet its guests with a warm drink in the winter but Kewswick goes a step further. A pot of hot chocolate is always simmering on a heated stone, right there as you walk in. Just looking at it, like something an ancient traveler might be greeted with as he entered a tavern, warmed me up.

It's tiny little things like that one remembers about a hotel, not whether there's HBO in the rooms. Character matters.

But then Laura is the daughter of Martha and John Sanders, who came to talk with me earlier last year on their daughter's behalf, and I knew she had to have character. We had a wonderful meeting and I remember thinking something odd when they left. Many brides and grooms, products of a younger generation, want exactly the kind of photography I provide--documentary, photojournalistic coverage. But there are some parents who haven't been as exposed to this style as their children and they tend to be concerned about the more set-up aspect of the day. The family pictures, etc. But Martha and John got what I did perfectly and they weren't concerned about the latter so much as making sure that their daughter would have the real moments first and foremost.

(John, by the way, didn't mention that he had been president of the New York Islanders until I read it in the New York Times. As a hockey dad, not to mention someone who grew up not far from the Nassau Coliseum and its four consecutive Stanley Cups in the 1980's, I thought this was incredibly cool. But enough about the Islanders; Let's go Caps!)

Laura and Brian had a wonderful wedding. From their New Year's Eve rehearsal dinner, which featured toasts around a warm fireplace, to the day of their actual marriage, in which the first drop of rain started seconds after we were done taking photos outside, everything was perfect. No stress, good music and great friendship. As Laura's matron of honor related the story of how they met, two kids waiting to go to summer camp so many years ago, I smiled. It was all just so sweet. And as we drove away, ready to take on he rest of 2011, I said to my assistant Cliff, "Well, that was a really nice way to start the year.

And it was.

To see a mini gallery of images from the wedding of Laura Sanders and Brian Wyatt, click here.

Take care,

Matt