For many years now, I've been writing blog posts about weddings in a manner a little different than many of my colleagues. Many wedding photographers seem to strive for a bit of financial synergy in their recaps. These are blog posts that mention who did the flowers, who the make-up artist was, the name of the catering manager. I have no issue with that, mind you, but it seems a bit dull to me; essentially a you-scratch-my-back-and-I'll-scratch-yours solution for future business referrals.

I've always been fascinated by the actual stories behind these weddings. After 450 weddings since 1999, I've seen just about everything—big weddings, small affairs, romantic dinners, tension-fraught debacles. No matter what, they all share one thing in common: a compelling story. Often these stories are obvious, sometimes less so.

Back in October of 1999 I photographed the wedding of Susan Heinberg and Andrei Oleinik. It was a small affair, beginning with a ceremony at St. John's in Georgetown and ending with a cozy dinner. I had met Susan's mom, Beverly Brockus, earlier, when I went to photograph one of Washington's best-known chefs, Ris Lacoste, for USA Today. Ris was a hot chef at 1789, a Georgetown landmark, and Beverly was in the marketing department. We all had a good time at that shoot.

As always, one job (photographing Ris) led to another (shooting Beverly's daughter's wedding), and the daisy chain was started. Twelve years later, Ris Lacoste has her own restaurant, named Ris, appropriately, and Susan and Andrei have two boys, named Nikita and Peter. And best of all, I received a very excited email a few months back from Beverly asking if I would photograph her impending marriage to John A. Shaud.

Beverly wrote the following note to me:

We met in the best possible way—at a dinner party given by mutual friends in July, 2010. The men were West Point classmates. At the end of the evening, we sat in the driveway and talked for 30 minutes.  

Even though we were from different worlds—John in the Air Force and me in the food world—we had important things in common. Each of us had lost a spouse to cancer in 2006 after a longtime marriage, and our children and grandchildren are central to our lives. Both of us grew up in the Midwest, and we felt an immediate familiarity and comfort as we spoke openly about our families and our lives. We both appreciate all that the Washington area offers and the extraordinary people who are drawn here from around the world. 

Our hostess swears that the coffee was decaffeinated, but we later learned that neither of us could sleep that night.  We had our first date the following evening, before John left town for two weeks. We stayed in touch by email.  

When he returned, we both realized that something powerful was happening. From then on, John called me every morning and evening.  

We both love a Dag Hammerskjold quotation “To all that has been – thanks. To all that is yet to be – yes!” That was the theme of our wedding on July 2, 2011. We will take all of our memories and loved ones with us as we embrace the future together.

It doesn't get any better than that. And you know what was the best part of this little jewel of a wedding? For 450 weddings, I've photographed a father helping a son fix his tie in some hotel room. But as I watched Jim Shaud help his father do the same thing, in the little chapel at St. John's, the same church I had photographed Susan and Andrei's wedding more than a decade earlier, all I could do was smile.

Take care,

Matt