Caroline + Paul: An Intimate Wedding in Alexandria, Virginia

So getting to see her Again

for the first time in years was already special. Getting to see her again because she was getting married and wanted me to photograph it made it mean so much more.

The next day, Caroline married Paul at Cedar Knoll in Alexandria, Virginia, and it was genuinely such a beautiful day. Their wedding was small and intimate, which I absolutely loved. It felt like everyone there was there because they truly knew and loved Caroline and Paul. The weather was gorgeous, the venue was beautiful, and once the reception started, there was SO much dancing.

Basically everything I could ask for.

It was also the first time in a long time that I’d gotten to work side by side with a videographer for an entire wedding day. Preston, who is based in Nashville, was AMAZING to work with. Photographers and videographers are trying to capture so many of the exact same moments, so having someone you work well with makes such a difference. We were able to communicate, work around each other, and make sure we were both getting what we needed without constantly being in each other’s way. It honestly reminded me how much I enjoy getting to work alongside other creatives on wedding days.

But more than anything, this wedding made me think about how crazy it is that photography has given me the opportunity to experience so much.

Every wedding puts me in a room full of people I probably never would have met otherwise. I get to hear their stories. I get to see new cities and new venues. I get to learn about places I’ve never been. I get to travel with my camera and somehow end up being trusted with some of the most important moments in people’s lives.

And sometimes those people happen to already mean a lot to me.

There was something really surreal about standing behind my camera photographing Caroline on her wedding day. The last time we had seen each other, we were college students. Now I was watching her marry Paul and documenting this completely new chapter of her life.

There are a million photographers she could have chosen, and the fact that she trusted me to preserve these memories for her is something I don’t take lightly.

After the wedding, I had some time before heading home, so I got to spend the next day walking around DC and exploring. I visited some of the monuments, wandered around the city, took photos, and got to actually slow down and take everything in.

I’ve always loved history, so getting to stand in places with so much of it surrounding you is one of my favorite parts about traveling. I love thinking about all of the people who have stood in the exact same place before me and everything that had to happen for a place to become what it is now.

And that’s another thing I’m realizing I love about traveling for photography. I may originally go somewhere because someone asked me to photograph their wedding, but I almost always come home having experienced something completely separate from the wedding itself.

This time I came home with a lot of photographs, very tired feet, new people I’m thankful I got to meet, a little more history in my brain, and a very full heart.

Getting to reunite with Caroline after all these years would have been special enough. Getting to watch her marry Paul made it even better. But being the person she trusted to document all of it—the big moments, the little ones, the people they love, the dancing, the hugs, and everything happening in between—is something I’m incredibly thankful for.

Photography has taken me places I never expected to go, both literally and figuratively. And the longer I do this, the more I think that might be one of my favorite parts of it.

Here’s to Caroline + Paul, Alexandria, a little bit of DC, old friends, new friends, and getting to preserve it all.