Hyatt Place Jacksonville St Johns Town Center
There are some weddings that feel like more than just another wedding on my calendar. Tanner and Hamza’s wedding in Jacksonville, Florida was one of those for me.
Not only did I get to travel somewhere new, meet some genuinely amazing people, and photograph such an important day in their lives, but this trip officially became the first stop of something I had been dreaming about for a while: my 50 Vows Project.
The goal is pretty simple—and also slightly insane when I say it out loud. I want to photograph a wedding in all 50 states.
And Florida got to be number one.
Traveling for photography has become one of my favorite parts of this job. There’s something about packing up my camera gear, getting on a plane, and knowing that somewhere completely different, there are people trusting me to show up and document one of the biggest days of their lives. I don't think that feeling will ever become normal to me.
I flew into Jacksonville for Tanner and Hamza’s wedding and, from the beginning, they made me feel so welcomed. That’s something I remember most about this trip. I was coming into a place where I didn't know everyone, and somehow, by the end of it, it didn't really feel that way anymore.
That's one of those unexpected things photography has given me.
The glamorous side
I obviously get to take a lot of pictures, but I also get to meet people I never would've crossed paths with otherwise. I get invited into families for a day. I hear stories. I watch friendships play out in front of me. I notice the hugs, the looks across the room, the people crying when they think nobody is paying attention, and all of those tiny moments happening between the moments everyone knows are coming.
Those are usually the photographs I end up loving the most.
Tanner and Hamza trusted me to capture all of that for them, and I am so thankful they did.
Their wedding also came at such an interesting point for me because it felt like both an ending and a beginning. It was essentially the grand finale of my 2025 photography year, but at the same time, it felt like I was getting a glimpse of what I wanted Chloe Skeese Photography to become next.
More traveling. More new places. More people. More stories.
And apparently a lot more airports.
Although, I will say, the glamorous traveling-photographer lifestyle looked a little less glamorous while dealing with American Airlines delays 😂. There is nothing quite like traveling with thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment while repeatedly checking an airport screen and wondering when exactly you're going to make it where you're supposed to be.
But honestly? I'd do it all over again.
One thing I've started trying to do when I travel for weddings is actually experience the place I'm visiting instead of only seeing the airport, hotel, and wedding venue. Photography may be the reason I get there, but I don't want to leave without actually knowing anything about where I've been.
So while I was in Florida, I got some time to explore Jacksonville, go to the beach, walk around, and, obviously, grab a souvenir because apparently I need physical evidence from everywhere I go.
There is something really special about getting to experience a new place because someone trusted me with their memories.
I went to Florida because Tanner and Hamza were getting married. I came home with thousands of photographs, new people I was grateful to have met, another place I had gotten to experience, and this little idea of mine suddenly feeling a lot more real.
One state down. Forty-nine to go.
It's funny looking back at it now because Florida wasn't just another destination wedding. It was proof to myself that maybe this crazy little goal could actually happen.
I don't know exactly where the 50 Vows Project will take me. I don't know who all of the couples will be yet, what the venues will look like, how many flights will get delayed, how many rental cars I'll drive, or how many times I'll have to reorganize my camera bag on an airport floor.
But that's kind of the exciting part.
There are photographs I haven't taken yet of people I haven't met yet in places I've never been.
And I cannot wait to see where this camera takes me next.
Here’s to Tanner + Hamza, Jacksonville, Florida, the beginning of the 50 Vows Project, and 49 more states to go.
