Sarah + Gabriel | Christ the King Chapel, Steubenville OH

I think this was my favorite wedding I’ve ever photographed.

There.

I said it.

And before you ask—no, I certainly don’t say that about every wedding I shoot. I’ve been photographing weddings since I was ten years old. I’ve been to a lot of weddings. And they’re all beautiful and special and overflowing with love. But this one… I know I’m not supposed to declare a favorite—it’s tantamount to declaring a favorite child. It’s just not done.

But.

Oh, my friends. This wedding. I’ve been trying to find the right words for days. I’m pretty sure I slow cried behind my camera the whole time and I’ve been trying to figure out why. Why was this wedding so moving? Why was the moment Sarah put on her dress so full of deep and beautiful silence as she and her mom looked at one another, tears welling and breath catching? Why was the moment Gabriel read his letter from Sarah so profound that none of his groomsmen felt they should intrude? Why did the wedding homily spark so much hope in that chapel? Why did the song after Communion feel a little more beautiful, a little more profound? Why was there not a dry eye in the room when Gabriel danced with his mom, tears running down his face as she looked at him the way only mothers can? Why was the reception so wildly joyful that I could, literally, feel the ground reverberating beneath my feet as we danced, and danced, and danced?

And you know what? I think I figured it out.

This wedding personified Christ’s love on the cross. It transcended the usual wedding day and became something deeper because Sarah and Gabriel had to completely surrender to the Father’s will for their day. They had to let the dream of what might-have-been die, in order to let something more beautiful come to be.

Like all the couples getting married this year, Sarah and Gabriel had to modify their plans pretty extensively. 2020 hasn’t been kind to many people, and certainly not those who have been dreaming of their wedding day for a long time. Their guest list got slashed, family from New Zealand—who haven’t been united in years—had to cancel travel plans, Sarah’s dad couldn’t come. They had to switch their reception venue at the last minute, and when I reached out to Sarah in March to see how they were doing, she said, “I’m not going to lie. This has been hard.”

And then, she added, “But, we are grateful for this Sacrament and have no plans or intentions to put off joining each other in this vocation.”

That.

Right there.

They trusted God had brought them together, and nothing, not even a global pandemic, was going to keep them from following His will for them. Life threw Sarah and Gabriel their first cross, and they shouldered the weight together. And then all of their favorite people stepped in, too. Sarah’s mom hired the very talented Blue Mantle Media to live stream the service so family and friends around the world could watch. They found an AirBnB to rent for their reception and pitched a tent in a beautiful field and anyone who could, showed up to help set up. Sarah’s brothers walked her down the aisle and danced with her at the reception. Their friends celebrated so hard that their dancing couldn’t be contained by the reception tent. Instead they danced and danced in the fields as the sun went down and the moon came up and the fireflies joined in the dancing, lending a magic all their own.

We’re living through some big history in our country and in our world. There is a lot of heaviness. A lot of darkness.

But.

Weddings like these, families like these, relationships like these—they bring me hope. Because even in the hard, and maybe especially in the hard, that’s when the Holy Spirit is working. That’s when the beauty comes. That’s when the glory of the risen Christ shines brightest.

Sarah and Gabriel—thank you. What a wonder your day was. I’ll never stop being grateful to you both for inviting me along for the ride. Wishing you a lifetime of happiness and joy, and (hopefully) no more bees hiding in the folds of your clothes.

Cheers friends,

C