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Delaney and Dante walking hand in hand through the pines after their ceremony
Guests tossing petals over the couple during their exit
The ceremony arch against the Blue Ridge at Rivers Bend Ranch

Shepherdstown, West Virginia

You don't know which photographs will matter yet.

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Weddings & elopements Weddings from $5,000 · Elopements from $2,500 Photographing weddings since 2018

Wedding & elopement photography for Washington DC, Northern Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and wherever else you want to take me. Based ninety minutes outside DC, and further when asked.

Neither do I.

You know you want the two of you looking incredible. You know you want your family. Your friends. The place you picked. The flowers you spent six months thinking about and will somehow never think about again.

But there are photographs you don't know to ask for yet.

The mother of the bride watching quietly while the bride laughs, getting ready An older woman dabs her eye with a tissue among the white ceremony chairs while a girl in a bright flower crown stands in front of her, head lowered
I

Your mom looking at you when you're not looking at her.

The ones who are crying before you've said a single word.

An older guest laughing face to face with the bride at a dark reception A bearded man in a white shirt tips his head back mid-laugh with his palms pressed together at his chest, an out-of-focus guest in the foreground
II

Your dad laughing with somebody across the room.

The laugh somebody saved up for exactly this night.

Two seated ceremony guests holding hands across their chairs Two guests seated in ceremony chairs hold hands while one of them holds a small printed card
III

Your friends holding hands during your vows.

Two hands finding each other behind a chair, out of habit.

A toddler fast asleep on her mother's lap during the ceremony, black and white A young girl in a flower crown leans back against a man in a grey suit at a reception, her hands folded into his
IV

A kid asleep on someone's lap.

Or nearly asleep, in the safest seat in the house.

Candlelit reception tables full of guests under a tent A grandmother laughing hard at a ribboned dinner table Guests along a long table under a streamer-hung tent raise their glasses in a toast while a baby sits on a lap in the middle of the row
V

The people who have known you separately for years, suddenly at the same table.

Someone's grandmother, losing it at the same joke as everyone else.

Every glass in the air, and one baby wondering what got into everyone.

A spaniel staring up hopefully at the drink table A dog sitting calmly between the couple at the ceremony arch A yellow Labrador wearing a light blue coat stands on a stone patio with its mouth open while two hands rest on its back
VI

Your dog doing whatever the hell your dog decides to do.

Or deciding, for once, to behave.

Or in a little coat, personally greeting every guest.

That's why I pay attention to everything.

A guest scrunching her face in helpless laughter at an outdoor dinner table while friends crack up around her Two guests at an outdoor reception table laughing hard together over the place settings

I'm trying to figure out who everybody is.

I do this at every wedding.

  • Who are you looking for when something funny happens?
  • Who's trying not to cry?
  • Who is absolutely going to cry?
  • Who flew across the country to sit in this room?

Because I'm not spending eight hours pretending the only two people here are the two people getting married. Obviously, you're a pretty big deal. But these are your people, part of the reason you're throwing this thing in the first place.

I want you to find photographs in your gallery that make you say: "Wait. I didn't even see that happen."

Make the plan. A good one.

And then give it some room to breathe.

I want to know when the ceremony starts. I want enough time for photographs. I'm probably thinking seven steps ahead anyway. But I don't want every minute of your wedding assigned a job. Life is going to happen in between all those carefully planned things.

Let it.

If dinner runs ten minutes late because everyone is having a good time, we'll survive. If somebody starts crying, I'm not checking the timeline. If the light suddenly looks reeeeallly goooood, I may steal you for five minutes.

And if everything goes completely according to plan? Well. That's suspicious.

Sunbeams cutting through the trees over the Blue Ridge

The beautiful ones matter too.

I don't want to pretend I'm above making a gorgeous photograph. DC courthouse steps. A Loudoun County vineyard. A backyard in Maryland. The Blue Ridge. A ballroom with terrible light I'm absolutely going to complain about internally and then figure out anyway. I want the photograph you print enormous: the one that makes you look at each other and go "Holy mackerel. That's us?" And then I want the one right beside it of your best friend absolutely losing her mind. Both belong here.

My favorite weddings are all over the damn place.

A drummer leading the baraat processional down the driveway, guests in sherwanis and sarees following A group of guests in saris and formal wear walks along a paved path together, arms up and faces grinning, one raising a phone above the crowd
I

A Jewish and Indian backyard wedding: a drummer leading the processional, henna still fresh on her hand.

The whole party came up the driveway with their arms in the air.

A drum circle lifting the couple on chairs, Zaffe-style, at their backyard reception tent A wedding cake topped with an airplane, cold-spark fireworks behind it
II

A backyard reception with a drum circle, cold-spark fireworks, and an airplane on the cake.

I was not kidding about the airplane on the cake.

Guests in eclectic, colorful outfits striking playful poses at a California wedding An older man in a patterned shirt dances with the bride on an outdoor dance floor while guests watch from the edge
III

A wedding in California, surrounded by actors and theater people.

Theater people do not need to be asked twice to dance.

The couple standing together in a moss-covered Oregon forest, golden light through tall pines The couple on a cliff overlook above the Pacific, sea stacks and mountains behind them The couple walking the sand at dusk, Haystack Rock behind them at Cannon Beach
IV

Seven of us, standing in a moss-covered Oregon forest.

Then cliffs over the Pacific.

Then a walk down Cannon Beach, Haystack Rock behind us.

And a thousand moments like these.

The newlyweds come back up the grass aisle with their joined hands and the bride's bouquet raised high while guests stand and applaud on both sides.
Two small children stand pressed together between grown-ups in navy suits, the girl in a tulle dress with her mouth wide open and one arm flung out while the boy in a navy suit leans back into her holding a flower basket.
A bride and groom walk forward with their clasped hands raised through a shower of confetti as guests stand on both sides.
A young girl in a flower crown holds the handset of a yellow rotary phone to her ear with her other hand on her hip.
A woman in a floral dress and sunglasses laughs in her seat while the young man beside her in a navy suit smiles toward the front, low sun warming the rows of guests behind them.
An older woman laughs with her chin raised while a younger woman in a navy dress fastens the colorful wrap at her neckline.
A bride laughs while holding a small pastry at the dessert table as the groom smiles down at her with his arm around her.
A woman in black uses both hands to settle the bride's hair while the bride laughs with her eyes closed.
Two women in blue dresses crouch at the bride's feet to fasten her sandals while she stands in her gown in front of the bed.
A group of men in tan and dark suits pile into a hug in a wood-paneled room while one of them grins over the top of the huddle.
Guests clap with their hands raised on both sides of the aisle as the barefoot couple runs back down it, the bride in a flower crown holding her bouquet.
Two pairs of people hug at the same moment on a shaded lawn while a young girl stands watching.
A woman in a pale blue dress beams up at a man whose back is to the camera, sunlit trees behind them.
A girl raises a flower crown above her head while another girl holds a hand to her mouth and a woman behind them reacts with her mouth open.
An older man in a black suit jacket sits at an upright piano with both hands on the keys and smiles toward the camera.
Two people in wedding clothes stride side by side through a barn while the guests lining the way clap and a small girl in a peach skirt watches from the front.
A long haired black and tan dog rests its head on the shoulder of a person in a white knit sweater, eyes half closed, with another person standing close beside them.
An older man in a dark suit turns the bride under his raised arm on the wood dance floor, her full skirt flaring out, as guests seated at the tables behind them look on.
A row of guests clap and smile as the bride walks in with a large white bouquet beside a man in a green suit.
Guests line both sides of a grass path tossing petals as the couple walks through hand in hand, with a small child riding on someone's shoulders above the crowd.
An older man in a navy suit walks the bride down the grassy aisle past seated guests as she smiles wide in a flower crown with a large autumn bouquet.
A bearded man in a flat cap, glasses and a black vest grins toward a blurred figure in a lace gown at the right edge of the frame.
Three children work at a reception table spread with coloring pages and crayons while a man in a shirt and tie leans across to help the girl on the right with something in her hands.
The bride laughs with her mouth wide open as she holds out her ring hand, and a woman in a green dress laughs and points at the ring.
Three men stand talking with drinks in hand while the one facing the camera laughs mid conversation.
A woman in a bright pink dress hugs a smiling white-haired man in a sweater vest under a large navy umbrella outside a yellow house.
A woman in a dark denim jacket with her veil behind her laughs while looking off to one side as the man in a grey suit beside her lowers his head, blurred autumn woods behind them.
A wedding party in matching tan suits piles in around the groom in a dark green suit, laughing while one of them lays a hand on top of his bald head.
A small group of guests stands in a half circle with their backs to the camera as the couple joins hands in front of an officiant on a stone mountain overlook, one man with his arm around the woman beside him.
A couple in wedding clothes jump into the air hand in hand on a rocky bluff, both mouths open in a laugh, ocean and sea stacks behind them.
The bride crouches low in the sunlit grass with her face pressed nose to nose against a beaming young girl who holds a dried pampas bouquet.
Groomsmen in navy suits and dusty pink bow ties crowd in and press their hands to one laughing man's chest and shoulders.
Guests seated at round tables under paper lanterns clap and smile toward the front of the room.
A man bends down to kiss a toddler on the head while the child, sippy cup in hand, looks straight into the camera from a row of seated guests.
An older man in a plaid suit grins and points a finger in the air on the dance floor beside a laughing woman in a white dress holding a drink.
A young girl in a white dress reaches an open hand toward the bride's skirt while the bride turns and smiles at her.
The couple walk down the aisle hand in hand while guests clap from their seats on both sides.
A woman in a pink dress reaches up with both hands to settle a veil into the bride's hair while two other women stand close and the bride holds her calla lily bouquet.
Wedding guests stand in a row on the grass, most of them applauding and smiling.
A row of guests stands clapping on the grass with trees behind them, several of them smiling.
A woman with white hair in a burgundy dress laughs while a girl in a flower crown stands beside a curly-haired woman who smiles down at her.
A woman at the long table presses a hand over her mouth watching something off camera while a young girl beside her holds a stuffed animal.
A boy in navy leans into a seated man in a white shirt at the reception table with his cheek against the man's back and an arm wrapped around him, while a woman behind them laughs.
A man in a chambray shirt holds a long haired black and tan dachshund up against his chest and presses a kiss to the top of its head.
A bride and groom walk hand in hand down the petal-strewn aisle, both grinning, as seated guests turn to watch them pass.
Two women hoist a grinning man in a green suit off the ground while he flexes an arm and another guest laughs over his shoulder behind them.
A young man in a brown three piece suit seated in a wheelchair grins up at the bride as she leans down toward him with her bouquet.
A tight huddle of people presses in around the laughing bride inside a log cabin room.
A boy in green suspenders walks alone up a wooden plank aisle between benches of seated guests toward the couple standing hand in hand under a flowered wooden arch.
A man in a navy suit leans way back laughing on a rope swing hung from a massive tree while another man in a navy suit strides toward him through the fallen leaves.
A man presses his cheek to the bride's as she laughs at a reception table.
Three older men in vests and a striped sweater stand shoulder to shoulder on the brick front steps of a yellow house, laughing together.
A man in a dark suit cradles a woman's hand in both of his, the rings on her finger catching the light against blurred autumn woods.
The bride stands between two attendants in green dresses holding bouquets, one of them laughing hard, while a man in a tan suit holding ribbon wands grins at the end of the line.
A woman in a white dress crouches in the grass grinning at the camera with her arm around a big brown speckled dog in a tuxedo bib while a small tan dog in a bow tie stands at her side.
Five women in matching sage green dresses light up laughing through an archway as a woman in a white lace dress steps in front of them with her back to the camera.
The bride tastes cake off her fingertips at the cake table while the groom smiles down at her and seated guests clap.
A man in a navy suit crouches down and leans his face close to a black dog wearing a flower collar.
The groom grins as he and the bride walk hand in hand across the lawn, her bouquet lifted over her shoulder, guests standing among the ceremony chairs behind them.
A child in an open vest blows through a bubble wand with the bubble bottle still gripped in the other hand.
An older woman with blonde curls laughs mid-turn on the dance floor as an older man in a plaid suit reaches an arm out toward her.
Women in matching dark green dresses wrap each other in a group hug, one of them smiling with her eyes closed.
Two men carry the groom on their shoulders as he raises both arms and guests clap around them.
A couple kisses in the petal-strewn aisle under a draped arbor as a guest tosses pink petals into the air beside them.
Two young girls dance on an outdoor wooden dance floor at dusk while guests sit at long tables behind them.
A woman with white hair in a pale blue dress smiles up at a grey-haired man who faces her with his back to the camera.
Two pairs of guests hug on a sunlit lawn while a young girl stands to the side watching them.
A bride holds a grey-suited man's arm and looks down with a small smile as guests stand out of focus behind them.
Guests packed around a long banquet table lift their glasses together during a toast.
Three guests at a dinner table laugh together, the man between the two women raising a finger mid story above his patterned bow tie.
A couple hold each other tight with their faces pressed together while a man in sunglasses claps beside them, folded papers still in one hand, and guests' raised hands clap in the blurred foreground.
A laughing groom in a black suit stands holding a drink can while the seated bride looks over at him and smiles.
The groom cups the bride's cheek as they dance close together, their other hands clasped between them, seated guests all around.
The bride grins at the camera while the smiling people crowded around her hold bright orange and yellow bouquets up on either side of her.
The bride beams with her bouquet in one hand and the groom's hand in the other as they walk the aisle between standing guests through falling confetti.
A dog trots ahead along the mown path through a golden field while the couple follows hand in hand.
A man in a navy suit and green tie walks down the aisle arm in arm with a woman in a long champagne dress as seated guests watch from both sides.
The bride wraps a white haired older guest in a tight hug while another woman watches from behind them.
A groom in a grey suit carries the bride in his arms across a rocky outcrop, her long veil trailing and her arm wrapped around his shoulders.
A man in a tan suit grins between two other men in matching tan suits, with out of focus guests and bouquets framing the foreground.
The bride smiles at the groom as they hold hands during the ceremony while a woman in a brown dress stands beside them with her eyes lowered.
A woman throws both arms around a man's neck in a tight hug at the reception, still holding her drink, eyes closed and smiling.
A row of guests at a long candlelit reception table smile and laugh as they watch something off camera, one of them clapping.
Guests around the reception tables raise champagne glasses in a toast, faces bright with laughter, one of them filming on a phone.
A bride in a white gown hugs a woman in a green dress while a young girl in a flower crown watches from behind.
Two women laugh shoulder to shoulder at the reception, one reaching an open hand toward the camera and the other holding a beer, with more guests behind them.
The bride bows her head and lifts a fold of her full skirt in a bright hotel room while bridesmaids in green stand around her, one grinning and one holding a hand to her brow.
Guests lift the bride overhead on a chair as she laughs and looks down at them.
Guests sit around a round table under a tent in low golden light, one woman laughing with her hands raised as the man beside her turns to listen.
An older woman laughs face to face with the bride while holding her hand, and the groom stands between them with an arm around the older woman's back.
A woman in a blue floral dress holds a pink rose and walks hand in hand with a young girl across the sunlit lawn.
A little girl grins up at a gray-haired man laughing beside her on the couch while the woman on her other side smiles with a drink in hand.
A bride in a lace dress and flower crown sits close beside a large black dog, looking off with a soft smile while the dog faces the camera.
Guests fold each other into a hug at the reception while a girl in the middle smiles and a woman beside them laughs with her head tipped back.
Clear plastic cups go up in a toast over a bearded man in glasses, a boy looking on from between the raised arms.
A woman in a green dress wraps a braided cord around the couple's joined hands, the two long strands hanging down against the bride's skirt.
Two hands pin a white rose boutonniere to the lapel of a man's black jacket.
An older woman in an orange wrap claps and smiles at a candlelit table while a woman in glasses applauds just behind her.
Guests raise white ribbon wands overhead on both sides as the couple walks through hand in hand, the bride laughing.
The groom holds a small frog on his fingers while the bride laughs beside him, both looking down at it.
Guests at a reception table smile at something off to the side, one man resting his chin on his hand under warm string lights.
A woman in a white lace gown grins while a boy in a dark green suit hugs her tightly around the neck under a flower covered wooden arch.
One woman in a blue dress kneels on the wood floor to lace the bride's white high-top sneaker while a second woman in blue stands beside her and the bride bends over to watch.
Two men in navy suits with green ties and orange boutonnieres stand side by side against a red corrugated wall, the one on the right grinning wide at something off camera.
The couple sits together on stone front steps and the bride laughs with her head tipped back while the groom turns to watch her.
Guests standing in the pews of a church tip their lit taper candles toward one another to pass the flame along the row.
Women in sage green dresses sit shoulder to shoulder with bright bouquets in their laps, one of them laughing with her eyes closed and head tipped back.
A barefoot young boy dances with both arms flung wide while adults dance around him on the reception floor.
A woman in a sweatshirt and shorts kicks one leg high beside a kitchen island while another woman in a white robe watches from across the counter.
A woman in a floral dress holds a glass of wine and laughs beside an older man in a blue checked shirt as the two dance in front of the DJ booth.
Guests stream across the grass toward an open-sided tent as the sun flares through the clouds behind it.
A woman laughs with her head thrown back and her hair flying as other guests dance around her.
A small group of bridesmaids and guests watches and claps from either side of a warm, empty hallway as the groom dips the bride into a kiss.
The couple walks arm in arm into the marquee between two rows of guests who film on their phones and hold glowing fiber-optic wands overhead.
A groom in a black suit dances with an older woman in a blush gown on an empty dance floor under a tent while guests sit at tables behind them.
A man in a lavender shirt stands laughing behind a flower-covered table under a tent while a young woman at the right edge of the frame smiles.
Two women turn in their chairs at a long dinner table, arms folded over the chair backs, watching something off frame.
A man in a dark suit speaks into a microphone beside the candlelit head table while the seated bride raises her cup and guests down the table lift their glasses toward him.
A young girl in a yellow dress and a cluster of women lunge with open hands as the tossed bouquet drops among them.
A boy in a navy suit dances with a wide grin toward the camera while a laughing adult in a gray vest reaches an arm out to him.
A couple hold both of each other's hands and smile at one another while a man in sunglasses stands between them holding a single page, water behind them.
A woman in a burgundy dress crouches to spread the bride's train across the floor by a bright window while the bride looks back over her shoulder.
A cream spaniel stands in the grass between dinner chairs while a seated guest reaches down to scratch its chin
A young girl in a white dress sits among rows of seated guests outdoors and turns to look back toward the camera.
A man in a suit and red bandana with a green pack on his back laughs open mouthed on a fog covered hillside of autumn brush.
Guests raise lit sparklers in two lines at night as the couple kisses between them and a boy in the foreground watches with a sparkler in his hand.
An older man in a dark suit holds a woman in a white lace gown close in an empty brick room and wipes his eye, his face crumpling.

Out through the wildflowers with everybody yelling.

Somebody's big number, performed at knee height for an audience of suits.

Hands up, confetti down.

A kid on the guestbook phone, hand on hip, handling business.

The row behind you, already laughing.

Chin up and laughing while somebody fastens you into all that color.

Married, holding pie, and thrilled about both.

Last hands through your hair while you laugh with your eyes closed.

Two friends down on shoe duty while you practice standing still.

One big huddle of suits, and one grin surfacing over the top.

Barefoot, mid sprint, married, gone.

Two hugs at the same time, and a kid watching both.

Sunlight through the trees, and a smile meant for exactly one person.

A flower girl crowning herself, and a gasp you can almost hear.

The piano player, having a very good night.

Striding through the barn like you own it, because today you do.

Somebody carrying the dog, because the dog is done walking.

Spun under your dad's arm, skirt doing exactly what it was made for.

Barely in the room, already laughing, and the whole row already clapping.

Petals from both sides, and a kid up on shoulders so they don't miss it.

Your dad's arm, an autumn bouquet, and a grin they can see from the back row.

Somebody's whole face telling you exactly how you look.

The kids' table deep in their coloring, one grown-up already recruited.

Showing off the ring, and a friend pointing at it like evidence.

Three friends, one story, and the one in seersucker already losing it.

Two of your people under one umbrella, and neither letting go first.

A veil over a denim jacket, and a look saved for exactly one person.

One green suit, a crowd of tan ones, and a hand flat on your head.

Your whole guest list fits on one mountain overlook.

Both feet off the ground at the edge of the country.

Down in the grass, nose to nose with your biggest fan.

Navy suits, pink bow ties, and every hand on the same person.

The barn, clapping.

A kiss on the head for a kid busy staring straight down the lens.

The dance move that is just pointing, executed with total confidence.

One small hand reaching for the skirt, and you turning like you felt it.

Hand in hand down the aisle while the whole room claps you in.

Three people on veil duty, and not one of them would trade the job.

A row of applause, and one guest too moved to clap.

One guest past clapping entirely, both hands pressed over their mouth.

A kid in a flower crown getting somebody's undivided attention.

One hand over a mouth, one smile behind a beard, one stuffed dalmatian at dinner.

A cheek pressed to somebody's back in the middle of dinner, no reason needed.

Your dog getting the full treatment, kiss on the head, scratch under the chin.

Back down the aisle, both of you grinning like you got away with something.

Two friends doing all the lifting, and you up there flexing anyway.

Bending down, bouquet and all, to the biggest smile in the room.

All of them folding in at once, and you laughing at the center of it.

A kid walking the aisle alone, taking the job very seriously.

One of you on the rope swing, the other doing the pushing, both in very good suits.

Somebody putting their cheek against yours because talking was not going to cover it.

Three of them on the front steps, laughing at something you will never hear.

Two hands wrapped around the one wearing the ring.

Your lineup under the arch, one joke past holding it together.

Both dogs dressed up, and neither of them asked.

Five faces telling you exactly how the dress looks.

Quality control on the frosting, straight off your fingers.

Down on the doormat to kiss the dog in the flower collar.

The walk back down the aisle, bouquet up like you won something.

A kid who found the bubbles and is now fully committed.

The dance floor at the point where it all blurs.

Your bridesmaids folded into one hug, arms wherever they fit.

Up on two sets of shoulders, both arms declaring victory.

One kiss in the aisle while the petals are still in the air.

Two kids who claimed the floor early and brought choreography.

The smile you save for the person holding your hands.

Two hugs at once, and a kid taking notes.

Your dad at your side, your eyes down, and the whole aisle waiting.

A room full of raised glasses, all pointed at the two of you.

One finger up, right at the good part of the story.

The first hug as married people, and the officiant leading the applause.

Watching your person laugh, which turns out to be the better show.

Hands folded between you while the whole room watches.

Half buried in everybody's bouquets and beaming about it.

Confetti falling through the trees and your people all on their feet.

Your dog out front, certain it knows the way.

Walking someone up the aisle, both of you holding on.

Eyes closed, holding on a few seconds past normal.

Your person taking the rocks so the dress doesn't have to.

Matching suits everywhere and not one straight face among them.

Holding hands on a mountainside while somebody reads you into a marriage.

Eyes shut, arms tight, drink somehow still upright.

The head table losing it in unison over the same sentence.

Every glass in the room up at once, and one phone catching it forever.

A hug in the middle of the room, with one small witness.

Your people spotting the camera and going straight for it.

The skirt putting up a fight in front of a full audience in green.

Airborne on a chair, trusting everybody you love at once.

Nobody at this table is going anywhere, and they know it.

Your grandmother laughing hard enough to need a hand to hold.

One pink rose, one small hand, and a whole sunlit lawn to cross.

A kid wedged in between, looking up at somebody like they hung the moon.

Your dog, facing the camera so you don't have to.

The hug that keeps adding people.

Plastic cups up to the rafters, and a kid peeking between the arms.

Your hands tied together with a bit of rope, on purpose.

Two careful hands and one rose that has to sit exactly right.

The clap that turns into hands pressed together, because it meant that much.

Out under a ceiling of ribbons, laughing the whole way through.

Your person stopping the entire day, because there is a frog.

Chin in hand, fully settled in for this part of the night.

A kid latched around your neck, and you in no hurry to put them down.

Sneakers under the wedding dress, and a friend on the floor doing the laces.

Green ties, orange roses, and something very good happening off frame.

The two of you on the steps, laughing at nothing anyone else would get.

One flame, passed pew to pew, until the whole church is glowing.

Flowers in every lap, and one laugh that tips a head all the way back.

One barefoot kid, arms out, claiming every inch of the floor.

A full high kick in the kitchen, because it is finally today.

Laughing too hard to dance properly, drink somehow surviving.

The whole party dancing out on the lawn while the sky shows off.

Hair everywhere and not caring even slightly.

A dip in the middle of the hallway, one wall clapping, the other just grinning.

Every phone up, every wand glowing, a path straight through your people.

An empty floor, one slow song, and the person who raised you.

Somebody standing up behind the flowers, laughing with their whole chest.

Turned all the way around in their chairs, arms folded, missing nothing.

Candlelight, a microphone, and every glass rising for the two of you.

The bouquet drops, and the kid in the yellow dress means business.

One tiny suit, out-dancing the whole barn and knowing it.

Both hands, one page of vows, and not another soul on the water.

You look back, and somebody is already down there perfecting your train.

Your dog working the dinner tables, one chin scratch at a time.

Everybody faces front, except the kid who's found the camera.

Somebody wore a tie up the mountain and regrets nothing.

The night ends in a kiss, lit entirely by people who love you.

Your dad gets one dance, and he doesn't even try to hold it together.

Aaron May sitting back in a chair with an easy smile, backwards cap and glasses, black and white

I'm Aaron.

I'm a little quiet. This surprises people who have only encountered me while I'm working, because apparently Wedding Aaron knows what he's doing. Regular Aaron can absolutely stand beside someone at a party wondering whether we've reached the part where I'm supposed to talk first.

At a wedding, I have a job. I know when to give direction. I know when the light isn't working. I know when somebody needs help, or needs space. And I know when nothing needs fixing and I should shut the hell up and let something happen.

Clients have called me calm and collected. Meanwhile, inside my head, I'm thinking about the light, what's happening next, whether I've photographed the cake, and approximately seventeen other things. So apparently the system works.

By the end of the night I've usually talked to your parents, your friends, your wedding planner, several relatives, and whoever can tell me when dinner is happening. Especially whoever can tell me when dinner is happening.

I've been photographing weddings since 2018. I'm based in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, and most weekends take me into Washington DC, Northern Virginia, Maryland, the Shenandoah Valley and everywhere in between. Sometimes somebody has a better idea and puts me on a plane. I like those too.

AARON MAY · SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV

From the people who actually hired me

Apparently I'm calming.

He has such a calm demeanor that makes you feel totally comfortable even if you hate being in front of a camera.Sarah
We said we wanted to be out in nature, and Aaron delivered. He even suggested the location.Lillian
He was very professional, but also very calming and helpful when I was a nervous wreck.Kathy

Some recent days.

Not styled shoots. The actual weddings, start to finish. See all stories

Patrick dipping Andrea into a kiss beneath the great spreading tree on a brick corner in Shepherdstown, her green heel kicked up and her bouquet trailing toward the sidewalk

Andrea & Patrick

Bavarian Inn · 2024
Mark kissing Mary on the cheek in golden evening light on the Bavarian Inn lawn, her flowers in hand and the treed river valley soft behind them

Mary & Mark

Trinity Episcopal & the Bavarian Inn · 2025
Bailey and Youssef nose to nose beneath towering trees at a Brinklow, Maryland estate, her white satin cape and lace-edged train spread across the grass

Bailey & Youssef

Brinklow, Maryland · 2024

So how does this work?

01

You tell me what you know.

Your date. Your venue, if you have one. The general shape of the thing. I'll send you my full pricing and we'll find a time to talk.

02

We talk about the actual wedding.

Not a sales call where I spend 45 minutes trying to create scarcity around myself. I want to hear what you're planning and who's going to be there.

03

Then I do my job.

We'll tighten up the timeline as the wedding gets closer. On the day, I'll know the plan. You can go get married. I'll take it from there.

There was a before.
And now there's an us.

City Hall and pizza. Your parents' backyard. Two hundred people. Seven people in Oregon. A ballroom in DC. A little ceremony in the mountains of West Virginia.

You're putting a stake in the ground: this happened, we chose each other, and these were the people who were here when we did. That's what I want the photographs to hold onto. Not just what everything looked like. Who was there.

So no. I don't know which photographs will matter yet. I'm going to make damn sure we have plenty to choose from.

Check Your Date

First to know.

Firefly session dates, Texas winter openings, and the occasional full wedding worth seeing. Nothing else.