Award Winning Image from Hardy Farm Maine Wedding!

Not too long ago I photographed Sarah + Jonathan at their Hardy Farm wedding in Maine and from photos of them smiling at one another during the woooded ceremony, running around in an open field with mountains as the backdrop, and tearfully listening to heartfelt (and funny!) toasts from their nearest and dearest, I was able to find so many great moments to photograph.

At their day there was one tee tiny flower girl who was the funniest person during all parts of the wedding day, and who was so fun to follow and to view the events through her eyes.

She spun around with Sarah while she got ready, she gave a staredown to guests as she came down the aisle dutifully dropping flower petals, high-fived Jonathan once she was at the front, and wore her styling shades during the reception. She was the best kind of wedding day buddy with her wide range of excitement/nervousness and so when the first dance started, I wasn’t surprised that she was front and center trying to join the newlywed’s dance!

Kids are unpredictable and following them closely can lead to some great wedding day moments, especially when there’s a connection with the couple and they have a big personality like this little one.

Getting down low to their eye level so the world is displayed how they see it and always always always keeping your eyes peeled for whatever they do next is a great way to not only bring them into the wedding day memories but to also show the couple how the littlest guests experienced the day.

Sometimes kids are not having it and getting a smile (or even a look towards the camera!) can be difficult and when that’s going on during a time like the family formal photos I always just tell the adults to just look my way, smile and let the kids be kids. The grins are always fun to capture, but sometimes the tears, frowns, or the hiding of the face are all you can get from them and trust me, those photos will be just as good to look at later!

There are stories in the personalities of those closest to you, there’s beautiful reality and love in the imperfection – even when things go slightly different than planned. Real, raw, emotion and vulnerability are what I find beautiful and a wedding day is filled to the brim with all of that.

So if the flower girl decides she’d like to make your first dance a party of three – I’ll be there capturing it and cementing that brief memory to your wedding day story while you two wrinkle your nose in laughter.

As always, thank you to WPJA for the recognition. If you’re interested, feel free to take a look at my full profile on WPJA to see the rest of my award-winning wedding images by heading HERE!