I had a conversation this past weekend with a bride & her mother, as the bride was getting ready for the wedding. We chuckled a bit as we watched the father of the bride outside cleaning up the yard and moving patio furniture around in his jeans like it was just any other day, while they were spending hours on hair, make-up etc worrying about the wedding and what was to come next.
As a father myself (Sienna turned 13 today, happy birthday baby girl) I know first hand how we dad’s have our own ways of dealing with things, often times it’s on our own, so the world can’t see or sometimes, at least for me, it’s easier to process things on my own. In all the hub bub of the wedding day, dads go through a lot and I think it’s important for a photographer or videographer to try to capture it.
At weddings we see our little girls (in our minds) transition to women in the course of hours then ride of into the sunset with another man. I’ve spoken about how I tear up during the Father Daughter Dance. In this picture though I’m struck twice, once as a dad and once as a husband.
Im utterly moved by the sentiment and deep emotion on the father’s face as he dances with his daughter. But I am equally as moved by looking at the groom. Never before have I thought about the other side of it. The groom watching his bride as a little girl in her father’s arms.
For those that don’t know I’ve been married for 10 years and a wedding photographer for 12. When Sheri & I got married, we went to the court house with a hand full of family & our daughter Sienna. It is pictures like these that make me a bit regretful that we didn’t have a formal wedding but lets me look forward to Sienna’s.
by Mike
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