06/29/2020
Hi Everyone! Casey Quist here.
I just had to come on here and write this today because it was a big deal for me. While photographing a wedding this weekend I had a pretty significant epiphany and I wanted to share that with y'all...
I have kind of always felt like a wedding was the biggest party you would ever throw for yourself, despite being told regularly that it's the most important day of your life. I thought that the day they put your baby in your hands for the first time, was the most important day of your life, but this weekend I realized that was wrong.
As many of you know, I lost my grandfather a year ago who was my dad to me and everything. Then I lost my grandmother because of her anger issues and refusal to speak to me anymore. Because my grandmother is angry with me, my entire extended family won't speak to me either. So I truly lost my entire family in 2019.
As I watched the bride dance with her father, I felt myself get emotional because I realized that will never have the opportunity to dance with my Papa like that... (I wish I would have had a wedding. What a mistake we made)
As I watched her mother pin the boutonnieres on her grandsons, and help her daughter and granddaughters get ready, I felt really sad that I don't have anything like that with my grandparents. Oh man what I would give to have pictures like I took this weekend with my grandparents.
This weekend changed me.
I realized just how important these photos are. These moments that I captured of her family will literally last the rest of her life. And these are the moments that her children are going to look back on as adults, and remember the day with their grandparents. To them, this whole wedding was this big crazy overwhelming stressful event. But when they see my photos, they are going to realize just how special these memories they made this day are.
I have photos of the bride's mom and dad getting ready and smiling while helping each other getting ready. The mother of the bride helping the bride get her dress laced up. The kids hanging around on their cell phones laughing and hanging out while waiting for everything to get started. We took photos of her friends laughing their asses off while dancing and having the time of their lives.
There were quite literally a million little moments as significant as those, that the bride and groom shared with their family, and friends, they may not realize yet how significant they were, but one day when her parents are no longer here on this earth, these will be the photos they look back on and are so grateful for. These are the most important memories they will ever have photographs of.
I am absolutely honored to have been specially requested by my bride to capture this day because she knew that I would capture it beautifully and she literally did trust me to photograph the most important day of her life. The biggest life-changing moment she has ever experienced. She trusted me to capture the people she loves most for her to enjoy for generations to come.
BRIDES, THIS PART IS IMPORTANT:
If you're going to have a wedding, I implore you to make capturing these memories your top priority. It is not just about the wedding, but the people in your life that may be gone before their time. When comparing photographers, don't compare the expense, compare the quality of their work, their ability to see when a moment is priceless and the value you will get with their 'expensive' price.
