Jane + Kathy: Love - Fairbanks Wedding Photographer

This is a love story, and it's one that spans decades.  

Jane and Kathy were getting married after spending more than twenty years together, and they asked me to photograph their wedding.  They explained that yes, they were thrilled to be able to be legally married.  It meant a lot.  More than could be said.  But the wedding itself?   The wedding, they said, was a party.  A PARTY for all their friends and family, as a thank-you for supporting and loving them through all those years.  During those two+ decades it *wasn't* possible to be legally married.  

To be completely honest, throughout the day of the wedding, there weren't many moments in which this was forefront on my mind.  The sweet love story and the sweet jitters of two sweethearts about to tie the knot were the dominant narrative.  It was their wedding day, and politics generously stayed out of it, apart from the absolutely, wonderfully victorious cheer that broke out when the officiant held the signed marriage license high above her head and roared.  

But there was a moment when it really hit me.  After the ceremony, the brides had their first dance.  Then as the music transitioned to the next song, they were slowly joined by couples, one by one, on the dance floor.  All couples who, like them, had had to wait decades for this day.  They slowly and silently glided in each others' embrace, and with goosebumps and tears in my eyes, I took a picture.  

Such a celebration of love.

#lovewins