Rachel & Erin | Nashville LGBTQIA+ Wedding
One of my biggest goals as a wedding photographer has been the photograph an LGBTQIA+ wedding. I’ve shot a lot of gay proposals and engagements and couples, but for some reason I never had the opportunity to shoot a wedding. And I’m so happy to say that I finally did the thing!!
A few weeks ago I got the joy and pleasure of shooting a queer wedding, and it honestly changed my life. I’ve shot plenty of straight weddings, and while each of those has been special in their own way, there really isn’t anything like the love you feel at a gay wedding. The entire time I was shooting, I was struck with this feeling of magic, that we were all so blessed to be there together celebrating something so special. It took so much history to get to this one moment, both the people involved with that day and the many many people that worked to make gay marriage legal, and I felt the weight of that as I was capturing each individual moment.
Rachel and Erin have such an incredible community around them. I cannot stress to you enough how emotional this wedding was. Every other moment you could find one of the attendees crying about something. There were tears during the ceremony, tears during the toasts, tears in the moments in between as friends and family got to come together to celebrate the love between these two people. Their story is so special and unique, and I was so in awe of their relationship.
Weddings are such a special thing for photographers because for one single day, you get to be a apart of someone’s life story. You may not know them well, you may have never met in person, but you get to be their family, their close friend, for just a moment. You get to meet so many incredible people, and you probably will never see any of them again…but that’s what makes it so special. There is love on a wedding day that cannot be replicated, and I always feel so honored to get to capture that.
This queer wedding felt like such a safe space, and I really allowed myself to be my fullest self. I experimented heavily with film - carrying around five cameras always makes me feel like a freak but the end result was so worth it. And honestly the most important thing to note is that the reception playlist was a BLAST. Everybody has different taste in music, sure, but nothing made me feel more at home than hitting the dance floor to songs by MUNA and Carly Rae Jepsen. I had so much fun, and I am so excited to get to share this wedding!!
(One last sidebar: I just need everybody to know that when I met Erin and Rachel my first thought was “Oh my god…I’m shooting a modern AU of Gideon and Harrow from the Locked Tomb series." Which is to say, I love them your honor!!)
Cedars of Lebanon / June 9, 2023
In Collaboration with Pride of Place Weddings
Shot on digital, Polaroid, 35mm, 120mm, and 110 film
