It would be a cliche to say that Kelsie and Kyle made my job easy. It also wouldn’t be quite true. Since I shot my very first, weddings have always been a struggle for me. No matter what. And when a wedding is starting to feel a little bit easier, it doesn’t take too many easy shots for me to start wondering why that is. My internal editor suspects that I might be falling into a rut. “Found something that worked last time? Well, just keep doing it.”

I can’t do that. Some things are meant to be difficult. Creating is one of them. If it’s not hard then it’s not creation. It’s just duplication. I can’t do that.

What Kelsie and Kyle did was make the job of struggling fun, and made it successful. There’s no reason for people who hardly know me to trust me, but they did, quickly and wholly, and their generosity was the most important part of my day. I’m deeply grateful to them.

Kelsie’s sister, Mekala Tinnin, of Tie That Binds, is responsible for the design, details, and much of the styling. She’s, well, really good. If you’re a bride, you should pay yourself the luxury of hiring her.