I thought I knew how important my job was. My job was to show up, camera in hand, and capture each and every moment from their wedding day.

I’m married, and my wedding day was one of the most important days of my life. I cherish every single moment, and I relive it as often as I can when I look at the photos and watch our wedding video.

But being the wedding photographer for my clients this past year, revealed to me that my job is so much more than just taking pictures. My job is one of the most important jobs of the entire wedding. Because after their wedding day is over, chances are that the pictures that I give them will be the only thing left from their day.

The wedding venue will close its doors, and begin preparations for its next couple. The cake will have been eaten. The flowers will eventually wilt away. Friends and family will go back to their daily routines. But this couple, they are married. And this day is one that they will be able to relive over and over, just like I do, in the photos that I give them.

And these aren’t just photos. These are memories, precious moments captured frozen in time. And they have trusted me to be there, with my eyes and my heart wide open so that I can see all of the love and happiness and moments they can never do over again.

And that’s what I do. I don’t just show up with my camera in hand. I show up with my eyes wide open so that I can make sure that I don’t miss a thing. I show up with my heart wide open so that I can feel the love they share and that surrounds them from their family and friends. I show up knowing that my job is perhaps the most important of the day. I show up recognizing that they depend on me to give them the best of their day so that they can cherish it forever.

God and these couples blessed me this past year by choosing me as their wedding photographer. I would never have dreamed that I would have been the photographer at 14 weddings over 7 months. It was an incredible opportunity. And it’s one I hope to be blessed to continue to do in the future. 

Here are some of my favorite photos from the weddings I had the pleasure of being a part of in 2014: