There is a special time of year when a certain special question gets asked a little bit more than during other times of the year. This is one of my favorite seasons as a photographer that specializes in weddings! ‘Tis the season for engagement photos!!!!!!
I have been a wedding focused photographer for a few years now and one of the biggest questions I always hear from clients, peers and people in general is always, “WHY Weddings?” It’s true. Weddings are very high stress events for photographers. The only thing that lasts past the wedding day are the photos and videos of the memories captured from that day.
Through all of the planning, stress, countless emails, hours of shooting AND editing, phone calls and sore shoulders from holding heavy equipment however, I have to admit that shooting weddings is my true love! There is such a sense of wonder and magic being apart of each of my couples special days.
So the question…. WHY Weddings? Because I believe that fairy-tales DO exist! Happy Endings. New Beginnings.
When I was a few years younger, I strongly believed in the idea of soul mates! There was ONE man out there that God created just for me and we were going to meet, fall in love and live happily ever after! Although heart warming as a teenager, as an adult a much more mature perspective has formulated in my mind. You see, there is NO biblical basis to indicate that God in Heaven EVER created just one person for each of us. There are SO MANY people in the world, any number of which have a variety of traits that make their personality compatible with our own. There is no ONE PERSON! But when you choose to marry someone they BECOME your one person!
As a wedding photographer, I meet with SO MANY newly engaged couples on a regular basis. During the engagement stage of any relationship the couple is all big eyed, butterflies in their tummies, over the top, head over heels, passionately in the FEELING of love with each other! It’s obvious in the way they speak, look, talk and touch each other. This is a wonderful experience, truly! The feeling of love is a powerful, life altering thing! It’s an infectious feeling and perhaps part of the reason why I adore photographing weddings so much. The things these couples are FEELING as we sit in Starbucks and they describe their story to me in detail. It’s this FEELING that they just can’t get enough of. It’s this FEELING that they trying to capture and hold on to in the form of a marriage.
When I first met with Brian and Jaclyn it was obvious that they had this feeling of love for each other. My mom would say you could “see the love in their eyes.” But as I spent more time with them, it was even more obvious that they had something much greater than just the FEELING of love for each other. Hearing this groom talk about how special he wanted to make this wedding for his bride really opened my eyes to the reality of how he felt about her. I mean, what’s not to love? Jaclyn is a super TINY, adorable, kind, thoughtful, sweet, funny and BEAUTIFUL person! On the wedding day I was even more sure that their love was much, MUCH more than a feeling alone. Getting to spend time with the couple and see them in their element with family and friends surrounding them as they committed to spend the rest of their lives together was confirmation of that!
People are so in love with the IDEA of love! We all just LOVE to hear about people who “fall in love” or have found their “soul mate.” I’m simply stating fact that even in Christian circles, the emphasis put upon the idea that God “has someone” for each of us is so blown out of proportion its just crazy! And what happens when this DIVINE feeling of love that was ORDAINED before you were even born wears off? You fall out of love? This wasn’t actually the ONE that God had for you? It’s so unrealistic! A marriage cant be based on an idea which you had no control over. Your marriage has to be based on the idea that you have ALL the control over it. You CHOOSE to love this one person day after day after day until “death do us part.”
There is no doubt in my mind that the love of Brian and Jaclyn is the “happily ever after” kind of love. This feeling they have for each other is intense and passionate and life altering, no doubt! But it is also steadfast and based on more that just raw emotion! Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Murry! 7/19/2014 I’m looking forward to hearing about your wonderful life together for many, many years to come!
Facebook.com/JessiMarriPhotographyPage
Sarah and Cory Miller are a super fun couple that I got to shoot with down in Galveston, TX. It is SO awesome when you get to spend time really creating beautiful images and not rushing around like crazy on the wedding day! This styled session is what we like to call a “Just Married” shoot. The bride and groom get together with the photographer AFTER the wedding day to spend a decent amount of time getting timeless images like these WITHOUT all the stress of the wedding day! These are some of my FAVORITE sessions!
There is nothing I enjoy more than shooting with my wedding couples outside! There are so many beautiful venues where you can capture amazing images but there is something about the natural beauty of what the Earth has to offer us that really gets my creative side pumping! Gorgeous sunsets and amazing skies are my FAVORITE thing to incorporate into my sessions!
Having traveled across the nation and back as well as internationally for my weddings….. I have determined that no matter what “style” a couple may claim to have, EVERY couple loves great photos of them with an AMAZING sky in the background. Whether its big and beautiful with puffy white clouds or dark and stormy outside, my couples and I have managed to catch some incredible imagery simply using what God has created. Simple. Natural. Breathtaking.
I am so excited to finally reveal the new logo for Jessi Marri Photography! So many changes have happened over the past 6 years and this fresh new look is just the beginning of many more changes that are coming our way! It is an honor and a privilege to be able to continue to do what I love so much every day! I’m thanking the Lord for the past several years and praying that the future is just as bright. I count myself truly blessed with a great group of family, friends and fans that continue to inspire me and push my creativity!
NEVER stop pursuing your DREAMS!!!!
I am so excited for this next season getting ready to happen with the business. As some of you know, I started doing weddings when I was 18 and living in Florida. The past 7 years have been an incredible journey of growing in my skill and developing the company. I have gone though so many phases of change over the years and I am so excited for the one coming up. I am not going to spill ALL of the beans just yet but I just HAD to share some of my excitement with all of you! The past 2+ years of getting to do this full time has been such a blessing. Sure there have been ups and downs but all in all, I wouldn’t trade this thing for anything in the world! There is nothing more exciting or rewarding than getting to do what you love every single day!
I’m looking forward to all the BIG THINGS that are coming this year! I’ll share more soon! Promise!
Right from the very beginning, I knew that the wedding of Michael and Sarah was going to be something special! From the very first meeting that we had together at Minuti Coffee in Downtown it was obvious that this couple had a certain energy between them. From countless emails and face to face meetings, I knew going into the wedding day that we were going to have a really great time! Everything was planned and organized perfectly and flowed exactly how a wedding photographer would love it to!
There were so many awesome moments from the day there is no way I could fit it all into one blog post. However, I MUST highlight one moment from the before the ceremony. We were out on the balcony and I was shooting photos of the Groom with all of his Groomsmen. The photo pretty much speaks for itself but imagine it from my perspective. I’m looking at the guys through the tiny viewfinder of my camera and it looks like the one on the far left is about to leap to his death! THAT was a heart-stopping moment for sure!
Awesome couple! Awesome friends and family! AWESOME wedding! I am so excited to get to work with the Mundays on future projects!
In my entire life, I have never been a believer in the concept of soul mates. I have never believed that there is one uniquely compatible partner out there in the world somewhere and one day we are destined to meet. To me, it has always seemed impractical and frankly a little silly. As a wedding photographer, I get to spend some of the most precious moments between a bride and groom before and after they say “I Do”. Sharing in my couples special day brings me such a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. Every so often a couple comes along that really makes me rethink about my opinions on “soul mates” and “true love”. This past weekend that couple was Rimma and Robert. If there was ever 2 parts of one soul that finally found each other I would believe it to be this couple. No matter the distance that separated them, their love what passionate, genuine and VERY evident from the moment that Robert first laid eyes on her on their wedding day. I am truly lucky to have been able to be apart of their forever moments and all I can say is that I hope to cultivate a love that vibrant in my own life someday! Congratulations to you!
There are moments in life when I believe you can clearly hear and understand the voice of God with no question.
This past weekend I happened to be in Las Vegas to visit family and do a few photo shoots as well. The week before I got to town I was scrolling down my feed on Facebook when I came across a post from my friend Stephanie Moes. 
Originally, a different date was talked about for her wedding so it was to my surprise to realize that she was actually going to be getting married when I happened to be in town. I knew from talking with her before that they had not found a photographer to handle the photos on the day. I knew from the second that I saw post that this was a divine appointment. I contacted her within minutes of seeing her post to see if she would still be needing any help on the day. We talked a bit and it was decided that I would be there to photograph the moments leading up to and during the ceremony.
I believe that God gives us gifts and talents for a reason. Mine just happens to be photography. I am so incredibly thankful for what it is that I get to do for a living. Sharing these special moments with people is so touching. How could I refuse when I felt the Lord tug at my heart? I am so blessed to be able to do this for people and I will never forget it.
Congratulations Mr and Mrs Drake! I am truly so thankful that the Lord arranged this divine appointment!
It is a photographer’s dream to have a bride like Kirby. From the moment we first met she expressed how the photos of her wedding were one of the most important things to her. She did an excellent job of planning her day to maximize the amount of time that we would get to spend capturing beautiful images. She was open to creative ideas that I suggested for the photos and did an excellent job of making sure that her large bridal party was on the same page as us! It was a pleasure and an honor to be apart of this couples special day!
We do not remember days; we remember moments. – Cesare Pavese
As a photographer, I have the great honor of sharing in some very special moments in peoples lives. From their engagement session to their wedding to their maternity and so on… I get to walk with people through some of life’s most exciting and most challenging times. As I look back over the thousands of images that I had the privilege of capturing for people over the year, I cant help but feel overwhelmed. Naturally, what I do can be very emotional… Not only for the subject of my photos but for me as the photographer also. It’s as if every feeling is magnified 10x as I experience it looking through the lens of my camera. Every smile seems even more vibrant just as every tear of happiness seems that much more romantic. I give a piece of myself to every subject that I photograph just as I take a small piece of them with me. I carry them with me always because their memories are never forgotten in the beautiful images that we create together.
