Wedding Bells...

This past Friday (yes, April Fool's Day), one of Matt's very good friends & his fiancee tied the knot. They are such fun people, so loving, and gracious. Matt asked me to please take their wedding pictures for them. I am not going to lie - I was not thrilled at that prospect. I've posted before about finding it difficult to like my own pictures. My favorite pictures to take are landscapes because they can't come back and yell at me if I mess up their portraits! Knowing this about myself, I almost had a panic attack just thinking about being responsible for taking these once in a lifetime portraits.

I had a couple of classes Friday morning and wasn't sure how much time I would have to get ready after class. So, I got all dressed up, with *makeup* (I never wear makeup. Ever. Ever. Hate the stuff.), and left for school. One of my teachers stared at me for a minute when I walked in, and asked me in all seriousness, "Do you belong in this class?" Obviously, I looked different. :)

We left for the wedding at 5:00 (ceremony was at 6, so I had to get there early to take the prep pictures). By the time we left, I'd already panicked enough to give myself the start of a migraine headache. But I got through it - although I was cussing my camera for taking so long to write each picture to the memory card (since it took so long, there were a few picture opportunities I know I missed). We went on to the reception, but my job was far from over. There was so much to capture.

By 9:00, I was absolutely wiped out. Seriously tired. Beyond exhausted. Matt was having such a good time, but I made him leave. I just couldn't hold my head up any more. And I felt awful about making him leave.

I'll never forget going to a co-worker's wedding a number of years back. It was when I worked at a photography studio. One of the photographers was getting married. The studio we both worked at specialized in high school senior and family portraits. The owner (L) absolutely never did weddings. Well, since this photographer was not only an employee, but a friend, L reluctantly agreed to take her wedding. Shortly after the reception began (after he'd taken the entrance pics & first dance), L disappeared. We found out later that he'd gone out to his van and fallen asleep. Now I know why! He was absolutely exhausted from the stress!! I can relate!

I ended up taking over 400 photos. I figured the more I took, the more chance there would be a few good ones!

So I've spent the majority of the weekend recovering from that stress. And studying. And formatting pictures. And working on our paperwork for Milo. We will be getting our airline tickets tomorrow (well, Matt will be working on that). We're just over a month away from meeting Milo!! :)