It was the middle of a very busy October… I showed up to this wedding knowing it would be stunning. I’d grown so close with this couple, I’m talking hours at the studio, laughs until we cried, an engagement session that went until there was not a drop of sunlight left. We had mapped out every detail. I’d scouted the venue, studied the timeline, and worked with the bride on a detailed plan.

That morning, everything was running smoothly and every photograph was just making my heart sing, I was SO excited. Until… the bride surprised me that she had a special gift for her mom; proceeded to give her this gift, and when I tell you the timeline went out the window WOW no amount of built in buffer time was going to save us.

But when the bride looked at me with teary eyes and said, “Abbie, am I okay to stay here with my mom for another moment?” I didn’t hesitate, “Abso-freakin-lutely!”

That’s why she hired me. She trusted me to capture real moments, even when things went off-script. She knew I had the experience and talent to pivot, adjust, and still get every photo we planned for, and the professionalism that she would never feel rushed or stressed. She trusted me to capture every real moment of her wedding day as it unfolded, because it was truly that… above all else, her wedding day; not a photoshoot, not a timeline minute-by-minute day, but a day full of love, laughs, and moments like these with her mom, and I never forgot that for a moment.

Did I have to go into overdrive after that? Yep. Did I start relaying a new plan to my second shooter with my heart racing? Definitely. But she’ll never know that.

She only knows she had the best day, and the photos to prove it.