Weddingbee Blog

I knew who I wanted to shoot my wedding even before I met Bossyboots (the second time)…And he won me over in three photographs. (It’s the troof.)

Way back in 2008, I somehow happened upon an acquaintance’s engagement photos (I don’t even remember how I stumbled across them!) They were a sequence of underwater photos that literally took my breath away. The photos were creative, loving, fun, and beautiful. I’d never seen anything like them. At the time, I filed them away an amazing piece of art, but something I’d personally have no use for since the photographer was centered in Dallas (dun dun dunnnnnn).

Fast forward to 2011 - I was engaged and planning a wedding in Dallas.

That little tiny lightbulb went off in my brain… Bossyboots and I were researching photographers, we even had our short list whittled down to two peeps, both so different…

Both of the studios on our short list had fantastic reputations and are massively well-respected. Option 1 shot beautiful magazine-style photos. Option 2 was—wait for it—the photographer that shot those amazing underwater photos.

As Bossyboots and I looked at our short list’s portfolios, we hardcore veered into Option B’s camp. We didn’t see his style of photography anywhere… he caught moments.

This wasn’t a magazine; they were real emotions. The photos captured the heart of a family, not the heart of Martha Stewart Weddings (much as I love Martha). They were deeper than just pretty pictures… they were gorgeous, creative photos that meant something important. I tear up looking at his blog posts every time I check out his new work—and I don’t even know those people in the photos!

So you can guess where we ended up. (!) The two photographers on our short list were incredible, but we chose the one that best matched what we want… tangible, emotional memories of an incredibly important day.

I had spotted our photographer before I spotted Bossyboots, and I’m ok with that. We met with one photographer and one photographer only - and we asked him to shoot our wedding 24 hours later… Gary Donihoo at F8 Studio.

So, I’m kind of excited about that.

(SOURCE)

*All photos shot by Gary Donihoo, except the praying mantis. I repeat—Gary did not shoot the praying mantis (!!) He is probably horrified that I included a picture of a praying mantis in the same spot as his photographs. I’m a handful, Gary, but I promise to rein it in on the wedding day!