jina & joonbum’s courthouse wedding // seattle, washington

Jina & Joonbum totally humored me on their wedding day, and smiled politely as I lost my mind over how beautiful the weather was when they got married… I’m sorry, but I just cannot let a sunny day go by without exclaiming over it! And on their wedding day too! COME ON! It was just too much! These two are such a sweet and chill couple, and we had so much fun together that I keep sending them “kidding/not kidding” texts about having me go with them to Hawaii for when they have their family wedding ceremony. Although I suppose maybe they’d want me to tone down the excitement about sunny days for that one? Fingers crossed, either way!

I want to give a shout out to the judge who married them, because he was such a wonderful man and I would highly recommend him to anyone who is planning to elope in Seattle… the Honorable Ed McKenna! He put everyone at ease and kept saying that this was his favorite part of his job, and you can see it from his smile in all the photos!

I also want to take this time to “officially” make it known that I’ve taken a small but pretty major step away from weddings, in that I only photograph small and intimate ceremonies, such as elopements like this one. I’ve now had my own business for twelve years, and photographing weddings and celebrating with so many people in love has been a true passion of mine… but ever since having this surprise second child and what I would consider a second chance at life, I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that photographing weddings is more involved and takes more time and care than I’m able to give at this point in my life.

I’ve told many clients this, and have had it specified on my website for almost a year now, but I figured it was high time to tell the world too. I do still have  many weddings that I’ll be sharing occasionally, because they are images that I’m proud of and of people who I feel so lucky to have known. It’s not lost on me what has been entrusted to me over the years, and I feel so honored that I’ve documented the love between so many couples and the unity of their families and friends, and got to indulge in so many delicious cakes and goodies, and many times stayed up way too late to party my pants off (quite literally at times)… I did it for the love, and for that I am forever thankful.

So for now, I will continue to photograph elopements and smaller ceremonies that only require a few hours of coverage, and the occasional family/friend wedding or the kind where someone begs me to be their photographer (I’m a sucker for love, you know that!)… and in the  meantime I will mainly concentrate on photographing your families, while raising my own. xo.

Seattle Municipal Courthouse // Honorable Ed McKenna // Catherine Abegg Photography