sean & tracy’s wedding // olympic sculpture park // seattle, wa

This is the tale of two jet-setting gentlemen, who found love in each other in Seattle, traveled the world together, then found themselves back in Seattle over a decade later to get married… and get married, did they ever! They had a full weekend of what I would consider the poshest affair I have ever had the pleasure of being a part of; full of glamour, fun, love, family, friends from near & far, new & old, and such beautiful personal touches. To be a part of their story on this day is one thing, but to be swept up in the love & happiness that Sean & Tracy put out into the world is something all the more extraordinary… and boy, do I feel lucky in love!

As I write this blog post, I am putting off packing for a very important & special trip to NYC with my daughter Madeline, where we will also happen to be staying with Sean & Tracy in their Chelsea apartment. This may sound like it’s taking things to a whole other level as far as relationships go between a wedding photographer & her couples, but I’m no ordinary wedding photographer… and these two are no ordinary couple. Since the beginning of our time together, since that first call, they have welcomed me into their lives with no hesitation. Tracy does this thing where he always checks up on people over the phone with no other reason except to see how you’re doing, which I didn’t realize before, is such a lost art! And judging by the amount of friends that they had at their wedding, I can only imagine that each of them feel just as special to have him checking up on them as I do… he’s like this angel wrapped up in the body of a mother-slash-gentleman-slash-socialite, or something. All parts glam, all parts debonair, and all warm & cuddly; I mean, did this combination even exist before Tracy?!!! I have no idea, but I love it. And just these last holidays, they came back to visit Seattle & I had the privilege of photographing Sean’s family again… and it struck me even more so than on their wedding day, how perfect it is that these two are together. Sean comes from a family of generous, loving, open-hearted people, and to have added Tracy to that mix just makes sense. There are so many reasons people become partners in life, but to see the whole big picture with the ones they love, reminds me that a partnership is just as much about the community that builds the foundation of that partnership as it is about the two people who are in it.

I’m also reminded of Sean & Tracy’s wedding day, as I write this & as I look at their photos once more… every single thing that they did on the days that they were here, was a celebration of the ones they love. We started our time together with a gay bar crawl through Capitol Hill (complete with a visit to the bar where they met & an adorable table dance by Sean to commemorate how they met!), continued with a rehearsal dinner the next day that was elegant but absolutely not too serious (complete with a roast of the couple!), and of course their wedding day was everything. It was beautiful & simple & thoughtful. I can say that I’ve never received a list of people to photograph, that were mainly groupings of friends, and even the parents of friends! Sean & Tracy were essentially celebrating their mutual love & respect for so many of their guests by having me photograph them on that day… and since then, almost weekly, they post photos of their family & friends on facebook or instagram to give them long distance shout-outs of their love for them, and have also made a “wall of love” in their home with so many of the photos that I took on their wedding day. Unbelievable.

Why do I find myself going on & on about these two, in a manner similar to a school girl crush?!!! I’m not sure, except that it’s become apparent to me over the years that life is just so full of good people! And it makes me so happy!!! I’m excited to have these two in my life, and to have moved on towards a friendship… I realize that all that I’ve worked towards in my photography–the hopes to meet good people & document the important days of their lives, big & small–has come to fruition, and I can’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for all these awesome people in love.

Soooooo… just to give myself a little shout-out! This wedding was featured on Style Me Pretty, where you can find out about all the unique details that made this wedding as beautiful as it was… and I’m so proud to say that one of the images from their wedding placed in Rangefinder Magazine’s 2014 Wedding Contest! The image that they chose is one that has resonated with me in so many ways, and helped me realize what kind of photographs I tend to make (and that I love)… a genre that I like to call, All Happy People All The Time!

And that about sums it up. Thank you to Sean & Tracy for being such a force of love, and to their families & friends for being an inspiration to them & to me… as Tracy says in every single one of his posts from that day, #lovewins.

Love Wins, indeed.