Los Angeles Wedding and Portrait Photographer

06.15.10

I was meant to photograph Elisha and Gideon's wedding. And it's odd to think that there is, of course, the possibility that they could have used one of the millions of photographers out there today. Yea, I believe in all that destiny stuff. I do, sorry, deal with it! So it was destiny that brought us together but first it was a referral that got them my phone number. I booked Gideon's cousins wedding a year ago (happening this Friday!) and so it was his aunt that referred me for their's. I met with Gideon and Elisha and felt a connection immediately. I loved hearing their story and I tried to hold back the tears when Elisha told me her mother was no longer here and one of the things she treasured was her mom and dad's wedding album. I arrived at that meeting wanting to shoot their wedding because if their connection to Rachel and Brian and I left that meeting wanting to be there for them and to create a wedding album of their own to treasure.

And then Elisha's aunt emailed me. Michelle and I have known each other since we were four. We played ding-dong-ditch together, snuck into our first R rated movie together (Carrie) and sang Barbra Streisand songs into our hairbrushes into the wee hours of our sleepover nights. Michelle and I lost touch as we moved into our adulthood but through the beauty of Facebook there she was again. And now she was emailing me, telling me that her niece Elisha just told me she had already booked a photographer and that her name was Karen Ard! And just like that, the meeting I had just had with them all flashed through my head again, like a sped up movie. Her mom had passed (no... that was Michelle's older sister), her grandmother was no longer with us (Michelle's mom... the one whose car we would sit in to listen to the radio...)... I was hearing all the stories run through my head again, the stories that linked us together, and I started to cry. Michelle reminded me that I had held Elisha as a baby at Michelle's Sweet 16 and now I was taking her wedding pictures. Destiny.

Elisha and Gideon, I have had such a great time getting to know you both. You guys are hilarious together - so sweet and so supportive of each other. I simply can not wait for your August wedding. It will be an emotional day for many reasons and I am so grateful that I will be witness to your marriage and the one there to capture it for you. Elisha, I hope you can find a baby picture of yours with us together so I can post it on the blog!