The Other Woman...... {Bridal Photography-Dana Stone}

At weddings, the bride is The Star of the Show.   Even if she isn't a bridezilla, it really is all about her, isn't it?
The Dress.
The Shoes.
The Man.
The Perfect Location.
and on and and on and on.....

There are shows dedicated to planning weddings, picking the dress and yes, mocking the bridezillas.  This is not one of those situations though.

In this case, the Bride was definetely not freaking out about her dress....or her shoes....or the cake....and she knew that her dreamboat would be standing with her and saying yes, kissing her and sweeping her off into the sunset....

But she was freaking out a little bit.

She HATES having her picture taken.   As a bridal photographer, that is NEVER a good sign.   I knew I would have at most 10 minutes with her at any given moment before she freaked out and walked away.  (It was closer to 5 most of the time!)  But since she is beautiful, I wasn't too worried about that part.

Unfortunately, the weather for this outdoor wedding was not cooperating.   The Mother of the Groom consoled her.   The sister of the bride reassured her.  The fiancee' promised it would be fine.   The Grandmother of the Groom lovingly stressed out away from the bride-to-be and just said it would be fine when she was anywhere near the bride. The photographer (That would be me) tried not to panic about the alternative indoor location and the lighting situation and did I bring enough flash units.....until...suddenly...

The Bride was putting on her dress.  The mother of the bride was watching her daughter and granddaughter get ready. The sky grew even darker and then the best man walked in and announced that the tornado sirens had started to go off.    The hail started pelting the beautiful flowers lining the isle and the DJ finished packing up all of his equipment.

NOW was time to freak out.   The hyperventilating was not making lacing the dress up any easier.   I'm imagining the entire wedding in a dimly lit basement, pool table and bar in the background....but there we were, underground,  just in case.   All of the immediate family and wedding party are filing into the basement and the Bride was panicked because Mr Right couldn't see her yet, but she really didn't want him to die in a tornado outside either! And she wasn't looking forward to finding out if  200 guests could fit in the basement for a wedding.  (Although I must admit that it looked like a really fun place to hang out and relax....at a less formal occasion!)

I confess....I was REALLY stressed at this point and started to silently pray.  "Please let the rain stop.   Don't let everything end up in Oz.  Don't let all my camera rental gear that is still upstairs blow away because I can't afford to replace it.  Let the guests arrive safely...and don't let anyone have a nervous breakdown!"

Everyone tried to be calm so we didn't spook the Bride any more than she already was.   And then the Star of the Moment ....the wonderful, amazing Maid of Honor started cracking jokes.   She opened the champagne.  She distracted the bride (with the help of the awesome, fantastic Mother of the Groom-but she deserves her own blog post!) till the worst was over.

And wouldn't you know it?    The chairs didn't blow away.   The groomsmen dried everything off with pool towels and the DJ reset and the sun peeked out and the guests watched two people in love say "I Do." And they lived happily ever after!

Most of the guests had no idea just how much the Maid of Honor did to save the day...and then it rained, but not one person even cared! Dancing in the rain is okay....just not saying your vows!

So this post is for all of the Maids of Honor out there. Those are the girls that run around, making last minute saves, reassuring the bride, rescuing the day, and doing all the things to help the day run smoothly...but THIS ONE couldn't keep a straight face for 10 seconds!

(Don't you love the bride's amused smirk? I was counting on that face, but I didn't realize Erin would collapse in laughter quite that fast!)


I really enjoyed watching Erin laugh in Julia's face when she stressed out about pictures, dance to Sinatra, and just make everyone be happy just because she was there!   Thanks for the fun!  (and yes, the bride is in here too......isn't she georg?)

And just so you know, THIS Maid of Honor was thanked, loved and appreciated....a lot!