07/07/2021
In another life, this moment would have been missed if it werenât for one lesson we thankfully learned very early.
Listen first.
When we met with with Stephanie and Hale, we didnât spend our time talking about how great we are. How great of a choice choosing us would be. How we can make their wedding perfect and beautiful. If anything, I feel like we barely talked about ourselves or what we do.
Instead, we listened. We asked questions and listened. We didnât listen just to say something back so we can be like âah perfect, hereâs how Iâm the perfect fit.â No. We listened to see an image of their hearts, their fears, and their desires. And then we said back what we heard.
We learned about their relationship with each other, but just as importantly, we learned about their relationship with God and their personal stories of redemption through Him. Hale talked about how he cries every Sunday through worship just being grateful for the redemption God has brought him through with Stephanie. When talking about his wedding, he said he wants people to touch an aspect of the Holy Spirit through the testimony of their relationship. He wants to plant seeds of hope and faith in trust in the Lord. Stephanie brought up that she didnât invite a lot of people to her baptism, but their ceremony will be like a representation of a baptism, a public expression of their faith where everyone will watch and understand how God brought them to Himself and to each other.
We went into the wedding day intentionally looking for moments like these. We allowed room for them and encouraged them. No stress, no rush, take your time, you can even open up your Bible if you want. And when she opened up to John 4, this moment happened. The woman at the well, a woman who is lost and finds hope in Jesus in a moment, a woman who Stephanie relates to when thinking of her redemption story. And the emotion overflowed.
If you want to imprint feelings in a photo like an emotional time capsule, learn to listen. If you want to shoot every wedding as if youâre seeing the day through your bride or groomâs eyes, learn to listen.
Your couples will thank you.