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KATY + BEN | PRIVATE RESIDENCE WEDDING

Katy and Ben threw one of the most memorable parties I’ve ever attended. The food, the tents, the jumping in the pool, the helicopter getaway. Is this real life? It was this day.

I am a sucker for any shooting that involves the water. Rain, lakes, rivers, oceans, all of it.  Ending up chest deep in the pool right before the send off is my kind of jam. These two are equally my kind of jam. The sweetest, most in love couples are always my favorite brides and grooms to photograph. I definitely love artsy people, moody vibes, and things that stray towards fashion… but for wedding work, I care less and less about “cool” and more about “real.” The quirky oddness of the 200-2010’s will probably be fun to look at in 30 years, but there’s no hipster pose that can stand up to genuine emotion. This is where I want to go with my work. Couples like Katy and Ben make me all the more sure of it. They had a beautiful wedding, with so many fashionable and exciting elements, however; the emotion of the day will forever be what I remember. And the pool. But really the emotion 😉

HUGE thanks to my friend Kayla Roper for shooting with me.

Words of Advice from the Bride: 

The most important thing to remember on your wedding day is that regardless of what happens, at least in 99.99% of circumstances, at the end of the day you’ll be married. Our day was filled with inclement weather, a chauffeur who locked the keys in the car, cakes with the wrong cake toppers and I’m sure 100 other mishaps of which I’m not even aware.

Ben and I were only engaged for three months but we still felt very invested in the details we worked hard to create for our friends and family to enjoy. I’m thrilled with how it all turned out. Some of the challenges even led to eventual highlights. For instance, I was initially disappointed the wedding day forecast was full of rain. The rain forced us to put up tents, which in all honesty, ended up transforming our venue into an even greater space than I could have imagined. The 30 minutes we were forced to wait at the church for a replacement vehicle led to some our favorite bridal party photos. Speaking of photos… document, document, document.
It is impossible to catch everything that happens at a wedding with more than 20 guests. Ben and I had roughly 190 people. I felt like I missed half of my friends and half of what happened. When people tell you the day will be a bit of blur, they mean it. One piece of great advice I received was to take a few moments throughout the day and soak them into memory. I will truly never forget my Mom and best friends tying me into my dress; the things my dad told me prior to walking down the aisle; a few moments I stole with my groom, brother and teary eyed coach; basking in a glorious Eugene sunset; jumping into the pool in my wedding dress; and steeling kisses from my new husband under the dance floor. Even with all those wonderful memories, I missed things. Lots of things. Spend money on a good photographer and videographer. Lasting documentation is a saving grace. It allows you to relive in perpetuity all of the time, effort and money you put into your day.  Photos and video, in my opinion, are truly the most worthwhile investment of your wedding day.
As with most in things in life, your wedding day is what you make it. Things never go exactly as planned. Allowing yourself to roll with punches, find the good in the bad and genuinely enjoy the experience will serve you well. My hope for you is that like me, at the end of the day, your greatest joy will be realizing you were blessed to find the love of your life, marry your best friend and have a wonderful time celebrating this lifelong commitment with your family and friends.

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  • Bethany Joy Gilbertsonamazing work as usually, jay!

  • Bruce SearlBeautiful work Jay!

  • Heather ElizabethSo freaking good. You seriously keep getting better and better. Still one of my favorite photographers.

    you rocked this wedding.

KAYLEE + CARSTEN | FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH WEDDING

We chased the sunshine, stood on office chairs, jumped from benches, ate apples, and generally had a good time. I’m a big fan of the silver dresses and green shoes – so perfect. Also, if it weren’t impractical to steal their getaway vehicle, I might just do it. 😉 There’s an extra something special about the weddings of friends, and I’ve known Kaylee’s family for a long time… in my opinion, it doesn’t get better than shooting a wedding with personal meaning.

Thanks to my homie Greg Nissen for shooting second. And if you’re ever in Eugene, and you like Thai food… check out his Mama’s cooking! It’s a weekly thing for me.

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  • J ShodaThis is too freaking good Mr. Eads.

  • christian gideonBeautiful work Jay. Storytelling at it’s finest.

  • Jesse GreenWOW. That’s all I got.

  • Heather ElizabethYou inspire me. This is so stellar I can’t even come up with my usual witty comments. Amazing work man.

  • Matthew CarterJay, this is a beautifully shot wedding. Great work hoss.

  • Greg NissenWoo! Had a great time shooting with you. My mom will be happy haha

  • VanessaWhy are you so good. I swear you managed to be everywhere at once and execute every shot with such skill. Love them all. You’re my idol <3

  • Mike FiechtnerGreat stuff Jay! Love it all!

  • SteJay, this is great stuff. The black and white pics of the groomsmen are almost like some iconic images from the 1950s but the whole post is fantastic throughout!

  • geneohkaylee_30 is money. great work dude!

  • Lucie Zekanice photos

RANDOM WEDDING IMAGES

Early New Years resolution – blog weddings on a regular basis.  I’m not sure why it seems to be such an issue (ha), but I’ll work on it.  One possibility behind the psychology of not blogging weddings is in the details.  Details… if you visit the wedding blogs out there, they are so heavily detail oriented and I’m just not.  I’m people oriented.  I shoot the details while I am at a wedding, however; I focus on the people and the moments they share together.  Whether it is the session alone with the bride and groom, the mother/son dance, or even the engagement session… I photograph people.  It’s what I love.

Here’s my typical blog bomb of images.  You’re welcome, and I’m sorry 🙂

so much more after the jump…

(more…)

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  • Jeff marshYou are such a stud. One of the ONLY photographers I respect, thanks for takingsuch incredible photos for us to always have.

  • michael baxleyjust ran across this post while surfing my google rss feeds…good grief this is rocking work! carry on….:)

  • Joel Florywow. solid group of images with some really spectacular ones in there.

  • Matt FerrellLove your work! A photographer that is a forerunner at what he does, Mad skills

  • Shelley HanlonWow! I want to get married again just so YOU can shoot my wedding. You are just amazing. By the way, when are you going to do a workshop?

  • hughnormally when i see that many images in a single post, i skip over most of them. not this time. looked at every one. you make good pictures, jay.

  • Eric KrebsAmazing! Could, already have, and probably will spend a long time enjoying each one of these photos. Father & Daughter dancing half way in post got the water works going on my wife immediately. Bravo Jay! Phenomenal work.

  • NickWow, some of the awesomest wedding images I’ve seen in a while. Great work.

  • Matt FerrellThat last shot bro, I keep coming back to it… Off the hook!
    Oh and love Jeff marsh’s wedding too… You killed it

  • Tweets that mention I do shoot weddings, I’m just terrible at blogging them | Jay Eads Photography -- Topsy.com[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Gareth Robins, Eric Krebs, Laura Bradbury, jay eads, jay eads and others. jay eads said: a big fat wedding blog… an apology of sorts, i suppose 🙂 http://jayeads.com/?p=948 (oops, re-post due errors. yay) […]

  • Stephen JacksonWhen I’m running out of inspiration, I turn to music and blogs. Usually when it comes to blogs, I have to thumb back a few pages before I really feel I’m seeing something unique and inspiring.

    Thanks for making a post made with two full cups of inspiration and awesomeness.

    Also, thanks for reminding me how much it sucks to live in Georgia. Either sunny, muggy, and way too hot or raining, muggy, and way too wet. Never cloudy and awesome like Oregon or Washington. Boo.

  • Cameron BraunLoving the 4×5 crops here Jay. Such a good aspect ratio that I have such a hard time shooting myself. Adds a really unique touch to these images.

  • laurenjay, your photos make my heart pitter patter

  • jayeadsi’m pretty humbled about those comments… my wedding work always makes me self-conscious. thanks for the kind words!

    lauren… spear guns and rivers. that’s all i will say

  • BENJhey! I know some of those people.

  • Steve ElmerAwesome Overload.

  • Seattle Senior and Family Portrait PhotographerYou have some pretty amazing shots here! I love your creativity with silhouettes shots, very inspiring! Thank you for sharing your great work. It inspires!

    ~Gabriel

  • Meredith Syou’re fantastic. these are so great and classic.

  • One to Wed - For Bridal Inspiration[…] Jay Eads Photography, The Knotty Bride, Every Last Detail, Pinterest, Style Me Pretty, Style Me Pretty, Elizabeth Anne […]

  • Heather EYou are so damn good, my friend.

 

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