This cautionary tale stems from what we learned this past spring and summer. We start each year with the mad rush of The Pink Bride Show. We love being a part and we always have fun. Most of all, we meet new brides and grooms to start building a relationship with. That’s how we do it. We look for couples that will be vulnerable and share their desires and share their trepidations.

Sneak Peak-48 All's well that ends well!!!

Enter Shea & William. I forget where I originally met Shea. But she was at The Pink Show the first weekend in January 2016. She was very much interested in hiring us. She emailed several times with questions. We had a phone call or two. We even met for dinner so I could meet William. Lots of questions & answers were exchanged. They were pretty sure they wanted to hire us, but needed more time to think it over. I get it. This is a one time buying experience. Finally they paid they deposit and we worked out the details. It was mid January 2016. They’d be getting married in February 2017.

Sometime late March I received either a text or phone call with news that they’d need to change their wedding date. Wait . . . what? Change the date? When? Why? William had been selected, at his work, for a promotion and possible relocation in early Fall 2016. The relocation would be on the west coast. They were in scramble mode.

This is when couples often get super stressed at the notion of loosing deposits. Shea & William talked it over and June was the new date. They’d assumed I was booked in June. And I was. No free Saturdays. Shea wanted her brother to perform the ceremony - a top priority. And he was only available one weekend. There were some tense conversations, as Shea & William still wanted me to shoot their engagement photos so they would not loose all the value of the deposit. Somewhere my communication left them feeling like I would not be as enthusiastic shooting their engagement if I wasn’t going to shoot wedding. I am human & I guess I let my disappointment show. They began to retreat. And I understood their feelings. Shea & William-31

I loooooove this image from their engagement session.

I don’t recall the exact wording, but at some point they became frustrated and indicated they would prefer I not take their engagement photos & they conceded to loose their deposit too. Not being afraid of conflict & really wanting to find a solution, I reminded them this was not my fault. They changed the date. These are not easy words to say. But those words grounded all of us. It was just what we all needed to get back on track.

I suggested we look at the priorities and look at solutions that would accommodate those priorities. We quickly decided that a Sunday wedding would work. Then we looked at changing the contract. But in the end we had to only change the date. All the particulars of the contract stayed the same. And we had a blast!!!

What follows are some highlights of their day at the Douglass Lake Overlook with Great Smoky Mountains National Park beyond. Thank you Shea & William for working through the conflict. We are grateful for all we learned. Most of all, we are grateful we could capture your amazing wedding!

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Love the pride in her mother's face.

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Love letters to each other is a touching moment!

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Perfect weather - and the lake and mountains are a perfect backdrop.

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First look and first little moment together!

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Always followed by a kiss.

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Here comes the bride!!!

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" . . . to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse . . ."

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" . . . with this ring, I thee wed . . ."

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"You may now kiss your bride!!!"

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"YES!!!! We did it!!!"

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Close family with Shea & William

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Shea at the altar

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The rings and their happiness!!!

If you want to see the full set of Shea & William's wedding, go HERE. Thanks again to Shea & William for sticking with me. Thanks for letting us get to know your family and friends a little bit. Thanks for being willing to work through the conflict. Most of all, thanks for loving on each other so wonderfully so we could capture those amazing moments.

We are not perfect, but we are passionate about what we do and how we do it. We'd love to meet you, hear your big plans and who knows, maybe we'll be a great fit for you. Call, email, text or skywrite today!