It's not the "wedding" that moves me. What makes me feel so honored to be invited into these days are the people, the mile stones these moments create, and how weddings (at least the ones I go to) are centered around loving two people separately and loving them together.

Daniel loves Michelle. Michelle loves Daniel. Their families and friends love them and they love them together. These days that we designate to be the day that celebrate this are powerful. Whether its a communal or private celebration, its an acknowledgement, a display of a goal that people have together.

I am always drawn to the parents. I think how surreal it must feel to have known their child before they were even born, to have watched them grow, and change, and come to a point in their lives when they feel ready to make a commitment to something other than themselves. It must be a wild moment. To look back on their lives with these people they helped create and remember all the little moments in between then and now, to think how fast it has all gone by and at the same time how slow.

Thanks you Daniel and Michelle for inviting me down to beautiful North Carolina to photograph your celebration!