Kristen and Trey | Wedding @ St. Anthony Church, Effingham IL

I’m going to hijack Kristen and Trey’s blog briefly to tell you about every photographers worst October nightmare. This is the first time we’re sharing this story and the first time Kristen and Trey will learn about it but we feel it’s an important one to share especially sitting currently in the busiest wedding month of the year. Earlier this week, we announced our step away from wedding photography beginning in 2020 and were met with so much love and support but it left us with a lot of sadness about giving up this huge part of our life. We also had a small handful of brides for 2019 nervous that we weren’t going to be as committed to our 2019 already booked weddings given the announcement, it was after this, our worst nightmares came true. To make a long story short- last Sunday I woke up to an ear infection, something I’ve never really had as an adult. Monday morning I went over to Express Care in Effingham and got drops and antibiotics to take care of it and was cleared to take my flight to work in Virginia the following day (Tuesday). After I got to Virginia and made it through the flights I was starting to feel better but that all changed on Wednesday when I woke up to a swollen face and neck and a extremely swollen ear canal and surrounding area. The pain had kept me up most the night and the infection appeared to be spreading quickly. I tried to deal with it through out the day but finally submitted to the pain, left work, and went to another Express Care. It was then I realized the seriousness of the situation when they immediately sent me to the Emergency Room at Fair Oaks Hospital near my office in Virginia. I sat in the Emergency Room for 6 hours while a wide range of tests were ran, blood was drawn, and IV’s were started and just as the pain meds were starting to work and the medication to remove the swelling was started, the attending doctor came in and expressed concerns about fluid accumulating behind the ear too close to the brain. The minute I heard the words “fluid” and “brain” I instantly knew my wedding on Saturday was at risk. The hospital ordered a CT which confirmed fluid unable to escape near the mastoid bone due to the swelling in the face. The doctor without any debate admitted me for observation and IV treatment and explained the potential for it to be days before I might be able to leave safely depending on how I responded to the meds. I can’t describe to you the panic that you feel as a wedding photographer when you know this puts everything at risk. In the last 9 years of doing this, I’ve never missed a wedding, ever. Not even for a broken limb or the flu. I’ve been committed to treat every wedding as if it were my own. I expressed my concerns to the doctor about being out of state, alone, having a flight scheduled, and being in this situation and although he was sympathetic, he didn’t appear to want to take any chances. It was at this point I was reaching out to my AMAZING network of local photographers to begin an emergency backup plan to put into place. I haven’t ever pulled the emergency switch ( an emergency switch we established long before this) before but I knew at this point I didn’t have a choice but to consider. Now, I’m not going to say names because they themselves had busy October schedules but more than several of the amazing photographers I reached out to were willing to adjust their sessions and drop their personal activities in order to help Doug pull this off, even going as far as to call me, get Saturday’s schedule and reassure me that if I couldn’t be well enough to shoot it, they had my back. I’m absolutely so humbled and grateful for this support. The harsh reality is, we aren’t the only “risk” couples have when they get married. The priest could get sick, the venue could catch fire, and as we learned from our friends wedding last year, a hurricane can ruin everything you have planned. Even after a hurricane delayed me getting to the wedding for 5 days, I still never gave up trying and eventually succeeded. I’ll always do everything in my power to show up on the most important day of people’s lives. Things and life just happen sometimes and it’s how you handle it and plan for it that counts. We were willing to do everything in our power to make sure Kristen and Trey had everything they wanted on their big day but also aware enough to understand the seriousness of the situation. I was able to make the best of the hospitalization, the medication they gave me inspired a burst of energy where I was able to stay up several hours to get work done and plan out worst case scenarios, I didn’t get much sleep but I was starting to feel better. By morning, the swelling was completely gone, my hearing had been restored for the most part, and I had an appetite. The pain, thankfully, was completely gone. I got up around 5AM, got dressed and ready as if I was going to be discharged and waited for the Dr to round. Thankfully, he felt my ear had cleared up enough to release me and I was able to wrap up some things at work and fly home on my normally scheduled flight without any risk to my wedding schedule. Despite some tight connections and DC traffic, I managed to make all the flights and arrive home safely, just in time. The huge sigh of relief I felt when I followed up with Dr. Runde’s office the next morning to hear I was still on the mend can’t be described. Thanks to some great care and meds, Doug and I were able to be business as usual for our wedding on Saturday and what a great day it was. We are just as committed to our 2019 weddings as we were to making sure we made it for Kristen and Trey’s wedding.

Kristen and Trey are just a genuinely lovely couple and their wedding day full of love and happiness saved us from our miserable week. I think the bridal party explained it best- Trey goes around making friends with everyone and you instantly want to talk to him and be his friend when you meet him and Kristen’s joy is just so infectious we can’t count the number of candids we have of her throughout the day. She of course looked stunning in one of the most classic and beautiful gowns I’ve seen yet and Trey of course looked handsome as well. We started the morning at Dimensions Salon where Kristen and her girls enjoyed a morning of laughter and preparations. We got to see the ladies at Dimensions work their ninja skills to turn our bridal party into a fierce group. We headed then to St. Anthony Church to shoot formal shots of the boys prior to getting Kristen ready at a nearby home. Kristen chose such a beautiful dress, I still can’t get over how it flowed and looked perfect on her, I also loved how she kept her hair very natural and full around her face, it was just one of my favorite looks to date. I don’t blame Trey at all for getting emotional as she walked down the aisle. He really is the sweetest guy (I’m sure Kristen would agree). We were able to squeeze in family and bridal portraits prior to the wedding without Trey and Kristen seeing each other and we even had a beautiful moment with Kristen’s dad for a first look. Outdoor portraits prior to the wedding are really important to me because that’s when everyones makeup and hair is looking their best and outdoor photos just rule the day. We thankfully were blessed with beautiful cool weather and everyone seemed to enjoy the day. The wedding ceremony went off without a hitch and was full of happy tears and smiles as Kristen and Trey exchanged rings and a just married kiss. We wrapped up formal shots at the church and headed to the family home where Kristen and Trey took photos with the cutest little “dog of honor” and we had a glorious backyard background for bridal party shots and portraits of the newly married couple. The family also joined us for some outdoor shots as well. We headed to downtown Effingham to take a few more urban looking shots and I was overjoyed that Kristen was able to schedule in some great photo time and fun time for her bridal party to enjoy the party bus. We headed over to the reception at the Carriage House in Altamont where once again, no surprise, Janet and her team did a fantastic job throwing a great event. Kristen’s full dress train was stunning as she and Trey made their grand entrance down the staircase and their infectious joy was evident through their first dances and speeches. Jaz and Kayla Sain of Fully N Volved DJ Service kept the night flowing smoothly and thanks to their professional execution we had some great reception events to photograph. Kristen and Trey had a packed house and a packed dance floor throughout the entire night and guests enjoyed a great dinner by Deb’s Catering and yummy goodies over by the cake table. Kristen and Trey were a dream to photograph, they were such naturals in front of the camera I couldn’t be happier with the portraits we were able to score. Kristen and Trey, thanks for being so easy going and fun to work with, you made this nightmare of a week the peak for us and we hope your wedding was everything that you dreamed it to be. We appreciate you and your bridal party reminding us how amazing our life is and how we can pick up the pieces of a shattered week and be a part of something magical. Congrats and best wishes on your marriage-

The Keys