Each and every wedding is unique in its own way, but toss in a life-size cardboard cutout of the groom’s brother and it’s pretty obvious that this Mountain Springs Lake wedding is going to be one to remember. I’ll come back to the cardboard brother in a minute, for now, I just want you to know that it actually played a very small roll in what made this wedding so special. First, and I’ll keep this short, but Mountain Springs Lake is the venue that I picked out after months of searching online for mine and Sandi’s wedding 14 years ago. It’s also the same place that I held my very first workshop. So, you can say this is a pretty special place to us and Dana and Kyle’s wedding was surprisingly enough the very first one that we’ve photographed there.
The first time that I met Dana and Kyle was during their engagement shoot which Sandi wasn’t able to make. It’s also the first time I found out Kyle was a talented videographer and owner of Timber Reel Productions. Each year we photograph a handful of clients who are in the creative field which always raises the bar a little. Not that we do anything all that different compared to other weddings, but the anxiety level always seems to be a bit higher when the person on the other end of the camera is putting their trust in you to do something that they also do themselves. I’ve learned a lot about anxiety and how to handle it over the past couple of years. As long as my clients have full trust in me I know that the anxiety that I have will typically push me to do some of my best work. This wedding would fit into that category. It’s definitely one that I’m pretty proud of. It’s also one that resulted in some of Sandi’s best work, and I couldn’t be more proud of the shots that she captured.
Now, back to the cardboard groomsman and the role he played. Tyler Miller, the groom Kyle’s younger brother, is the starting goalie for the LA FC professional soccer team and couldn’t make it to the wedding due to having a game to play. Rather than missing it completely, he sent Kyle a life-size, cardboard cut out of himself along with pre-recorded commentary for the videographers to use. Tyler’s fill-in was part of the bridal party photos, family photos, ceremony, and even made a toast at the reception. While you might think it was solely done as a comical gesture in his absence, Tyler called in on Facetime to make sure that he was able to see his brother when he made an emotional toast that brought the room to tears. I quickly went from shooting in Live View to the viewfinder in order to hide my face. The same way I did earlier as I watched Kyle get to see his beautiful bride walk down the aisle and wipe his eyes from the overwhelming emotion.
Kyle and Dana are two amazing individuals who became best friends and fell in love. They each have loving families and some amazing friends who made the drive up to the Pocono Mountains to celebrate with them on their big day, just as ours did 14 years ago (almost 15 now). Knowing what they had in mind for their wedding, I know that these two couldn’t be happier with the way everything went. Sandi and I had a blast and couldn’t be happier for them. I know we’ll be seeing them again and hope that they love this blog post as much as we did putting it together. Congrats again to the new Mr. and Mrs. Kyle Miller.
Wedding Gown: BHLDN
Groom’s Suit: Jos A Bank
Hair: Dana Ravotti-Tait
Make-up: Marina Christine
Video: BIRDHOUSE
Florist: MCR Design Group
DJ: JC Entertainment – Jesse Cartlidge
Jay Cassario