Hartford Golf Club: Hartford, CT: Kate & Spencer {Wedding}

There is a moment at every wedding. The one moment when you can actually see it. You can see the look on the bride's face when it suddenly hits her. As photographers, it's something we look for, like a wedding day scavenger hunt. It's different for each bride, you never can guess when that moment will come for each one but inevitably it does. And it's our job to capture it. For some brides, it's the moment when she is finally dressed. Standing in the gown in the middle of their parent's home, flawless hair and make-up, a veil brushing against her shoulders as she walks across the room, the weight of her bouquet suddenly heavy in her hand. She looks in the mirror and the wave of emotions come flooding in. A feeling of joy and excitement so intense it brings tears to her eyes. For others, it's the moment when she's in the back of the church. Standing there, she hears the music start to swell, she sees the pews filled with her family and friends eagerly awaiting her appearance. And although she can't see him from where she's standing, she knows that at the front of the church stands the man who will take her hand and become her husband. She takes her father's arm and stops for a moment - letting the weight of it all wash over her. She kisses her father on the cheek and steps forward, ready to move from bride to wife. And for some, it's the moment after the ceremony, the time when she takes her now-husband's hand and they spend a few minutes away from all the guests, soaking it all in. She looks up at him with a smile so wide it makes her cheeks hurt, and it hits her all over again. Especially when she see the very same look in his eyes. In that moment, he's feeling the very same way. A feeling that could only be described as a mix of joy and almost disbelief, wondering how in the world has he gotten so lucky. They hold each other tight, each making sure the other is real, that the moment is real, and being so grateful that somehow they are actually living in a moment better than any dream could ever be. You might wonder how in the world we are such experts at knowing when these moments may occur. Sure, we have photographed quite a few weddings, so we have a pretty good sense of when things usually tend to happen. But even if we hadn't, even if this was the very first wedding we had ever attended, we couldn't have missed the moment at Kate & Spencer's wedding. Or, more accurately, the moments. Because for Kate, it hit her at each and every one of those times. When her sister and mother buttoned her into her lace gown and she finally got a glimpse of herself in the mirror. When she was at the back of the church with her father, waiting to walk down the aisle. When she and Spencer walked the grounds of the Hartford golf club together, each staring into the eyes of the other and smiling like they had just won the lotto. For us, it was the very best kind of photo scavenger hunt. We were like the kid who can't believe his luck, nearly tripping over the clues, he's finding them so fast. The connection, the expression of emotion between Kate and Spencer was impossible to miss. It was in the way they held each other, in her smile before she even laid eyes on him that day, in the way he spun her around on the dance floor like he couldn't help but show her off. And, even more, it was in the quiet moments when you would see one of them sneak a peak at the other during the day. Like they just wanted to make sure they weren't dreaming. Because each and every one of those moments really was a dream come true and they were going to hold on to each one for as long as possible. They would let all the emotions wash over them and tuck them away in their memory so they would never, ever forget just how they felt that day.