From an engagement in Washington to holding hands outside a Nashville church

My first photographs of Andrea and Gabriel were taken in Washington, D.C., several months before their wedding. With the White House in the background, we photographed their engagement and began a collaboration that would bring us together again in Nashville, Tennessee.

Their relationship had grown across thousands of miles. By the time I joined them for their wedding, I had already photographed one part of that story: the two of them together in Washington, with their marriage still ahead. Now we were in a different city, ready to document the day they became husband and wife.

Holding Hands Before the First Look

Before seeing each other on their wedding day, Andrea and Gabriel met outside the church. They stood on opposite sides of a corner, close enough to reach around and hold hands, while the wall kept them out of each other’s sight.

There, they read aloud the thoughts and feelings they had written down in the days leading up to the wedding. They could hear each other’s voices and feel the touch of each other’s hand, with that first glimpse still to come.

The arrangement was simple, and it made their connection especially visible. Their joined hands reached across the corner of the building while each listened to the person standing just beyond it. The photographs hold that sense of closeness and anticipation together.

Knowing that distance had been part of their relationship, I found this moment particularly moving. Here they were, within reach of each other, taking time to say what they felt before stepping into the rest of their wedding day.

It remains the moment I return to when I think of Andrea and Gabriel.

Two Cities in One Collection of Memories

Nashville brought a different character to the wedding photographs. The identity of Tennessee’s music city became part of the collection, following the Washington landmarks we had worked with during their engagement session.

Photographing both occasions allowed me to follow their story over time. The engagement photographs preserve the months before the wedding; the Nashville collection brings us to their marriage, including those few minutes outside the church when they held hands and read to one another.

Andrea and Gabriel, thank you for inviting me back to photograph your wedding and for allowing me to be present for such a personal part of your day.