ashley and hans.

The day after Christmas I had an opportunity to photograph another wedding. This wedding was perhaps the most challenging and most stressful wedding I've ever shot. On Christmas Day, Ridgecrest, where the wedding festivities were to be held, lost its electricity due to the heavy ice and cold snap that was weighing heavily on everything up in our part of the mountains. Since the electricity was not going to be able to be back on in time for the wedding, a lot of plans changed. In fact, seven months worth of planning was turned upside down with just one day to attempt to reevaluate. No electricity means no lights and no heat, both of which are key to a smooth wedding in late December. Well, things turned out well, not quite as expected and the Lord knows had I been the bride I would not have been as calm as Ashley was. But Ashley and Hans took what they were dealt, and focused on each other and what they were doing that day, not how comfortable it was or how many people showed up. As Ashley so poignantly put it when I praised her ability to take the events of the day in stride, "I had to--what was important is the covenant." How true that is, and how often do brides get caught up in the formalities and flowers and forget the reason that they're really there. So congratulations to Hans and Ashley Suhs, may you never forget how important that covenant is. Here are a couple photos from your day to appease your appetite until I get them all finished.