Hugo, Vivian and I mapped the address for Kali’s wedding in Austin on my phone and we arrived a few minutes early, as we always do. However, we were in a residential area off of the lake and there was absolutely no sign of wedding location anywhere in the vicinity. My heart sank as I mapped the location again, this time using the name of the site and finding out that it was actually Leander, Texas.
The little symbol spun on the GPS and it soon let me know that I was an hour and 15 minutes away. I almost cried. I had made the single stupidest mistake I possibly could have made and I wanted to just vanish into thin air as I hoped that I was in the middle of one of my crazy wedding nightmare dreams. Usually in those dreams, Vivian has somehow wronged me by showing up late to a wedding and I wake up still screaming at her. But there she was in the seat next to me with scared eyes so I guess I was wide awake. Did I mention that I wanted to vanish into thin air?
We arrived at Nature’s Point 45 minutes later. I still don’t know how I cut off 30 minutes from my drive or why I hit every possible red light and construction zone in the meantime. I was also incredibly low on gas and refusing to stop. I was willing to run the rest of the way at that point if I had to. We pulled into the driveway and we scattered in every direction – Vivian & I were in charge of details, Hugo was to unload the car and then photograph the boys getting ready. We were a whirlwind of go, go, go.
Vivian and I blew through the details, we caught up with each other and we were sweating, trying to catch our breaths and suddenly everything just slowed down. Kali’s mother was finishing up setting up the reception so we waited for her to get dressed, the boys were running late, there were some last minute things that Kali needed to tend to and the sudden insanity turned into a gentle rumble.
We started formal portraits over 45 minutes late and went full throttle through them. I didn’t sacrifice a single shot or idea, Hugo was right next to me directing the groupings and holding the lights and my former nightmare began to unfold into a delightful dream. We were done right on time. On the dot. Finito. Perfecto.
And there it is, I admitted my biggest, stupidest mistake of my career all over the internet and what we did as a result. It’s what I teach photographers- it is incredonly easy to get comfortable in our career. Preparation is the single most important thing that we bring to a wedding day – well, preparation and quick thinking to make things right. It doesn’t hurt that I have an AMAZING staff that can help me get things done in a pinch.
