Catherine and Steven Get Married at St Mary Magdalen Church

This was one of my final true “Summer Weddings” for 2022, taking place at the end of August with wonderful sunny summer weather.  I had done an engagement photo session with Catherine and Steven just a few weeks earlier, and was really looking forward to this wedding, which would be one of the few weddings I had photographed in a Catholic church for quite a few years.  The location of the wedding ceremony was St Mary Magdalen Church in Everett, and as I have found to almost universally be the case, the church was beautiful.

The Prelims

Catherine and her bridesmaids arrived at the church early (as planned) to give them time to do some final getting ready and take some photos before Steven and the groomsmen arrived.  The couple had decided to be “traditional”, and not lat the groom see the bride in her wedding dress until the ceremony.  This always makes things a bit interesting (and also kind of fun) as I have to be very careful to know where both bride and groom are at all times, to prevent them from bumping into each other.

We had a minor blip when the bride’s flowers were not delivered on time, so we had to take photos of Catherine without her bridal bouquet.  But she really didn’t need the bouquet.  She looked amazing, and her dress was incredible, with a large train and full veil.  Fortunately I have worked with similar dresses before, and knew how to arrange the dress to display it properly in the photos.  You’ll see some examples in the photos below.

Once Steven and the guys arrived we wrapped up the photos and Catherine went into hiding in the Brides Room until it was time for the ceremony.

The Wedding Ceremony

As you can see from the photos below, this is a beautiful church.  It was a pleasure to take photos there and to work with the Church staff to make everything go smoothly.  I was told the best places to stand to get the photos that I needed during the ceremony, without getting into the vision fielf of the guests; which is something I REALLY hate doing!

This was a full Catholic Mass, meanng the ceremony ran ~45 minutes.  Fortunately at ceremonies of this duration the bride, groom and wedding party are all allowed to sit for the majority of the time.

The ceremony began with the parents of the bride and groom processing down the aisle, followed by the wedding party.  Then the big moment when Catherine made her first appearance in front of Steve and the guests.  As I said earlier, Catherine looked amazing and her walk down the aisle had everyone enraptured.

I spent the next 45 minutes running to different parts of the sanctuary to get a good slection of photos from a lot of different vantage points.  Part of the fun of being a wedding photographer!  The ceremony went perfectly, and in what seemed to be a much shorter time than reality Catherine and Sreven were pronounced Husband and Wife, and made their way happily back down the aisle with the wedding party and their familes following.

We then moved family and wedding party a short distance outdoors so we could get the family and wedding party photos we were not able to take before the ceremony.  As well as a few posed shots at the altar for Steven and Catherine.

The Reception

Next it was time to drive to the reception site at Legion Hall at Legion Memorial Park. The original plan was to stop along the way for some photos overlooking the Naval base where Steven had served in the Navy, but this turned out to be impossible so instead I headed straight to the Legion Hall, while the wedding party stopped at Catherine and Steven’s hotel so Catherine could change into a dress that would be more comfortable in the 80 degree weather – as well as much easier to walk around a lot of guests without getting stepped on repeatedly!

It was a fantastic evening reception, with that perfect Summer weather we all hope for.  I really liked the Legion Hall, which offered a nice indoor facility and a wonderful outdoor space that let everyone enjoy the summer evening.  I’ll stop narrating now and let you check out a selection of photos from the day.