Molli and David Get Married on a Sunny Summer Saturday

I’m running a bit late with my blog posts, for which I apologize. This wedding took place over Labor Day weekend, on what turned out to be one of the warmer days we had in August, hitting close to 90 degrees. Beautiful weather for an outdoor wedding, but a bit on the toasty side!

Pre-ceremony Photos

The day began with me meeting Molli and David at the Bellevue Botanical Garden for some pre-ceremony photos. This is one of my favorite Seattle area locations for all kinds of photo sessions; it’s simply a beautiful garden with all kinds of wonderful places for photos.

One great thing about the Garden is that it has lots of big trees, meaning lots of places to find shade and hide from the sun! LOL! We’re such weather-weenies in Seattle. But for David, dressed in a full suit with tie and Molli with a perfect wedding day hairdo and makeup, that sun and heat meant that spending much time exposed to the direct sun could get a bit uncomfortable.

So we made short forays into the sunshine for some of the photos, and stayed in the much cooler shady areas for others. It was a lot of fun, and you’ll get to see some of the photos at the end of this post.

On To The Wedding!

Then it was off to Redmond, where David and Molli would be married in the backyard of a friend’s home. This was a beautiful spot for a wedding, with a large lawn that gave plenty of space to set up tables for all the guests, and offered a nice spot under a large tree to act as the altar for the marriage ceremony. Molli moved into the house to get out of the sun and hide out while the guests arrived and found their places.

Once all of the guests arrived it was time for the ceremony to begin. Molli was walked down the “aisle” by her mother, where she met David under the tree in the only shady area in the entire yard. Excellent planning! What followed was one of the best wedding ceremonies that I have seen in the 40+ years I have been shooting weddings. Both Molli and David had some truly amazing vows, which included a bit of their history; how they had known each other decades before and finally found each other again.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, it was time for cocktail hour followed by dinner. And this really blew me away – David had acted as chef and prepared all the appetizers as well as every course of the dinner! He is obviously a VERY good chef, and the food was incredible. One of the big differences between a good cook and a true chef is the presentation of the food. This meal looked like something you would find at a high-end hotel.

Both David and Molli turned out to be very playful people as was demonstrated with their first dance, which they had carefully choreographed and was a lot of fun to watch. David was especially good; I suspect he has spent time acting on stage at some point, or he’s a gifted natural actor.

The rest of the reception went beautifully. This was one of the top-10 dancing crowds that I have worked with, with almost everyone out of the dance floor for an extended time. As a photographer I love good dance crowds because they’re so much fun to photograph!

The reception ended with a sparkler send off (another fun thing to shoot), and then everyone finally had to go home. A really outstanding wedding and reception! And I’m sure everyone who was there would agree with me wholeheartedly.

Now you finally get to see a few of the photos from the day. You can see more wedding photos by going to this page.