Laura and Jimmy get married at Rock Creek Gardens

Just last week Laura and Jimmy were married at Rock Creek Gardens in Puyallup.  But this was not exactly how things were supposed to happen.  Here is the story –

In early July I was contacted by Laura.  She and her fiancé Jimmy were planning to get married on August 27, and she was hoping that I’d be available to be their photographer.  I had to laugh a bit when she asked if I had the date open, since pretty much every wedding that I had booked for this summer had rescheduled to 2021 months ago.  We discussed the details, and she booked me for the date.

But about two weeks later I got a panicked email from Laura.  Governor Inslee had just changed the restrictions relating to group gatherings like weddings (again!), and on the planned date the venue would not be allowed to have a group larger than 5 people for any events.  The wedding was already relatively small due to the current restrictions, ~30 people, but this new reduction would not even allow enough people for Laura’s kids to be there!  So Laura and Jimmy were going to bump up the wedding date to August 5, one day before the updated restrictions would take effect.  This date was only two weeks away, and Laura wanted to know if I would be still able to photograph the wedding.  Fortunately I had no conflicts, so we were able to move the date without any further difficulties.

The next couple of weeks proceeded without any new changes in COVID restrictions to screw up the wedding plans, and the day of the wedding finally arrived.  It was a gorgeous sunny day, with projected temps to be in the low 80s.  The ceremony was scheduled to begin at noon, and I arrived at the venue a bit before 10AM to scout it out.  Laura arrived a short time after I did, and headed into the Bride’s Room with her maid of honor and her daughters to get dressed for the wedding.

This was my first time at this venue, and I was very impressed as I walked the grounds.  Wonderful outdoor area for the ceremony, easily capable of holding a couple hundred people.  Since we would have less than 30 there was more than enough room to space out the chairs for the guests.  There is also a beautiful pond with a fountain that looked like a great spot for photos with the bride and groom, as well as several nice patches of trees that also looked perfect for photos.

Once Laura and Jimmy were dressed we set up a “first look” for them out on the lawn.  Then we moved down to the pond with the best man and matron of honor (John and Jamie Diamond-Lash) for a few photos.  We finally met up with all of Laura’s kids, who were also all part of the wedding party, for some group photos.

Then it was time to get everyone organized for the wedding ceremony.  Laura, Jamie and Laura’s kids all congregated out of sight while the guests took their seats.  And the ceremony began!  Everything went perfectly, and a short time later Jimmy and Laura were officially married.

While the guests made their way to the nearby tent that was set up for the reception, I took Jimmy and Laura back to the pond for a few more photos.  There was a small rowboat, and the newlyweds carefully climbed in (not so easy when wearing a wedding dress and a tux!) and rowed out onto the pond.  The fountain made for some great photos, some of which you’ll see below.

Then it was time to join the reception.  The food was provided by Pacific Grill Catering, and was wonderful if a bit different due to COVID precautions.  If you have not been to an event during this crazy time, food is now usually wrapped individually and/or given out by a server; standard buffet styles setups are not allowed to minimize chances of contamination.

The reception was ended with a great sparkler send-off for the newlyweds.