When I was telling my sister about the trip we’d planned and she suggested we find a photographer to take anniversary photos, it seemed like doing too much. The fall before, I’d surprised Patrick on his birthday with flights to visit some of the National Parks out west (we’d visited Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons on our honeymoon and have a goal of seeing them all in our lifetime!). The trip timing worked out that his spring break from teaching was also over our first anniversary.
I initially thought anniversary photos were overload. It felt like we’d just gotten married! Why do we need more pictures of us…? But the more I thought about it, the more I started to like the idea.
First, we don’t have many photos of just the two of us at our wedding. We really wanted to get to experience as much of the day as possible with our friends and family so we opted not to take many bride and groom portraits after the ceremony (just a couple at the church, a couple quick shots at the reception). And while we don’t regret for a moment getting to be present for our entire wedding, I was a little sad not to have a few more images of just the two of us to look back on.
Second, the more I thought about it, the more I realized one year of marriage is actually a big deal! It had flown by, but between the excitement of the wedding, moving in together and sharing our little apartment, supporting each other as we both started new jobs, and navigated living in downtown DC and our new relationship as husband and wife, it had been a very full year!
Third, we were going to be in a gorgeous location and as much as other tourists do their best to take a great photo of you, it’s really hard to get a good image with both of you in it when you’re traveling just the two of you (hello, selfies and awkward solo shots!).
Lastly and most importantly, the value of having pictures of when you’re young to look back on had been driven home when my grandmother passed away. My family spent hours combing through boxes of pictures of her and the ones we especially loved were of her as a young adult. She and her friends, showing off the latest fashions, going on adventures, building her life in DC… those pictures are invaluable to us.
In the end, I found Bailey Dalton through Instagram and she met us in Moab towards the end of our trip. I could not be happier that we decided to go through with a session. Full disclosure, Patrick was not thrilled about the idea, but Bailey made it a really fun experience and he loves that we have these awesome pictures to look back on.
I figure we’ll only be young once and if the next fifty years go as quickly as the first, we’re going to turn around with gray hair and be so happy we captured our first year of marriage and this exciting time in our lives to relive forever.
