The wedding was in New Orleans, which was so special because my husband Nick & I are from Louisiana originally. Something always feels unlocked creatively when I’m shooting back home. It was an adventure getting there because New Orleans had a record-breaking snowstorm that week, which only added to the surrealism of the wedding.

Creatively, I cherish the morning before a wedding. I think the one of the most powerful tools in any photograph’s kit is a calm nervous system. I love to wake up early after a good night’s sleep, have slow coffee while I do a final timeline review, and sit with the moodboard and just marinate a little bit.

It’s interesting to me to imagine a wedding as a little universe we enter. When I’m photographing a wedding, it’s like nothing else exists, even if in the outside world my plate is full. That’s a service we can really give a wedding, for these 8 or 10 hours, it’s got you completely - I’m a servant to its unraveling.

Photographer: Camille Delaun

Getting Ready

There’s something so intoxicating about the sort of activated stillness of getting ready. So full of anticipation, yet tender and almost vulnerable. It’s where I think I can best establish trust with a couple, in those quiet moments of checking in and quietly photographing. There’s just something so sweet about it.

The ceremony was in the Library Room of the Ogden Museum, a wooden rotunda accented by wooden beams carved into dragons, with massive windows that let in bands & bands of western light. It was magical. Nick & I shot it together.

I’d say I am an exceedingly easy-going lead when it comes to direction with a second, because I am a firm believer that any creator makes their best work when they are trusted. I think saying, “Shoot it like you’re the only one & let’s try not to get in each other’s way,” covers most every base.

We had a small window for portraits… maybe 10 or 15 minutes. Even with an abundance of time, I am somewhat of a portrait minimalist, I much prefer to take a beat setting up what could be an heirloom image rather than rapid-firing so I can deliver 100.

Meg had used the word “phantasmagorical” to describe their wedding dreams, and I loved leaning into that throughout the day….a little witchy, a little dreamy, sort of time-ambiguous….I find the 6x7 format of the Mamiya to be really satisfying for a couple’s portrait.

A tarot reader! Jesters! A puppet theater! What more is there to say?

Overall, an enormous shoutout to Nice Day who I’ve had the privilege of working with a few times now, I absolutely love Hily, the expertise she brings to events, and the trust she gives us every time. And of course, Megan & Ian, who make everything they touch turn to art. They are incredibly kind, interesting, creative, curious people who made every last second of working with them a total joy, and are the reason this was one of my favorite weddings I’ve ever photographed.

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