There's some clear bias here because Tiara is my sister, but this wedding was g-damn beautiful and the most fun I've ever had shooting (although also stressful as I was busy foraging greens for the floral arrangements and getting myself ready as a bridesmaid!). It was so lovely to not only witness my sister marry the perfect guy for her (you da best, Ray), but to document it as well. Tiara and Ray wanted to get hitched near our parent's cabin in Trout Lake, Washington - a special place for all us Gunstone kids who spent our summers running about on the dusty trails lined with salal brush behind the house and floating down the creek in old rubber tubes from the local gas station.
The Flying L Ranch nearby in Glenwood allowed all their guests to stay in cabins, at the lodge, or pitch tents in the big field surrounding the property. The night before, we watched the first signs of the Perseid meteor shower and filled up on pizza and beer. The wedding day was a flurry of activity, stringing up bistro lights for an outdoor dance party, hauling tree stumps to a clearing in the wood for the ceremony, Ray's friends busy in the kitchen preparing delish BBQ to feed the crowds. It was a true DIY wedding, even the bouquet was made by friends; I don't think a single wedding vendor was booked. They said their I do's surrounded by a ring of trees with their loved ones circling around them. We took their portraits during the golden hour right after the ceremony, both of them high on love from seeing each other for the first time at the aisle. They danced in the meadows, kissed under alder trees, and even made friends with a praying mantis - it was magic.
I think we all cried when they shared their first dance to Leon Bridge's "Coming Home," and peed our pants laughing when Tiara and our Dad, Don G., pulled off a coordinated Michael Jackson dance. Then the dance party commenced with Ray's work supplying bottomless margaritas - DANGEROUS. I never drink on the job, but being that this was a family party, I indulged, and dare I say it - I think dancing photos come out better when the photographer is a little tipsy....
Congrats to Tiara and Ray - your two share a beautiful love defined by deep care and respect for each other and I have no doubt that you will live happily ever after!
p.s. Check out the INCREDIBLE video my cousin, Jeff Marsh, made for them. He captured so many special details and moments I wasn't present for, oh and drone shots of waterfalls nearby, yeahhh check it out.