OK. It’s time again for that killer blog series: My Favorite Part of A Wedding.

Today’s topic: Bouquet Toss

Ah, yes. That moment in every wedding, where single ladies either get way too excited about it or vomit at the shear thought of it.

Quick history lesson:
Tossing the bouquet is a tradition that stems from England. Women used to try to rip pieces of the bride’s dress and flowers in order to obtain some of her good luck. To escape from the crowd, the bride would toss her bouquet and run away.

First of all, this sounds AMAZING! More like this please.

Somehow, the toss has evolved into this thing that now guarantees that the lucky lady who catches it will be the next one married. Because you know… magic.

So even though it’s a bit corny, I do love this little moment when your girlfriends get a chance to go all Hunger Games during your reception.

I love when there are literally dozens of competitors.

I love when they stretch their arms like NFL wide receivers.

I love when the girl that does NOT catch it is more excited than the girl that does.

I love when the girl you think is going to catch it does not.

I love the taunting that is often performed by the victor.

I love when the girls trip over themselves trying to catch it.

I love it most of all, when a girl falls to the floor, and a bride is willing to meet her down there for their photo together.

I also love when a lady has so much swag and confidence, that she knows she can jump, hold her red solo cup in one hand, and snag the bouquet with the other.

But seriously. Here is the key that I have found after shooting hundreds of weddings: some people love it, some people don’t. But you know your girls better than most. If you think they will enjoy it, then by all means, go for it. If you know they hate the idea… punt it. Sure it’s your wedding, but these are your closest friends. The goal isn’t to embarrass or shame them because they haven’t found someone to file taxes with jointly.

And, sure it’s a glorious moment for the winning lady, but it’s not like catching your flowers actually empowers the girl with the ability to become the next one married.

Or does it?

Because you enjoyed this, I know you’ll want to see more in this series. Click here for more words and pretty pictures.

Can I let you in on a little secret?  I’m not impressed or excited by how pretty your wedding is.

It’s true.  I mean, sometimes it’s cool and all, and I may even pretend to care, but that’s not really what I love about photographing weddings.

And the reality is, even though you may not realize it, you might not care about the pretty by the end of the day.

Now, before you freak out, stay calm and look at the photos below.  I take pictures of all the beautiful.

See, I told you I could do it.  I told you I could take pretty pictures of pretty things.

But like I said, the pretty is not what I’m there for.  I’m there for the random, the obscure, the genuine moments that bubble up throughout the day.  Those are my favorites.  And part of me knows that the further away from your wedding day you get, the more you will love and laugh and want to look back on those moments as well.

Like that moment when I walk into the brides room and she’s doing this. :)

Or the moment that you realize that you only wrote your groom a short card, and he gave you two hand written pages of commitment on your wedding day.

That moment when you point at the one bridesmaid who is wearing leggings.

The little details.  Like the fact that even though your sock won’t show, it still matches your colors.

That moment when one of your flower girls calls you out for getting married in tennis shoes.

That moment when your brother-in-law photo bombs your formals.

That moment when your brother walks into your room, and everyone squeals with delight, and your sister stands in the background while the two of you hug.

Speaking of sisters… only they love you enough to rub in your deodorant.

That moment when your mom wants to both film your wedding and pray for you all at once.

That moment when your flower girl decides that she is done holding that basket you handed her and would rather balance it on her head.

That moment when you can’t get the unity candle lit and your groomsmen are hacking you as you struggle through it while the whole world watches and waits forever.

That moment you forget you are a bride and just decide to act like a normal person and lick part of the cake that got on your hand.

Or maybe my favorite moment of the night.  That moment when your flower girl head up collecting money for your honeymoon and ended up with over 300 dollars in cash and would not give it back.  And it literally took you and the groom’s sister ripping it out of her hands as she was carried away crying.

So yeah, make your wedding pretty if you want.

Make it beautiful.
I suppose someone cares.

Just not me.

Because what I loved most was while Lacey & Cory were struggling through that unity candle, and his guys were teasing him and poking fun at his failures,
Lacey kept smiling.

While it seemed like it took for-ev-er to get it figured out (it really only took 53 seconds),
Cory stayed cool.

When their perfect plan of a perfect unity candle flopped in their face,
they figured it out.

That is my favorite part of their day.  And if they can keep smiling, keep their cool, and work together, the rest of their marriage will be more beautiful than their wedding.