Though that would only be if I was ChatGPT, which as I already said I am not and computers can’t lie, or can’t lie well. But their wedding day didn’t take place in a hockey rink in Paris, there was no need for a ref, pretty sure I never saw a cat, though I am sure they would have loved for Andrei Svechnikov to make an appearance at their Wait Chapel wedding - but the dude never showed.

The Biltmore is THE marker for Asheville, so getting to share Elaine and Kristin’s first time to town AND getting to photograph their Biltmore House engagement session for them was even more fun. A decade ago, I couldn’t even imagine this.

Anyone who has planned a wedding over the last three years knows how hard it is (COVID has been a real pain in the ass) and how flexible and patient you need to be. Dustin and James had to move their Asheville wedding day several times, and through it all, they kept moving forward, perhaps sometimes with a wonderful adult libation, but forward is forward, am I right?

So I sat down and enjoyed a fantastic meal, including her famous “best chicken.” Funny how some good conversation, a two-pound camera, and some genuine connection can open doors and pull up seats.

During one of their Zoom sessions Dustin and James said: “We could come out to Asheville and do our engagement photos there, or if you are up for it, we’d love to have you out here in Colorado.” To which I responded, “You had me at ‘if you are up for it.”

When I arrived on the wedding wedding day to the Cadillac Service Garage (seriously dope fucking space!), I had a walk-in encounter in the grooms suite that I wasn’t accustomed to in my career.

Over the next several years, we kept in touch intermittently. A few texts here or there and through social media. They were making their home a sustainable space. Raising chickens and goats. Building out and improving parts of their home. It all seemed somewhat perfect.

To say that I was excited about Elena and Nelson’s Charles Krug winery wedding would be an understatement. Getting to travel for any work is a lot of fun and a huge honor, but I lived in San Diego for ten years and never got north of San Francisco. I would often mention to people when talking about our time in southern California that we never made it to Yosemite, or the Redwoods, or even to Napa. And so to finally check that box was exciting.