I want to start of this post about a dream vow renewal with a reflection, a soapbox moment, and then a seriously happy ending. I may throw a few photos in for fun, too.
I cannot stress the importance of vetting any photographer you're going to work with and understand their capabilities, dedication to service, and work ethic--ESPECIALLY when it comes to your wedding photos. Actually, this goes for any and all types of professional providers. Enter the epitome of character, talent, knowledge, and service--Allie! I met Allie three years ago after we moved to England. She’s a force to be reckoned within the beauty industry, and the definition of what it takes to run a successful business that puts clients first, takes responsibility, and understands the importance of continual professional education and growth. She's one of my woman crushes for sure, and I've learned a lot about how to run a banging business from her. She has a passion for what she does and for helping others, which I appreciate more than anything. She and Joe are two of the most caring, genuine individuals that I’ve met, and they're unbelievably even better together. Plus they’re fun as hell! It's going to be nearly impossible to top this experience.... Buuut, you're welcome to try! ;-)
Allie told me the story of their wedding photography nightmare when I first met her, and I couldn’t believe it. Five years ago, they hired a photographer to capture their entire day. From how they described it, it was full of Irish influence, lots of love and fun, and a lot of personal details. Annnnd then every brides’ nightmare happened—he lost their wedding photos. Long story short, a hard drive crashed and the photographer all but ran away from the situation without offering to refund the payment he accepted for a product he wasn't able to provide, didn't offer a reshoot, and barely apologized. I can't imagine the devastation on their end, and I'd had it in my head from the beginning that I wanted to go take wedding photos for them.
At the beginning of the year, she asked me if I was interested in coming to Ireland with them. I'll never say no to a destination session, and getting to be there on the trip of a lifetime, creating stories that will never (ever, ever, ever, ever) die and memories that I'll always laugh about. The plan was to take some wedding portraits, eat some cake, and drink some Guinness, in no particular order. We walked away from that trip with so much more. I was witness once again to Ireland’s incredible hospitality, only this time I was with amazing friends that were more than deserving of the royal treatment they received on their “wedding day”.
We flew to County Kerry, Ireland. Sounds familiar, right? It's one of my favorite areas in the world. This was my third trip! The benefit of that was that I'd seen the locations on my other solo trips and WISHED I had clients to put out on a cliff, next to the lake, on the beach, and in the personable pubs. GUESSSSS WHAAAATTTTT! We did all of that and more!
Alright, alright, alright. Enough talking. Here we go! But first, do me a favor and click this link to set the mood! Our first stop was one of my favorite little spots just outside of Killarney. The spots sits on the edge of the lake, where we faced some chilly wind and warm poses.
After that we moved on to my favorite spot, Lady's View, which I could have spent the entire day admiring the golden light pouring over the mountains and the wide valley below if it wasn't for the rain that moved in shortly after we got there.