I’m really grateful to have had the opportunity to second shoot for The Indi Collective for Craig and Ashley’s wedding hosted at Maroni Meadows in Snohomish, WA. Maroni Meadows was only 15 mins away from my place! That makes my day not as long as exhausting as I’ve driven over 2 hours before, each way, to shoot a wedding without overnight accomodation. I already prepped all my gear the night before so the day of the wedding, I just packed it all in my bags, had a quick lunch, and made my way over to Maroni Meadows.

I pull into the lot and scout around. I immediately notice the diverisity of foliage and I love it! So many different types of plants and tall trees that produce really nice shade against the harsh lighting we got on this summer day. I meet the venue owner Deni, and she tells me a bit about the story of how the venue came to be. It’s been around for a very long time and she and her daughter and both present working the venue. I love the story of a family owned business! It really elevates the character and charm of the venue and doesn’t feel as “commercialized” and profit driven. I scout around some more and meet the lead shooter Amber, who tells me more her background wedding photography. It’s always great meeting new people and learning how they got their start. I really feel that anyone doing weddings is in it because they love what they do.

I go on and meet the gentlemen for some prep photos. It’s a large group of guys with a pool table in the middle so the spacing is a little tight, but I jump right in with some candids and make my way around, making sure each groomsman gets incorporated. They each get their own pocketsquare (that is NOT pre-folded) and get to work on those. After some more prep, they request a fun pool shot photo, and we go on for some groomsmen, individual photos, and groom-only. We finish and I leave to let the guys do their thing. I head over to Amber and see what’s going on with the bridesmaid, and they are looking so good!

Guests start arriving so I start prepping for the ceremony. The spacing is a bit tight, but there are areas I can stand to cover different angles from around the side of the stage. After the guests settle, the ceremony commences. Craig first, followed by the wedding party, there’s a ‘beer boy’, which is a new one for me, the flower girl, and finally Ashley. I just learned her story that her father passed away just 6 weeks prior to the wedding day. Really sad that she wasn’t able to be walked down by him. Just hearing that just humbles me and makes me grateful for what I do have. Either way, Ashley still looks stunning as she walks down the isle.

It was so incredible to witness such a large wedding party standing by Craig and Ashley’s side. I don’t even know them, but I can tell that each one of them has a deep relationship to the bride and groom, and their presence on the stage is truly intentional. Their emotion, facial expressions, and body language really say it all. Each one of them is really happy to see them get married. As the ceremony concludes and the wedding party exits the area, I move into a time for cocktail hour photos while Amber captures marriage certificate signing.

We do some family photos, and eventually move into wedding party photos. Now this was really fun. The weddding party was 20 people. Absolutely massive. Amber assembled them in one line while I was helping position and fix spacing and posture issues.; large wedding parties are quite a bit to handle! It was all really fun though. We did a wedding party tunnel which is always fun and finally conclude so they can get prepped for reception entrance. We pull Craig and Ashley aside for some bride and groom shots and they all look amazing. If I could put the full gallery here I would. The position of the sun against Ashley, with the foliage in the background. Just incredible. After we get done with that, I make my way over to the reception area and capture a few more decor shots and prep my camera for the wedding party entrance. They came in fast and each pair had a really fun entrance. So much personality that came out.

Craig and Ashley entered and the crowd went wild. It was such an intimate reception; there had to have been no more than 100 guests and each one of them supported Craig and Ashley strongly. There was so much audience engagement during the speeches and everyone had a blast.

We move into a time of dancing, and this crew can dance. The wedding party, the guests. It was a wild night. One of the guests even tried to get me to dance along haha. What a fun crew. We had a sparkler exit as well, which was also fun but challenging to shoot given the lighting and all the movement. Although I had a blast, I was ready to head back home so I say my goodbyes, packed up my bags and vacated the premises. I really hope I have the chance to shoot at Maroni Meadows again!