Wrinkles in the Wedding Dress

Weddings are so full of details that it is inevitable that one or two of those details are gonna get away from you. Take the couple who got married in July. The bride and groom met while living and working in Ocean Springs. Since then, they have moved to the Washington, D. C., area. While Ocean Springs is not their home, this is where their relationship began and this is where they wanted to begin their life as husband and wife. All the arrangements were made long distance. Both sides of the family, and many friends, travel to Mississippi for the big day. The bride still owned a home in Ocean Springs, and although it was on the market for sale, it was empty and an available place for getting ready. So all the bridesmaids arrive at the empty house and the bride pulls her dress out of the bag. This is when the bride realized that one of those all important details got away. She had meant to bring the dress to the cleaners for pressing. She tries the old steam in the shower trick, only she didn't want to get the dress wet, and opted for filling the bathtub up with hot water. Unfortunately, there was no hot water. She then did what any other bride about to get married in a wrinkled wedding dress would do. She called her mother. Mom, was able to locate a steamer but was unable to get a ride to the house. At this point I couldn't help up step in and offer to help. I got directions to where mom was and immediately jumped in my jeep to get her. I found mom easily as she was standing in the driveway, with steamer in hand. This is when I realized another potential problem. Mom has had her hair done and the top was down on the jeep. All I could do is apologize, and offer to drive slow in an attempt to keep mom's hair in place. I have to say, she was a pretty good sport about the windy ride. We get to the house, mom pulls out the steamer and asks if I had any idea how to operate it. Taking the instructions in hand, I figured, no time like the present to learn. Between the two of us we figured it out (or at least we think so). But, this wasn't working so well either. There was plenty of steam, only it wasn't getting the wrinkles out. We also noticed that the dress was getting a little damp. Maybe the steamer just wasn't hot enough for the fabric? More heat, how do we get more heat?.....blow dryer! The bride had one in her suitcase. So while the bride put on her make-up, and the rest of the bridal party finished getting ready, mom held the steamer and I held the blow dryer. Section by section of the dress, together we got rid of the wrinkles, and the bride was of course, beautiful.~Bonnie

The reluctant ring bearer

This actually happened on July fourth this year. I was photographing a small wedding by myself, Bonnie being at a rehearsal for a wedding we would do the next day. The young lad, he must have been four, who was the ring bearer for this wedding suddenly announced that he was retiring from his duties. He was not going to do it . He quit. Now so far he had stood amiably with the bride and groom for their photos. He had been a team player, but now, he had decided that he didn't want to play wedding anymore and he was through. His grandmother was a little upset by this. The wedding was about ten minutes away and here was the ring bearer sitting on the floor in a hallway in the church in his white suit with his little pillow with the stand-in rings laced to it by his side. Now, I know that weddings can be strange for little kids. Everyone is all stressed out and they are wearing clothes that they don't like and they can't play or get dirty either, so its kinda miserable for them. I went over and sat down on the floor next to him and started reviewing some of my images on the back of the camera. When I came to some of him and the groom I asked him, real casual like, which one he liked. The kid had a good eye because he picked the same images that I would have. Next I showed his some of him and the flower girl. Again he picked good ones and I told him what a great job he was doing looking good in the photos. I asked him if he could do me a little favor and help me out with the flower girl. I knew that he and the flower girl were coming down the aisle together so I asked him to make sure that she didn't walk too fast. "Just walk with her slow so she drops flowers all along the way" I said. He agreed to that, and I showed him some photos of him and Rita, the bride. Again he picked the best ones, that kid could grow up to be a photo editor. I got up and walked away and he was back on the team. He did fine the rest of the day. The truth is he might have anyway but I like to think that giving him a job and some respect satisfied his need to do more than wear a suit and stay clean. ~Kelly