Tali & Zack
A sweet backyard ceremony in Puyallup, Washington
When life throws you a pandemic… you make lemonade. That’s how the saying goes nowadays, right?
Tali & Zack and I first met in a little local coffee shop in downtown Sumner before a pandemic existed in November, 2019. It feels like a lifetime ago now. In the span of a few months, they planned not one or two weddings as COVID restrictions were thrown their way… but 5 different weddings. When it comes down to it, they just wanted to be married. After many phone calls and updates, Blake and I met with them a few days before their wedding. And that’s how Zack described it; after all the uncertainty and sour feelings caused by COVID, they chose to make lemonade.
They decided on an intimate backyard ceremony. No sacrifices, all the love. But their larger wedding with family they had originally planned still loomed in the back of their mind… and that is how my first stop motion film was born. They still wanted to share their intimate wedding with their original wedding party, and I had a few ideas up my sleeve that had been waiting patiently to come into play. A different take on wedding videography, a film created entirely of still photos. A subtle, quiet tribute to the overwhelming kindness and devotion that is felt from them as a couple as soon as you walk into a room, and is certainly shared by the folks they included in their intimate backyard ceremony.
LEMONADE
Backyard ceremonies inherently have an air of emotion and nostalgia.
There’s no hustle and bustle on the morning of your wedding to distract you from the day’s intention.
The groom and his instantaneous megawatt smile.
Mom quietly cherishes her daughter from the corner.
Dad splurges on overnight international shipping on cheese for dinner.
Friends and family help set up the aisle in anticipation of their vow ceremony and as a small act of love.
Vows are heart-lifting and raise goose bumps.
Dad shares a cute (if not slightly embarrassing, as dads do) story about his new daughter-in-law’s lack of baseball knowledge, provoking both tears and laughs.
And a subtle rain blesses their ceremony at the closing of the night.
