Gabriel Van Wyhe Photo Blog » Sharing life through images

Nathan and Haley smile like crazy, and share a passion for artistic expression – how could they not be a fun and fantastic couple to be around!?  Their wedding day was full of sun, very powerful moments and laughter.  However, one moment stands out for me.  The two of them climbed into a small boat and pushed away from the dock for a couple special moments together and some fun pictures.  As the boat moved out, Nathans face expressed the intense realization that he had his bride out onto a lake, in this wobbly little boat, in her beautiful wedding dress.  It takes courage to pull that off – and he was determined to keep that boat steady and keep his bride safe and dry.  And in the midst of all this pressure – he still looked at her with joy and love all over his face.  Haley just simply smiled and enjoyed the ride – as though she knew Nathan wouldn’t let anything bad happen.  That moment kind of sums up the day and these two for me – a perfect fit with lots of adventures ahead.

Olianna contacted me with only weeks till the wedding day – as it was on a Monday, I had it available for a last minute booking and I am so glad I did!  Beautiful location- sunny day – wonderful couple – a combination for a great wedding!  The shock of the day came when Olianna and Ailen wanted to feed the fish in the lake from the dock – they gently leaned forward with fish food in hand and dropped a few bits into the water and SPLASH!!! These ravenous crazed fish started flinging themselves all over the place and out of the water to get at the food.  We all literally jumped back and made a dash for it as water was being flung all over the dock and onto the brides dress and my camera gear.  Almost too crazy to believe but it happened.  We all laughed after and went on to get some great pictures.

Last year I had the privilege of getting to be one of the back stage photographers for the Repossess youth movement in Olympia WA – Kelsey learned of me through the event and contacted me about her wedding – and am I thrilled that she did!!  It is always a special treat to see the parents of a bride and groom go out of their way to speak deeply about and to their kids, shower them with blessings and drench them in support and love without wavering on the wedding day – this is the type of family and environment that marked Kelsey and Justin’s wedding day!  And seeing Kelsey and Justin love each other so completely made the day simply fantastic!  I’m so glad that I got to photograph this amazing day.

I loved shooting Tiffany and Tinh’s engagement photos and was really looking forward to their wedding – I was not disappointed!  It was so great to see two families that loved each other so much!!  Two very different cultures came together with these two and the combination, the traditions and the way the two sides of the family embraced one another was so much fun.  And Tiffany and Tinh’s amazing passion for loving and serving everyone around them made the day an absolute joy to be a part of.  So many congratulations to these two – it was a great day!

We just couldn’t pass up a post on the photobooth we did at Jon and Joy’s wedding.  Enjoy!

Here is the third post covering Jon and Joy’s wedding day – This post is really about showing the part of the day the couple spent at Thornwood Castle and the beauty of the event itself.  Enjoy!

On the Thornwood Castle grounds there is a giant chess board and stone chess pieces.  How can that not be a setup for a crazy fun photo shoot!?  Here are some of the shots we got of the wonderful couple and the groomsmen playing around.

Every wedding we post about presents the very challenging task of narrowing the images to a number that can be realistically posted here on our blog – this is rarely an easy take.  However, there are some weddings where the couple, the location, the details and the surprises of a wedding day make for such epic wedding pictures that there is simply no way narrow the images down to one or even two posts.  Jon and Joy’s wedding was just such a day!

They got ready in two separate locations – the very artsy and beautiful Hotel Murano and the Sublime Spa at the Hyatt in Downtown Tacoma.  The wedding itself was held at the stunning Thornwood Castle on Lake Washington.  And Joy and Jon are a couple that drink deeply from life – they live passionately and drench everyone around them in joy!

This is the first of several posts where we wanted to try to give our readers a gimps into this fabulous day.

Just wanted to share another fun photobooth that we did – this was at Megan and Gary’s wedding in Virginia.

Virginia was an amazing place to shoot a wedding.  From the most amazing lightning storms to the lush and beautiful landscapes – Jaci and I loved it there.  You add to a place like this, a couple like Megan and Gary and you can’t help but smile the entire time!  Megan and Gary have a love for each other that I would have to describe as classic.  Gary is a true gentleman and Megan is a woman who carries herself with a kind of elegance that makes those around her feel just a bit more special just being around her.

Their wedding was exactly what you’d expect from such a wonderful couple- beautiful!!  Congratulation Gary and Megan – what a joy to get to fly out to Virginia to shoot your wedding!