An Aside: My Brother's Wedding

My brother John and his lovely wife LaKisha

After much consideration, I decided I was going to be a guest at my brother's wedding rather than a photographer. But man....it was a very hard decision to live with! Not only was I being plagued with "big sister protectiveness," but "backseat driving photographer" syndrome to boot!

I definitely need to work on learning how to let go already and stop trying to control things. I must have "lead photographer disease."

Even though I had decided long before the 14 hour drive to Texas that I wouldn't be shooting the wedding, I STILL couldn't make the trip without taking my Canon 5D with me along inside my extremely heavy camera bag overflowing with all of my lenses and other photo equipment. It was like a security blanket; I didn't quite feel the same without having it with me. I literally had to drag my eyes away from watching (more like critiquing) every move the photographer at my brother's wedding made so I could concentrate on the ACTUAL wedding. Even Patience, my last wedding bride, commented that I'm going to make things hellish for my OWN wedding photographer (should I ever be blessed with marriage) if I don't learn how to let go and let God, or in essence -- let the professional do their thang!



Once I succeeded at that, I really enjoyed the experience! I cried and laughed along with everyone else. My brother was crying before his bride even walked down the aisle. He was shaking so bad that we were afraid he would fall off the altar...or maybe he just appeared to be shaking because I was crying so hard I could barely see through my own tears. I just know our mother, God rest her soul, was sitting right next to me in my pew seat crying along with me and my little sister. Our little brother, my mother's son, is MARRIED!

By the time we made it to the reception, I barely felt the need to whip out my Canon G9, my trusty backup camera which fits in my purse). The battery ran out during the wedding anyway, and sure, I tried taking a couple of shots with my cell phone to no avail. But EVENTUALLY, I was able to fully relax and just have fun, dancing the Electric Slide and the Cupid Shuffle, eating way too much, and wondering who I should kill in order to make sure I caught the bouquet during the traditional toss. :)

Congratulations, John and Kisha. I love you!