This weekend was a little crazy for us Kunkels! We had 3 beautiful weddings and three beautiful love stories, but also with that came 3 non stop 9+ hour days in a row!
Day 1 was a beautiful Saturday wedding of one of my dear friends that I have had since middle school!! The day was filled with perfect weather and everything about it was truly fairytale like. Down to the dress, decor, details… but more on that to come with their wedding blog!! Everything came together to make for a perfect wedding and it really did go so perfectly! I can’t wait to display that through my images! What you do not see is my complete exhaustion upon having session after session throughout the week and living on almost no sleep from all the editing only to face a non stop wedding frenzy weekend. I woke up that Saturday really not feeling good, completely tired and with little energy. The day went on as normal, I put my smile on and keep shooting away as usual but as the day continued I only felt worse and worse. My head was warm, my eyes red, and I was dizzy with a ponding migraine. After I got all the beginning shots done I had a little extra time to sit down and get my bearings together before the ceremony started. Scotty and I sat together in the back of the church as I fought back tears. He got me some water and held me tight and then it was go time again. After the ceremony and shots in between we headed to the reception. I only felt worse as the night continued where I was literally having to hold onto Scotty to keep me up and going. We stood in the corner during the dinner portion and he held me as I cried and pulled myself together before going out and finishing the job! Scotty stayed with me by my side the whole night even though it meant that he was going to be late to a bachelor party. He drove me home, bought me medicine, and kissed me goodbye. I got all my photos transferred and backed up and then just crashed on the couch in my office with my baby Willow!
I had also woke up on Saturday to a simple yet wonderful text from my mom just saying that she was thinking and praying for me during my crazy weekend. Those words, though simple, meant the world to me!
Later in the night I woke up to my doorbell ringing…which when you are home alone at night at 10:30 can be a tad alarming and scary. Especially when you have an over friendly dog that would probably only lick up any bad person! lol I reluctantly went to the door after a few more dings only to find my best friend Paige holding a bouquet of colorful flowers in a vase! The amazing thing about this is that I had not even told her at all about my bad day or being sick she just decided to surprise me with flowers. God definitely used her in my time of weakness to give me the even more boost of energy that I needed!! It was the best surprise!!! After visiting for a bit I went back to sleep till the next day for another wedding!
Day 2 I woke up feeling so much better and reenergized for my Sunday wedding. Everything about that day ran smoothly, on time, and it was perfect weather! Honestly that wedding was so refreshing for Scotty and I! It rekindled our love for each other because it was such a godly wedding and filled with God’s love and foundation for marriage, it was beautiful and I teared up multiple times behind the camera! In-between moments I ran over to Scotty to steal a kiss and tell him I loved him because when you come out of hard days stronger then before it makes the easy/good days have so much more depth a meaning. Love that only proves itself strong even when you don’t have it all together! I did the reception alone because Scotty had to go to a rehearsal dinner but it went very smoothly and I went home to relax a bit before the third and final wedding!
Day 3 was the last weeding of the weekend and it was one of Scotty and I’s best couple friends!! The decor was over the top AMAZING and every detail was well thought out and gorgeous!! I was stressing out all week because at first I didn’t have anyone to help assist/second shoot with me during the wedding because Scotty was in it and all my other assistant/helpers were out of town for the holidays! I finally found someone to help with me at the beginning of the day and another to second shoot with me during the ceremony and then Scotty helped with lights a tad at the reception so in the end it was all covered! Seriously Anneke and Abigail you were so sweet in coming and totally keep me chugging along!! I am so thankful for you girls!! The hard part about Monday was that I was still not feeling 100% and it was just a VERY hot day! On top of that the wind was INSANE!! I have never tried to get bridal/party portraits and family shots in so much wind before!! But other then sweating a ton and crazy hair it went really well and it was great to see a couple we really love get hitched!! We are so happy for them!!
I write this to be honest, that sometimes
life is hard,
it can be really hard to keep yourself together when everything is not 100%. I know that sometimes all that people see of me are pretty pictures that are the result of my job but what people don’t see is the long behind-the-scene hours and dedication that go into it and on top of that don’t see the times where I am hardly keeping it together. The times that I am literally hanging on to my husband to keep things together or times when I am sitting alone in my office defeated because I can hardly keep my eyes open to keep editing but I know I still have 5 weddings to get done. That is hard to show in pictures! I know there will be times that I won’t be able to show every difficult part of my business but I also don’t want to hide that sometimes there are hard times even with the illusion that everything is okay. Because to be honest, sometimes the only thing keeping me smiling and moving is God’s strength, my husband’s support, and having some really amazing friends! I would have never gotten through the day if it had not been for them! I was so thankful to have Scotty this weekend…he was my rock when I was weak, my glue when I was falling apart, and my support when all I needed was a hug and a push to keep going. He bore the burden when I couldn’t stand straight on my own. I also write this to say that you can’t do this life alone, you need friends and people who love you to keep you up and going because sometimes you just can’t do it on you own. And you know what, that’s okay! You are human and lets face it, no one believes the lie that you have it all together. It’s okay to admit that you are not perfect! (no matter how perfect your pictures look!) Even if you are not a photographer or small business owner this is still something great to remember! Be authentic, things may be going really well in your life right now and I would say that is true for the most part in my life but when things are hard, be real. So guys, despite all the good times this May/Weekend has brought me, it has also been the busiest my business has ever been and it has been hard. I love weddings, I love my clients and I absolutely love what I do but I also know it’s not me in myself that is keeping it together, it’s God’s strength and a deep dependance on others. So whatever challenges you face today keep going and remember it’s okay to feel like you don’t have it all together, I promise you, I don’t either!
For the very last song of the night I swung my camera around my back and stole a dance with the cutest groomsmen…aka my husband and it was the perfect ending to the weekend!
