“Exhaust the little moment. soon it dies. And be it gash or gold it will not come again in this identical disguise.” {Gwendolyn Brooks}

Little moments. These fly by our camera shutters countless times at every wedding. They come quickly – in the form of subtle squeezes from a mother’s hand, awe-struck grins from kids, a puddle jump, greetings from friends of yesteryear, one high-five and it’s gone. And then there are the big ones – first dances, that grand ceremony departure, the toasts. As photographers, we try to tango between the two as best we can, as long as we can. The evening ends and you hope you captured it as it were – as it remains in the memory of those who experienced it.

On September 5th, what might have been a little moment became THE moment. “A Song for Clara” – that’s what my vendor timeline read. I hadn’t given it too much thought. But when Karyn & Ross were planning their wedding, Karyn’s grandmother Clara had just one wish – she had asked that they play “Unchained Melody” at some point in the evening. That could have easily been a little moment – an unspoken sentiment between a small number of guests  who would know that the song were meant for Clara. But Karyn & Ross did things a little differently.

It was a moment that will forever be engrained in my memory. Karyn toasted to her guests and explained Clara’s wish. That simple wish would come in the form of a personal serenade. And just like that – the grand room transformed into what felt like one tiny living room filled with near & dears – that perfect space where everyone lets go of who they were trying to be and lets the moment take them away.

It was a perfect moment that moved a room full of grown adults to tears – myself, no exception.

Clara – you’re nothing short of beautiful. Your family, just as well.

With a very full heart,

Katie

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 23rd, 2010 at 2:08 am and is filed under Jenna Walker Photographers, Weddings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.