Bri & Tyler’s Engagement Session | Montauk NY | The Hamptons Destination Weddings | Apollo Fields Wedding Photographers

An early evening summer breeze coming off the Atlantic reminds the Montauk locals of the sun and the salt on their skin, but that same breeze that warms a beach bum’s heart can chill a Texan to the bone. A kind memory of home to Bri is a reminder to Tyler just how far he is from his, but come October 2020 their families will join to celebrate their love in a half-homegrown, half-destination wedding.

Many would consider it a luxury to grow up in a destination wedding town, embracing the lifestyle and culture that seems as light as a day on the beach. Others might say that the summer months that bring tourists and city slickers who clog the one road, two-lane streets like the sidewalks in Manhattan are killing their vibes. The reality is that the sun shines no matter what and despite the traffic we are all going to enjoy our drink of choice on the beach for one reason or another.

For Bri, hosting her wedding in Montauk will be like having her own personal welcoming parade of family and neighbors, smiling faces lining either side of the aisle like a beach version of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. While Tyler and his family, although no strangers to coastal waters, will mostly likely be dipping their toes into the Atlantic a bit more timidly than they do in the Gulf of Mexico. The thing about the locations of weddings is—whether a new or familiar experience—the love in the room is all the same.

Weddings offer us wonderful opportunities to connect with groups of people we might not speak to in our daily lives. Too often our occupations and locations restrict us to familiar routines that can limit our world experience, but when love is the accepted common ground all conversations and connections are possible. There is simply no space for judgment when love is in the air. Breathe it in, take it in, and clink glasses with someone you might otherwise not meet.

Heather and I are so lucky to share these spaces in places all over the world, snapping photos and writing down all of the emotions that we see. I’ve said before that our emotions are our secrets until we share them with someone, but on wedding days most people wear them as proudly as their finest suit or most elegant dress. Restraining the contents of our hearts would be like putting those garments back in the closet and throwing on the wrinkled clothes that adorn the floor. Instead we see tears trickle down cheeks like rain down window panes and eyes well up like dams that are about to burst.

A forum to express the version of ourselves that is too often buttoned up and hidden away is one of the many reasons that make our jobs more than an occupation or service. According to our tax documents we are wedding photographers, but according to ourselves we are photojournalists who never settle for the surface, always scanning the room for people to show us the best version of themselves.