Chase & Joe | Moon Palace Jamaica Wedding | Destination Wedding Photographer

I’ll start this off by mentioning: I don’t. do. weddings!! Unless they’re destination, small, and/or non traditional. Those are my criteria in order to be coerced into doing a wedding. I’ve done a few every year for the past 6 years that I’ve been in business. I have always always had the utmost respect for wedding photographers. Point blank, period. Any time someone feels entitled to complain to me about how “expensive” wedding photography is, I kindly explain how exhausting physically, emotionally, and intellectually it is on the day of. This is usually a 12 hour work day with limited breaks, you always have to be on your toes, you’re carrying heavy and expensive equipment around all day, making sure you have enough batteries and memory cards, etc. On top of being the wedding photographer, you are also moral support for anyone and everyone who needs it, and an assistant to all things not photography related: such as nail and hair emergencies, emotional support, pizza delivery, the list goes on. Not to mention the seemingly endless hours of editing that will then happen in the weeks following the big day. It’s exhausting, yes, but what outweighs the exhaustion, the sheer honor to have this pivotal of a role in such an important day for someone. 

This someone, the bride, is a girl I’ve grown up with since we were born. Chase’s parents and my parents were best friends from college and have stayed that way. I don’t have a big extended family so I’ve always considered the Loevy’s my family. I’ve done a handful of photo sessions for them over the years including law school graduation, proposals, engagement photos, and now wedding photos. I was of course very honored and excited to be included in this event. Chase and her entire family are literally the funniest people I’ve ever known. As a kid, I always looked forward to seeing them because I knew it would be non stop laughter. Aside from being hilarious, the Loevy’s are also some of the most warm hearted, loving, giving people in the world. They have wide open arms and huge hearts for everyone. And then there’s Joe. Such a sweetheart, but like the majority of dudes, not such a fan of photoshoot after photoshoot. I did Chase and Joe’s engagement photos last summer and I think he was not so secretly hoping he’d never have to take another photo ever again...wrong. Sorry, Joe. As Chase said, “he doesn’t hate you, he just hates everything you stand for.” All jokes aside, Joe was such a good sport all weekend and I’m so proud of him for losing the goofy, sarcastic, kindergarten smile when it came to the wedding day. I won’t lie, I was a little nervous about him. Probably no longer than an hour after I even saw Joe for the first time in Jamaica, it started to pour rain, and I told Chase, "Grab Joe, we’re going in the ocean!" These may have been my favorite shots of the weekend, but you’ll have to see for yourself! I know without a doubt, Joe and Chase are perfect for each other, they balance one another out, and I could not be happier for them. I could keep going, but this is already pretty long and I have been trying, but failing, at making these blogs short and sweet.

P.S. I know there are way too  many photos in this blog, but I hope you enjoy anyways!

Venue: Moon Palace Jamaica Grande