Derek Fowles Photography: Kim & Bryan's Wedding

Hello this is Adrian, Derek's wife, hijacking this blog entry. Technically, I'm his business partner too - it just sounds funny to list those side by side. Wife and business partner. It either makes our marriage sound too much like a job, or our business sound like it's taking over our personal life. Best to separate the two, if only in writing. To the important business, Kim and Bryan's wedding.

Derek and I have never giggled as much as we did while working with Kim and Bryan. They were both so much fun, in their own ways. Kim may win the prize for our silliest bride ever. Silly, in a good way. She told us that she had been a little nervous when we arrived. We tend to laugh a lot generally. So, I think our laughter helped her move from nervous to playful and the fun started.

What we found so refreshing about Kim is that she's not afraid to tell funny stories about herself. She loved her dress so much, she told us, that she'd stay at her dressing fittings for hours. She joked that the tailor would have to ask her for the dress back so that she could get to work. Kim absolutely loved being a bride and admits she'd get married to Bryan over and over again to get to wear the dress some more.

Kim had a way of making everyone remotely involved in the wedding feel like they were the most important people in the world. She'd never met me before the day, but welcomed me with a huge smile and sweet words. "I was just saying to Bryan that it'd be great if Adrian came to the wedding too," she exclaimed. As the day progressed, I saw her thank the wait staff for decorating the ballroom so nicely, heap praises on the DJ, and generally be sweet to everyone involved in her day. Her smile and kindness helped to make the day that much more magical.

The only time we managed to make Kim frown was when we mentioned the somewhat recent trend to "trash the dress" after a wedding. We were trying to explain how some people enjoy challenging themselves to find a way to creatively dispose of this dress that they will never wear again. This bride couldn't even imagine it -- "but I LOVE my dress SO much." What were we thinking to suggest such sport to someone currently enjoying her wedding? I can't imagine many brides would want to consider destroying such a beautiful dress in the midst of their special day. We'll try to avoid that gaff in the future.

I knew Bryan prior to his wedding day, but I hadn't seen him and Kim together as a couple. After spending some time with Kim, we met Bryan and his parents in the lobby of the Hotel Northampton for formal photos. Derek literally clicked the shutter twice before Bryan says, "Can we do the silly photos now?" Right then, they made complete sense as a couple to me.

Above is the "Get Smart" photo from Bryan's session. It was incredible how quickly he and his folks were able to be creative with us. They pretended to be the First Family waving to fans from the steps outside the hotel, they pretended to be in a Broadway show -- we basically sat back and followed their lead. Bryan even found this large hanging fern to duck beneath so that he could be Sideshow Bob from the Simpsons. The long and short of it, working with creative people makes for loads of fun behind the camera.

The ceremony.

Kim and Bryan had their ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception at the Hotel Northampton. Having everything at one location gave us more time to play with photos. Kim and Bryan had so much fun doing their engagement photos in downtown Northampton, that they wanted to go back downtown on the actual wedding day.

No detail forgotten. Kim loves Hello Kitty and managed to find this bride and groom for her cake topper. She couldn't have been happier with the final presentation.