2009

My job is rough. Hanging out with a cool couple, a beautiful ceremony at a hilltop park in Newport Coast, and cruising around in a stretched out Escalade. I mean, really, how much suffering can a guy go through?

I knew photographing this wedding was gonna be fun. If you remember Jennifer and Mario, they were the couple that decided to make a last second location change for their engagement photos…and we ended up in Vegas. So needless to say I was pretty excited to photograph their wedding in Newport Coast, just south of Newport Beach. Although I did spend a better part of the day before checking my phone, just in case they decided to fly to Mexico or something for their ceremony. No call! So I woke up the next morning, put my passport back in my dresser, and headed to Jennifer and Mario’s house in La Verne to meet the girls as they got ready for the big day.

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Meet Bella, the biggest dog I have ever seen! But she's also the biggest sweetheart...

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The ring bearers are always the coolest dudes...

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Uh, guys? The party's not over yet...WAKE UP!!

Beautiful bride…check.
GQ’d out groom…check.
Family ranch somewhere in Idaho for a venue…check.
Killer band…check.
400+ guests…check.
14 kegs…check.
Garter belt with flask (full, of course)…check.
Rainbow for backdrop…check.
Cowboy boots…check.
Yellow drunk bus for wedding party…check.
Photographer with no clue where he is, but brought his camera just in case he found the wedding…check.

Okay, I think that’s everything. Val and I go way back, well, back to our crazy college days at Washington State University (Go Cougs!!). Some of the best times in college were hangin’ with her and her girls (you know who you are). So there was no hesitation when she asked me to photograph her wedding. Unfortunately, she decided to get hitched to an Idaho Vandal (our state-line rival). Of course I’m kidding, Jesse….she couldn’t have picked a more down to earth individual who knows how to throw one hell of a country wedding!

They decided to have their wedding on the Uhlorn family ranch (Jesse’s family) in Cottonwood, Idaho, where Jesse grew up (I’ll give you a minute to look that up on Google Maps)…Find it? Great, let’s move on. Although the nerves hit when the forecast called for thunderstorms and rain for the better part of the weekend, somehow we all knew things would clear up in time for the wedding. Obviously this is a happy story, and the weather did clear up. Plus, my assistant, the man upstairs, helped out and gave us a nice rainbow to use as a backdrop.

I could keep writing about how much this wedding meant to me, but I’ll let the photos do the rest of the talking…

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This was the most intense makeup session I've ever witnessed...

A garter belt made special for Wazzu grads...

Uh, somebody help the man with his tie...

The flower girl getting her hair curled...

This was taken from inside the car on the ride over to meet up with the groom. See that little spec at the top of the train tressel? That's Jesse, waiting for his bride. They wanted to meet for the first time a few stories above the ground on a tressel that hasn't been used in decades. How cool is that?!

Classic...

Look at this next photo and guess what my favorite movie is...yup, Field of Dreams...

Here's the Val I know...

They look as lost as I was...

**Please note, this rainbow is copyright Garrett Davis Photography and may only be used in awesome photographs produced by Garrett Davis. Violation of this copyright will result in nasty emails and phone calls from Garrett Davis Photography. Also note that the rainbow is REAL, and not produced by my amazing Photoshop skills...enjoy :)

This is cool, Val was driven to the aisle by her father in this beautiful old truck...

Love the boots...

Time for the wedding party to hop on the school bus and take a drinking tour of Cottonwood...

Signing the certificate on the beer cooler in the drunk bus...love country weddings :)

Cottonwood restrooms. Hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go...

Harry, you are awesome...

Hey, is that...? No, couldn't be, not out here in the middle of nowhere. Oh man, it is! It's the paparazzi again! There's just no privacy when you're as famous as I am...