But when it comes to weddings, there is only one mantra that matters to me. And believe me, when you've photographed over 400 weddings in 15 years, you need a good mantra. Maybe even some prescription Tylenol. It's quite simple and it goes straight to the heart of what I try and do each weekend. Every Saturday morning, as I get ready to do it all again, I repeat this one phrase to myself:
Not last week's wedding.
"That's it?" you're thinking. Yup, that's it. Nice and easy. Because a couple can get married at the Four Seasons in Georgetown or a farm in Charlottesville, but if the only pictures you're shooting fit into some formulaic grocery list downloaded off of weddingphotography101.com, how can you tell the difference? If every photograph from the day involves permutations of family pictures in the rose garden, how do you know what the weekend was really about?