There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. The warm glow of the candlelight illuminated Rich’s mom as she tightly gripped the microphone, stared into her son’s eyes on his wedding day and shared a perspective that only a mother can with an intimate room of their closest friends and family leaning in to every word she spoke. She glowed as she described Rich’s kindness, gentleness, his many accomplishments. Her son, the valedictorian, the Princeton graduate, a respected doctor in his field, successful in athletics, academics, professionally and now, embarking on his most important title yet: husband.

The thing that really struck us was the fondness in her voice as she reminisced about one of her strongest memories of Rich, her little boy. Her energetic three year old toddler, who had a very strong affinity for cement mixers and a habit of pointing them out wherever they went. She described how his eyes would light up as he would excitedly exclaim, “Mom! Look! A cement truck!” on a regular basis, and to this day, even though he’s grown, she still thinks of him every time she sees a cement truck. As parents of a three year old boy in that exact stage ourselves right now, we both felt a lump suddenly forming in each of our own throats as we listened to this toast, thought of our firstborn Beckett, who gets excited every time he sees a cement truck too. We started to imagine everything that must be going through a mother’s mind on the day she toasts the kind, handsome, successful grown man in front of her. The man holding the hand of the most joyful, radiant, kind-hearted woman who brings the kind of smile to her son’s face that a mom could only hope for when she dreams of a daughter-in-law. We felt like we got a tiny glimpse into our future as we photographed that reception, and it was such a special honor to get to be in that room.

From beginning to end, Trinh and Rich’s Hotel Bennett Charleston wedding was a dream day. Yes, the details were flawless, the flowers were stunning, the styling impeccable, the setting was breathtaking, but that’s not what we’ll remember most about this day. It was the love. The joy. The laughter. The tears. The kind of tight-knit family feel every person hopes for when they begin a family of their own. It was such a privilege for us to get to be the ones to tell Trinh and Rich’s story through our lens and it was one of those days that had us falling in love with our job all over again.

Trinh and Rich, thank you for trusting us to tell your story. Thank you for your exuberant kindness and for making us feel like part of your family for the day. We wish we could clone you two and photograph this weekend over and over again. We’re so excited to share just a few (okay, maybe a lot!) of our many favorites and hope you love seeing them as much as loved creating them for you!