With rain starting to come down, Lake Champlain is even more of a majestic backdrop for a wedding. There was a bit of fog and the colors of the sky, trees and lake became even richer. Sure, it meant we had to dance the night away inside the boat, but let me tell you, rain did not stop that party. Imagine you’re on a boat (yeah! I’m on a boat, ya…) for a wedding. There are probably 20 guests max. And 85% of them are lesbians. Oooooh you BET that was an awesome party. When Lady Gaga came on, we were even treated to a solo performance by one of the guests. I was laughing so hard at all of Ellie and Janet’s antics, I was laugh/crying by the end. And then actually crying when I had to say goodbye to Ellie and Janet…they were going back to Georgia. I was a blubbering mess, but so was Ellie, so we hugged and realized how awesome a time we all had had.
Let me reverse a bit because, as you can see from the skipping down the aisle of Ellie and badass dance moves of Janet, these are two creative, funny women. We plotted over skype about the wedding. Me in New Haven. Them in Georgia. But as I was shooting on the boat, I suddenly wanted to stow away in their suitcase. Here was an amazing LGBT community who all flew up from Georgia to support Ellie and Janet. I wanted to be best friends with everyone on the boat. And I almost was going to live in Georgia because that’s the other PhD program Natalie wanted to go to. Yale or Emory. If it had been Emory, these ladies would have been practically neighbors. Going through their images, I sometimes wish to move right on in with them. I mean, damn, that joy is impossible to ignore. So I got to document it and use my creativity to give them a gift I truly am blessed to give them. Documenting all that fun, that bond between their friends and family, and those vows (legal vows!!) they made.