It is actually pretty common for me to show up on a wedding day having never met the couple I’m photographing in person. We may have emailed, texted or followed each other online, but sometimes that first wedding-day hug is our first real meeting.
And then there was Kyra.
When I met Kyra, I immediately thought, Yep. I want to be her friend. And for me, I don’t say that often. One of the first things I learned about her was that her favorite word is… fuck.
Yes. Her favorite word is fuck.
And, I am completely okay with it. Somehow she manages to use it so eloquently in conversation that it practically becomes punctuation.
But beyond that, it was her smile, her laugh and her energy that stood out. Kyra has this free, fun spirit, and her wedding to Dave at Sweet Water Hollow in Salmon, Idaho felt exactly the same way.
There was laughter everywhere. There was love everywhere. And there was absolutely no shortage of fun.
As a Salmon Idaho Wedding Photographer, I get to photograph weddings with all kinds of personalities and styles, but this was one of those days where the couple’s personalities were woven into every single detail.
Dave and Kyra clearly LOVE each other. They laugh together, they have fun together, and there is just an ease between them that makes you want to be around them.
But something else became very obvious throughout the day: Dave and Kyra are incredibly loved, too.
Not one guest at their wedding was from Salmon. Every single person traveled to be there. As Kyra’s aunt perfectly put it, everyone arrived by “planes, trains and automobiles.” And I think that says so much about the two of them.
People traveled from all over to celebrate them, hug them, laugh with them and dance with them. You don’t get a room full of people willing to travel that far unless you have made a pretty special impact on their lives.
Their wedding at Sweet Water Hollow was filled with personal details. Dave and Kyra love the river, and with Dave having been a river guide, it only made sense that the river would make its way into their wedding day. Each reception table was named after a different river, and every place setting had a tie-dyed napkin handmade by their niece.
Then there was the shotski. Their shotski game was unmatched. At some point it felt like nearly every adult at the wedding had lined up to take a turn.
And the dessert table from Straight Outta the Oven? Incredible. It was beautiful, full of variety, and absolutely worth drooling over.
Then came the dance floor. I always tell couples that if you want your guests to dance, you need to dance.
Dave and Kyra were out there, and everyone followed, young, old and everyone in between. The dance floor stayed full of people laughing, singing, dancing and just completely enjoying themselves. That may have been my favorite part of the entire day. Their wedding wasn’t overly formal or stiff. It was personal. Relaxed. Loud. Hilarious. Heartfelt.
It was filled with rivers, handmade details, incredible desserts, a legendary shotski, a packed dance floor and probably more than a few perfectly placed F-bombs.
As an Idaho Wedding Photographer, these are the days I love photographing most, weddings that feel completely like the people getting married.
Kyra and Dave, thank you for letting me be part of such a fun, love-filled day at Sweet Water Hollow.
I showed up as your photographer. I definitely left wishing I could just be one of your friends.