By Monique
Former Disney Channel star and So You Think You Can Dance contestant Mollee Gray married choreographer Jeka Jane in South Lake Tahoe last Saturday at The Landing. Over the last two days, this wedding has been covered by almost every major online celebrity outlet using several of our images with their stories. But while the instant exposure is a nice bonus, the most important thing about photographing this wedding for me was to tell the real life story of these two brides on their wedding day. They were absolutely the sweetest people, and their families and friends were also great to work with, surrounding the couple with their love, support, laughter and a few tears too. I started the day with Mollee and her 8 bridesmaids and two flower girls at a cabin near Meyers. And since Jeka and her bridesmen were getting ready in the Tahoe Keys, I had my husband Scott hang out with her for their getting ready part of the day. The ceremony and cocktail hour were held at The Landing’s roof top terrace, and the reception was in their tent where there was dinner and dancing. The Pumpkin Spice wedding cake with cream cheese filling (yum!) was made by Flour Girl Wedding Cakes.
Having a background in the photojournalism field, I love the candid, documentary style of wedding photography and really try to focus on telling the story of the day as it unfolds. My absolute favorite moment from this wedding is when Jeka sees Mollee coming down the aisle for the first time. When I was getting ready to upload the images for People Magazine‘s online exclusive coverage, I showed Scott the image and told him, “I don’t think they will use it because it is a candid, I think they mostly want the beautiful portraits and details.” Scott convinced me to send it and a few other candid moments as well. Well, they did use it, and it has been reshared / used over and over again! Another favorite part of the evening was when Jeka suprised Mollee with a dance to “Why I Love You” by Major. When I was with them on the beach at sunset for their portrait session, I asked them, ” So, do you have a choreographed first dance?” And, not knowing about the dance that Jeka had planned, Jeka’s eyes got so wide, like, “oh no, don’t ruin the suprise.” But I had no idea!
And, on a side note, since I have seen how fast the original images made it around the internet, please ask before using these additional images in any format, even if it is only online. Sure, share this link to your heart’s content, but please dont grab these images without asking, or without giving us small time artists the credit and compensation we deserve for the work we create.
