Lulu & Jochem.........Licensed to (be) Ill! Aka....You think it's funny but it's snot!
One of the many perks of photographing weddings in New Orleans, at least in my humble opinion, is how small such a huge city can be. I'll be the first person to admit that it's quite the paradox living in a place where a little bit of fun is considered a half measure. Go big or go bigger. Which is why it should be pointed out to all you wild animals (certainly must throw myself in that category) who are out getting shredded and making epically ridiculous life decisions (But seriously, Kudos to those of you who are!) I guarantee you that someone, whom you won't remember bore witness to your Tom Foolery and you will cross paths with them again. And yes, it will be as awkward as advertised!
With that being said none of my malicious deeds were witnessed by anyone at this brilliant ceremony of Lulu and Jochem, nor did any rambunctious or dastardly deeds tarnish the starry eyes of one of my raddest Bride's ever. No ladies and gentleman, sadly the connection in question revolved around a particular feline friend of Lulu and myself. When our lines of communication opened up Lulu informed me that she just recently moved to Amsterdam with Jochem, however her previous residency was literally around the block from my house. Apparently we'd lived next to each other yet at just so slight of a bend of the corner that we went several years without crossing paths. Once we started to pick each others brain Lulu recalled the times she took it upon herself to feed and care for some of the less than crazy, scratchy hobo neighborhood stray cats. We apparently had a soft spot for one cat in particular, whom is now called Pete, whom is also a female,( I never checked in the early days when we first met and I named him. I respected his privacy!) and whom had also been taking full advantage of the kindness of Lulu and myself. It was increasingly obvious considering he(she) is the fattest goddamn stray cat I've ever laid my eyes on. Also not too shabby of a companion to chill with.
I know the three of you that actually sit down and read this are saying to yourself, "Here we are skimming through a blog post which I rightfully deducted was about a nice couples wedding and here we are reading about the ills of too much partying in NOLA, A He/She overweight cat and the meekest of connections between a photographer and his beautiful client/bride whom also partakes in the feline obesity issue." Fear not loyal readers, there was indeed one of the grandest weddings that I have ever been privileged to witness. Not only was I referred to Lulu and Jochem by the dearest sweetest soul - Wedding Coordinator around, Miss Erin St. Pierre of It's Your Time Events, the list of vendors not only included a dear friend whom I hadn't seen in quite some time, on hair, the brilliantly painted inside the lines stylings of Miss Agnes Backman, co-owner of Folklore Salon. Then the final fantastic slap of enlightenment came from arguably (I wouldn't argue) one of the best in the business regarding the greatest gift you can give to anyone that is guaranteed to die shortly after receiving but within that time you can stick your nose in them and sniff yourself crosseyed, was the real Atomic Blonde, Miss Kim Starr Wise. Rocking the beautiful flower arrangements as expected. The bride and groom held their ceremony at the absolutely creepy, cool one of a kind Felicity Church. If you haven't seen Felicity Church inside or out trust me when I say it is nothing short of unique. It was such a fantastic venue to photograph. To cap off the festivities of pussycats, old friends and the blossoming new marriage of Lulu & Jochem the crew cracked open a bottle of Jack Daniels, which was purchased by the brides father when she was born and he finally opened it up and began pouring everyone a celebratory shot of one hell of an aged Gentleman Jack's premium whiskey. Although the look on Lulu's face would suggest she was drinking goblin piss the majority of the guests thought it was fantastic.
Despite being unfavorably ill for her entire wedding as well as the day before and the day after, Lulu held serve and managed to convince her party people all was well and that this was their day to celebrate. I know she probably will give me crap for mentioning how sick she was but as you read in my blog title a snippet regarding snot, lets just say we made sure to have kleenex on hand for the emotional drips as well for the nasal ones. Once the day was done and I retired to my home I made sure to sit down with our old friend Pete to discuss with him/her how the day went. Naturally as you could expect, he looked at me and demanded he be petted and had no damn idea what the hell I was rambling on about. I mean really people. He's a cat. Did you think he was gonna get drunk and make a fool of himself? Geez!
Cheers,
Titus
Contributing Vendors : It's Your Time Events -- Erin St. Pierre
Folklore Salon -- Agnes Backman
Kim Starr Wise Floral Events -- Kim Starr Wise