When we had a wedding at the Arizona Grand Resort in Phoenix, AZ during a pandemic in 2020, I honestly couldn’t believe it. I was so thankful and grateful to have it though when many wedding photographers lost all their events.

Tyler & Amanda compliment each other so well. He is a southern boy from Georgia and was stationed here at Luke Air Force Base and met Amanda, a teacher here in Arizona.

When you have the two together, they are a personality. Tyler has that southern charm, he is very like-able. Amanda doesn’t love the spotlight a lot so having a small wedding during the COVID pandemic ended up being just perfect for her.

I’m not sure the big day was originally supposed to be so small. Joceline and I didn’t know what to expect. This was our first wedding photographing together during a pandemic. I had photographed a smaller backyard wedding besides this one during 2020. When we showed up, we learned there wasn’t a rehearsal. And there was only one groom and two bridesmaids. We were even more surprised that there were probably less than 15 people attending the actual ceremony. We were living in a different time that really, not many wedding photographers have seen I am sure.

I was just grateful we had a wedding to go to. During this time, I couldn’t help but think that if I were solely a wedding photographer or event photographer, I would be out of a job for who knows how long.

The day felt intimate. More special. I could see smaller weddings and the significance of them becoming more popular. I think that could be a good thing. A wedding feeling intimate, hopefully this was just what Amanda wanted.