Fall Wedding In Letchworth State Park
Letchworth State Park in the fall is always packed with park guests enjoying the fall colors. This year was no different even with the pandemic. Visitors were enjoying nature and the love of the outdoors more than years before, so to keep everyone safe the state mandated a capacity limit on the park. This provided a new challenge for me, I needed to get inside the park before they close.
Sabina and Matt’s wedding was scheduled for 2pm, my plan was to arrive by noon. As I turned onto the road to the south entrance, the line of cars was already 1/2 mile long. Slight panic sets in, but we were prepared for this. Sabina and I planned on texting each other to make sure we were able to enter the park. We let each other know our progress during the wait. The only thing that was keeping me calm was the serenity of the farm fields.
I was about 4 cars away from the entrance, when they closed it due to reaching max capacity. I check to make sure my wedding contract was still sitting on my passenger seat, ready to show the gatekeeper as my ticket to get in.
As I approached the turnaround before the gate, I rolled down my window and let the gatekeeper in the neon orange vest know that I was there to photograph a wedding. Luckily Sabina and Matt made reservations for the middle falls so everything was good to go. As I drove into the park I breathed out a sigh of relief, and my heart rate dropped back to normal.
Driving through the park was different, the side of the roads were free of parked cars that would normally be full. Barricades were in place to direct traffic, and social distancing in full effect made finding a parking spot easy. I was able to locate Sabina and Matt easily with the lack of crowds.
We located a spot for their first look, a nice open space that allowed me to maneuver around them. I love first looks, the simplicity, the intimateness. It’s really the only part of the day that the couple has time to be alone with each other until the end of the night. A quick embrace, a kiss and a private conversation, just the two of them to get centered and calm before the ceremony begins. As a photographer, it allows me to capture an intimate moment that would be extremely difficult to do when surrounded by a wedding party and congregation.
We proceeded down to the Middle Falls for the ceremony. Sabina was worried about the people not moving for the ceremony. I told her no worries, everyone gets out of the way when they see a gorgeous couple heading their way. Also with the help of using my outdoor voice to gain their attention over the sound of the falls.
The ceremony was short and beautiful. The sun played hide and seek behind the clouds, and I played gently with the bees buzzing around the late blooming native flowers surrounding the ceremony site. The groups of park visitors lined up on the path offered their applause after the final kiss and congratulations as they walked by. Such a perfect day in the middle of a chaotic time.
