Aaron + Gunnar | Essex Resort + Spa Wedding | Essex, Vermont

by Emily Pogozelski August 21, 2019

Weddings are wonderful. Documenting the joining of two families, with the laughter, tears, joy, and excitement that goes hand-in-hand with any family event is the reason I love my job so much; every celebration feels genuinely unique to me, because the people and their interactions are unique. Once in a while I get to photograph a wedding that takes all of those emotions to the next level, and I wind up going for a ride along with everyone else. Aaron + Gunnar’s wedding, particularly their intimate, honest, and heartfelt ceremony, had my eyes blurring with tears and thanking the camera gods for autofocus. Their love for each other is so palpable that one can’t help but smile when they walk into the room, and I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house when they read the vows they’d written. (Aaron also got everyone laughing when he embellished his declarations of love with some on-the-fly profanity, which makes me think more people should pepper their vows with F-bombs; it was hilariously authentic.)

One of the most telling things about their relationship was how Aaron + Gunnar responded to the less-than-ideal weather. Vermont often gets lucky with sunny weekends; this particular weekend was mostly gorgeous, which allowed family and friends the chance to explore Burlington and enjoy the outdoors before the wedding day. The actual wedding day was supposed to have a “chance of rain”… which turned into an absolute deluge for most of the afternoon and evening, which wound up forcing the ceremony and much of the day indoors. The few moments we had outside were oppressively hot and sticky, but these two took it in stride, overjoyed to be getting married and happily finding the silver lining: the Essex has air conditioning. :-)

I hope you enjoy the images below, just a few of my many favorites! Thank you to everyone for making me feel so welcome, and big hugs all around. –xoxo Em