
Peter and I photographed a wedding last weekend in Oklahoma City and I left reminded of another life lesson as I always seem to do at each celebration we're a part of.
While the bride, Cassandra, was getting ready, I was photographing her shoes, dress, and other accessories as I normally do on wedding days. While I was sorting through her belongings, I found a small green box, big enough to fit a ring or a very tiny pair of earrings. Inside the vintage jewlery box were the diamond studs from the photo above—perhaps the earrings she had purchased to wear for the day, I assumed. When I attempted to lift them out to photograph them, I discovered three rings and a monogramed pin with the initials EFJ also inside the box.
I proceeded to ask Cassandra if the belongings were hers or someone elses in the room, and she informed that they were her grandmother's, who had passed, and that she would be wearing the pieces in memory of her.
Weddings can easily be filed into the cliche category. We all know the saying "something old, something new, something borrowed, something . . ." you know how it goes, ladies. The jewelry in the photo above was Cassandra's "something old." To an outsider, the rings, earrings and pin were a few possessions that fit into a category of that age old English rhyme. To Cassandra and her family, they were one of the most special parts of a monumental day in each of their lives.
Everything any of us has ever owned is simply an object—without our lives, our loved ones and our stories they would all be meaningless pieces of well . . . nothing. Her grandmother's ring isn't the only thing Cassandra walked down the aisle with that day—she held on tightly to the memories and unconditional love of her grandmother, and celebrated one of the most joyful days of her life with her grandmother in mind and close to her heart.