Photography, Ben Wagner Photography | Venue, Maple Leaf Events | Location, Stevenson, WA | Film Processing, Panda Lab Seattle | DJ, Ty Turner | Ceremony Harpist, Leigh Brown
A Military Dress Wedding in the PNW
Autumn and Ryan met at the Air Force Academy and — alongside most of the wedding party — are active duty military. This entitled them to the traditional military dress wedding and the arch of sabers (or sabre arch). I’ll admit to being a little nervous as it was my first time shooting (or attending) a Military Dress wedding. But, it didn’t take long for me to realize I had nothing to worry about, the group was a ton of fun.
When I arrived Autumn and her bridal party were getting ready inside Maple Leaf Event’s bridal suite in the house adjacent to the reception hall. The groomsmen were hanging around in their military dress, chatting and laughing as they waited for the ceremony to begin. Before the group left for the ceremony, Autumn and her bridesmaids were joined by her father for a group prayer, an always emotional moment.
There were no designated flower girls for the wedding, so the duty fell on the groomsmen, who while walking up the aisle surprised the wedding guests with cans of beer hidden in the flower baskets. A hilarious contrast to the classic harp music at the ceremony. This was a raucous group of groomsmen, the usual antics only amplified by the fact they were wearing swords.
The ceremony was loaded with emotion, officiated by the bride’s father. Maple Leaf Events ceremony space is nestled in the woods (after the ceremony a large deer came through), with beautiful mountain ranges framing the space. As the ceremony began it was fairly overcast, early September in the Pacific Northwest. But as the ceremony concluded, beautiful warm rays of light came from behind the mountains, lighting up the event.
When the big moment arrived the couple exited through the Arch of Sabers, with Autumn spontaneously leaping onto Ryan’s back as they exited the venue. After the ceremony the group gathered back at the ceremony space for a handful of family photos and a quick 10 minute portrait session, those mountains making a beautiful backdrop for the couple’s portrait. The light was so great and the setting so perfect I even broke out my Hasselblad 500C for the portrait session, capturing a few photos on 120mm Kodak film.
The reception kicked off with a grand entrance and dinner. The toasts were emotional and hilarious as the Best Man and Maid of Honor recounted their mutual experiences at the Air Force Academy and memories of the couple’s first meeting.
Some weddings you know early that once this group lets loose the party is gonna rock. The jackets (and sabers) came off, silly sunglasses got put on, more beers were passed around, and the group went off. Line dancing, a conga line, leaps into the air, more great dancing photos then I could possible ever share.
Military Dress Wedding and Arch of Sabers — The PhotoFilm
Military Dress Wedding Photography — Select Photos
The gallery below includes a select group of photos from Autumn and Ryan’s wedding day. In the following gallery you will see images in both Color and Black and White, and each couple receives all digital photographs edited in both color and black and white. Any film photography images are delivered depending on the chosen film stock.
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Click any image below to view in fullscreen or slideshow mode.
Digital images photographed on the Fujifilm XT5 and Leica M11. Film photographs taken on the Leica MP and Hasselblad 500C on Ilford HP5 and Kodak Gold 200 film stocks.
