Sabrina and Moira are a real-life queer Chilean-American couple living in Los Angeles, CA. They met through mutual friends in Portland, OR in 2005. Moira attempted to get Sabrina’s attention several times, but it wasn’t until 5 years later, when the 2010 earthquake hit central Chile that they made a real connection, bonding over their concern for family in the region during the natural disaster. In Moira’s words, “It took an 8.8 earthquake in Chile to get her to notice me!” They fell in love and have been together ever since. This past New Year's Eve, they spontaneously eloped in Hawaii.

Out of the Box is a choose-your-own-adventure styled shoot challenge that we conducted last spring, and there is one last photo shoot that we have yet to uncover. Justine Bursoni and Team Tabula Rasa, or "Blank Slate," created a gorgeous shoot with a little magic and a whole lot of beauty, and it reminds us that a wedding a way of wiping the slate clean as two people start their life together. 

The original idea behind team Jax Kicks Ass' shoot was a Peter Pan theme: a combination of whimsy, magical and urban. After a couple of last minute set backs and the unpredictable rainy weather on the shoot day, the team was forced to revamp and improvise with the tools each vendor was left with at their disposal. Fortunately, the clouds seemed to lend themselves to the candlelit, romantic warmth created inside this urban warehouse, which wound up creating the magical vibe the team intended for in the first place.

Our aim was to create a styled shoot that focused more on emotion and the narrative experience of planning a marriage than simply the glitz and staged still life that is the norm for styled shoots. We partnered with a real life couple to tell the story of what happens when a couple becomes engaged, endures the stress of early planning, and then decides to be true to themselves and elope. We wanted to create inspirational images unlike those we'd seen before, such as a woman proposing to her male partner, and the honesty of the "fuck it, let's elope" scene. In sum, we hope that our imagery pleases in not only an aesthetic way that shows off awesome details such as the Ash & Light sequined dress, but that it also hits an emotional chord and rings true about the underlying experience and significance of the wedding planning process.

My experience with OOTB actually turned into a personal affirmation of what moves me to make photographs of couples. Real love. It's so simple sometimes that I do occasionally question myself! But seriously — two people in love are an overlooked marvel. There is so much pressure in this industry to present weddings as this elaborate tableau vivant — immaculate people having immaculate parties. Gorgeous? Yes. My cup of tea? Nope. Give me flower confetti and a side ache from laughing too hard any day.

The contents of the box were perfect for our Peacock Inspired Vow Renewal. The concept of “Moving Forward” fit perfectly with our couple for the shoot. Since our couples have been married for a year we wanted to incorporate the idea of a vow renewal ceremony for them. People often say the first year of marriage can be touch so why not celebrate a year of love and growth with a vow renewal, but also looking forward to what ahead.

Last month, we hosted our first-ever Out of the Box Challenge, a styled shoot challenge similar to the cooking show Chopped. We had nine teams from across the country compete, and we sent them boxes of mystery items including dresses from Ash and Light, Celia Grace, and Urban Set Bride along with accessories from Kerry Ann Stokes and Wood Thumb. Our first and second place winners will be featured in Volume Three of Catalyst Wedding Magazine and all the other teams will be featured here over the next three weeks! We are extremely proud of all the teams and their hard work (and beautiful photos)!