This renowned wedding photographer recounts one of the scenes that undoubtedly surprised him the most during his career.
Getting married is one of the happiest days of our lives. For parents, it is also an accomplishment: beyond making their child independent and able to manage their adult life, we really see them begin their life as a couple and their family life. And above all, we hope, as parents, to never miss this event. As a child, we cannot imagine experiencing this moment without one of our pillars, whether it is a father or a mother. But unfortunately, life sometimes decides otherwise. This is what happened to a young bride, who could not imagine for a second marrying the man of her life without her father by her side, who died before the ceremony.
In a video published on the Youtube Legend account, journalist Guillaume Pley receives Greg Finck, one of the best wedding photographers in the world who talks about his astonishment during this union like no other. And for good reason: the bride had found a very surprising plan B to fill the absence of her deceased father.
The wedding planner had taken him into his confidence by explaining that the bride had lost her father and that she was not considering walking down the aisle without holding her dad’s arm. But what marked the professional was that the young woman praised “a father”. The latter, “around sixty years old appearing in a suit”, he explains, came across as a caring father in the photos. But that’s not what shocked him the most.
In front of the bride were “a dozen bridesmaids who were little girls of 6-7 years old, were all really beautiful” the photographer wondered. It turns out they were from the Moscow Opera. “We took ballerinas, and they are the children of honor“, he adds, regretting that it is a “show” for certain couples who sometimes invite business relations more than their own family to their wedding. That said, only his mother (and his father) counted in the eyes of this bereaved bride.
That day, the photographer immortalized much more than a ceremony: he captured a heartbreaking choice, between pain and resilience. While some will see it as a bit of a slick staging, others will especially remember the strength of a woman determined to honor the memory of her father in her own way. In the emotion as in the staging, this wedding will remain engraved — for the guests as well as for those who discover it today.