Every photographer remembers their first wedding.
Mine was June 6, 2026.
If I could go back and choose my first wedding all over again, I’d choose Rishika and Jethro every single time.
The First Couple to Believe in Fern Vera
I didn’t have a wedding gallery to send them. I didn’t have years of experience or dozens of weddings under my belt. I just had myself, my camera, and a promise that I would pour everything I had into preserving their day.
Their only request was simple:
“Capture the day exactly as it unfolds.”
But This Story Didn’t Start on Their Wedding Day
It started a few months earlier at the Minnesota State Fair.
We spent the evening wandering through the fairgrounds for their engagement session. We shared fried pickles, rode the Ferris wheel together, laughed more than we took photos, and somehow managed to turn what should have been a two-hour session into a five-hour one.
By the time June rolled around, walking into their wedding didn’t feel like showing up to photograph strangers anymore.
It felt like I was showing up for two people I genuinely cared about.
A Home That Made Room for Me
The morning of the wedding, I had butterflies in my stomach.
The excitement was overwhelming, but so were the nerves. I kept checking that I’d packed everything, charged every battery, and somehow hadn’t forgotten how to use my camera overnight.
It was my very first wedding, and I wanted so badly to do right by the two people who had trusted me with one of the biggest days of their lives.
Then I walked through their front door.
Instantly, everything shifted.
There was a cat stretched out on the front porch soaking up the morning sun, a giant box of bagels on the counter, people wandering from room to room helping each other get ready, and colorful paper chains hanging from the ceiling. Every corner of their home felt unmistakably them, creative, colorful, and full of love.
There wasn’t any frantic energy. No one was rushing from one thing to the next.
Instead, everyone was laughing, chatting, and simply enjoying being together.
Without even realizing it, my nerves started to disappear.
I wasn’t walking into a high-pressure wedding day anymore.
I was walking into a home full of people who loved each other, and somehow they made me feel like I belonged there, too.
For My Very First Wedding, I Couldn’t Have Asked for Better Clients
Because I’d spent so much time with Rishika and Jethro beforehand, I never felt like I was walking into the day as a stranger. Instead, I got to settle into the moments. I talked with their families, laughed with their friends, and got to know the incredible vendors who helped bring their vision to life.
What made it even more special was how they approached their wedding day. They weren’t interested in spending hours posing for the camera. They wanted to be present. They wanted to celebrate with the people they loved most, and they trusted me to document it all as it naturally unfolded.
Their laid-back spirit allowed me to focus on what I love most: quietly observing, anticipating the moments that matter, and preserving their story as it happened.
The Anticipation Before the Celebration
While Rishika was at home getting ready with her mom and friends, I spent the morning with Jethro and his groomsmen at the Solar Arts Building. The energy was relaxed and full of anticipation as they played cards, laughed together, and soaked in those last quiet moments before everything began.
About an hour later, Rishika arrived at the venue, where she shared a first look with her friends. Watching their faces light up when they saw her was such a sweet reminder that wedding days are filled with so many meaningful moments, not just the ones between the couple.
The First Look I’ll Never Forget
Rishika walked up behind Jethro and wrapped her arms around him before he even turned around. She was already crying.
When she finally tapped his shoulder, he turned around laughing through tears, and she completely lost it.
I remember standing there with my camera, watching the two of them share a quiet moment that belonged only to them.
It wasn’t dramatic or perfectly posed.
It was real.
Relief.
Excitement.
Two people realizing that after months of planning, they were finally standing in the moment they’d been waiting for.
Once the tears, laughter, and excitement of their first look had settled, Rishika held out her hands so Jethro could search through her henna for his hidden initials.
Watching him search for them was such a sweet little moment between the two of them. It probably only lasted a minute, but I loved that they took the time to pause and enjoy something that was just for them.
The Most Rishika and Jethro Moment of the Day
When the ceremony began, Rishika stepped through the curtain and saw everyone waiting for her. The emotions hit all at once. She started crying before she’d even made it down the aisle.
Then, somehow, through all the tears, she looked around at the people she loved, started laughing, and said,
“Oh, shit.”
The entire room burst into laughter.
Everyone was laughing, including her.
And that was one of my favorite things about their day. Nothing felt rehearsed or perfectly polished. They didn’t try to hold back their emotions or make the moment anything other than exactly what it was.
They let themselves laugh through the tears, be fully present, and embrace every moment exactly as it unfolded.
Fifteen Minutes That Belonged Only to Them
After the ceremony, while everyone else headed to cocktail hour, Rishika and Jethro snuck away for about fifteen minutes.
No guests.
No cameras.
Just the two of them sharing snacks and letting it sink in that they were finally married.
I loved that they chose to do that. Wedding days fly by, and those few quiet minutes gave them the chance to breathe, take everything in, and realize that after months of planning, dreaming, and waiting, this was it. They were finally married.
A Reception That Felt Like Them
The reception felt like a perfect reflection of Rishika and Jethro.
Everywhere I looked, there was another thoughtful detail. Bright colors, Jethro’s blue suit, tambourines, funky sunglasses, and the stained glass-inspired panels they created themselves filled the room with color and joy.
After seeing their home that morning, the reception felt like a natural extension of it. It had the same warmth, creativity, and playful spirit.
Over dinner, family and friends shared heartfelt stories, laughter echoed through the room, and everyone celebrated the two of them. The Best Dressed Contest brought even more energy to the evening, with guests fully embracing the funky cocktail theme in colorful outfits and bold accessories.
And once the music started, the celebration only got better.
The Feeling I’ll Chase Forever
Once the dance floor opened, it never really emptied again.
I spent the rest of the night running around with my flash in hand, trying to keep up with everything happening around me. Some of my favorite images from the entire gallery came from those moments when everyone completely let go and celebrated without holding back.
But what I remember most wasn’t just taking photos.
It was talking with their friends and family, laughing with the vendors, and somehow finding myself dancing alongside everyone on the dance floor. Watching it all unfold filled me with an incredible rush of happiness.
For a moment, I wasn’t just documenting the celebration.
I was part of it.
And somewhere in the middle of that dance floor, surrounded by people celebrating the start of Rishika and Jethro’s next chapter, I realized this was exactly where I was meant to be.
What the Camera Couldn’t Capture
When I think back on this wedding, the photos aren’t the first thing that come to mind.
I think about the people.
I think about how every guest welcomed me into conversations as though I’d been there all along.
I think about Rishika and Jethro checking in throughout the day to make sure I’d eaten dinner and taken a moment to breathe.
I think about how the vendor team felt less like people I was working alongside and more like friends by the end of the night.
And I think about the groomsman who walked me all the way to my car after the reception so I wouldn’t have to carry thousands of dollars worth of camera gear down a dark alley alone.
That small act of kindness perfectly captured the spirit of the entire day.
Everyone was looking out for one another.
That’s something no photograph could ever fully capture.
Falling in Love with Photographing Weddings
Somewhere between the tears, the laughter, the dancing, and all the little moments in between, I realized something.
I had fallen completely in love with photographing weddings.
I left that night feeling something I can only describe as pure happiness. It was an overwhelming sense of gratitude that I’d been trusted with such an important day and welcomed so fully into Rishika and Jethro’s world.
Even now, thinking back on it brings tears to my eyes.
Looking back, I don’t just remember it as the first wedding I ever photographed.
I remember it as the day I realized exactly what I wanted Fern Vera Photography to be.
Not just a business that creates beautiful photographs.
But one built on real relationships, genuine trust, and preserving wedding days exactly as they unfold.
Because the best wedding stories aren’t remembered for how they looked.
They’re remembered for how they felt.
Rishika and Jethro,
Thank you for believing in me before I had a wedding portfolio to show you.
Thank you for trusting me with one of the biggest days of your lives.
Your wedding will always mean more to me than you’ll probably ever know.
It wasn’t just the beginning of your marriage.
In so many ways, it was the beginning of Fern Vera Photography, too.
Vendors
Photographer
Fern Vera Photography
Venue
Solar Arts Building
Planner
Belle Haven Events
Dueling Pianos and DJ
Felix and Fingers
Hair
Jarae Ehr
