Staggs Wedding - The Edgewater House, Olalla, Wa
Music licensed from -
The Music Bed - themusicbed.com
"Reid was very easy to work with, very responsive to all of my questions, happy to help on the day of, and overall provided my husband and I with remarkable service and created a beautiful product. We are so happy that we decided to hire Reid, and I would recommend his services to anyone looking for an even videographer."
What a one of a kind wedding! Talk about one of THE most majestic wedding venues I have ever experienced. The Edgewater house is a beautiful home with sweeping lawns and a wooden altar located right on the edge of the Puget Sound. It certainly was no easy feat to get there, an hour + drive through Tacoma, across the Narrows Bridge by Gig Harbor and Olalla and down a winding dirt road right to the water's edge, but once you get there it is certainly worth the trip! I know of no where else where a couple can say "I DO" literally feet from the water without having to drag your entire wedding party down a sandy beach somewhere. The tide comes in and narrowly misses touching the altar, making it appear as though the couple is literally standing on the ocean.
The couple was one of a handful I hadn't met prior to their wedding date. All correspondence was handled via email so I really didn't know what to expect when I arrived on site. Figuring out who the bride was by the large pin she had on her sweatshirt, I was immediately greeted with a hug and a "welcome!" I got a brief rundown of the couple and their history, both were in the military, both traveled around a lot and most importantly, both were very much in love. We joked around quite and bit, (I even included a small portion of our banter in the wedding video when we were trying to decide which leg the garter belt should be worn on) and both her and her husband made me feel entirely welcomed and at home.
The big question of the day was the weather. The day before (if I remember correctly had rained and stormed), and it appeared as though that day would be no different. I drove though down-pouring rain and fallen tree branches on my journey to the venue and was very scared that the wedding ceremony would not take place as originally planned (on the beautiful lawn outside). The venue I found had no alternative plan or location for the ceremony, so both the photographer and myself were quite relieved to have the rain hold off from about 5 min before the "first-look" until 5 min after we completed post ceremony pictures.
Probably one of the best memories for me from the Staggs wedding was the amount of fun and joy the entire wedding party had during the dancing portion of the reception. Including everything from having people dance to "Watch me whip" to the groom attaching the garter belt to a shoe so he could "hike" it like a quarterback while the DJ played the NFL theme song, it literally had it all. It's a wonderful time as a videographer to see everyone finally have the ability to cut back and relax. Getting married is obviously a stressful process, and I have to imagine being able to watch your newly married husband dance and embarrass himself dancing along to "Whip it" has to be a marvelous way to relieve stress. If nothing else, it's a great thing to include in the wedding video! lol
Photography - Meredith McKee
Venue - Edgewater House