Since there are so many new folks around, I thought I’d take a break from all the photo posting and compose a wordy entry for once. For those of just joining us, I’m Angie, and I’m the primary photographer behind Milestone Images. My husband Joel joins me for larger events. I’ve been shooting weddings for a little over ten years now, and in that time, I’ve shot more than 125 weddings ranging from elopements where I’m the only witness who signs the marriage license to a five-day extravaganza for 500 people in India. However, I do so much more than shoot weddings.

Photography is my career my passion, my volunteer work, my way of giving back to the world around me. I always have my camera with me. It’s never far from my reach. Joel sometimes teases me because I have a very intimate relationship with my gear, but the truth is, I can tell if my flash is firing properly or if I need to replace the batteries by the way it feels while pressed against my forehead during a shoot.

My background is in photojournalism, and that’s what I still do Monday through Friday. I worked for a newspaper full-time for seven years until the newspaper industry went KERPLUNK not long ago. Now, I freelance. In the past year, my work has appeared in Newsday, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and various publications for AOL media. I cover everything from sports to breaking news to car accidents and fires to features and military funerals. When I’m not shooting events and portraits, I’m traveling for personal projects (like my recent trip out west), giving back by volunteering my time and talents (like my trip to Africa in October) or serving as a volunteer photographer for Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. (<---- FAIR WARNING... clicking on those last two links might make you cry, but I really believe in NILMDTS's mission and I'm honored to do infant remembrance photography.)

People ask me all the time if shooting weddings is scary, or if my clients are "a pain in my ass." I am so pleased to be able to answer with a resounding NO! I am so, so lucky. My clients are awesome. I have a lot of kickass, tattooed, gay, awesome people who get married at cool places like the Bronx Zoo. Not gonna lie; I encountered one truly awful Bridezilla in 2004. (:::twiches::) But one bad apple eight years ago is NOTHING compared to the vast majority clients who constantly inspire me to push the envelope creatively, crack me up, and place their trust in me to capture their wedding memories. It’s an amazing thing, to be able to physically capture love between two people, to be able to show them: this is how beautiful you really are. This is the way you look at each other; this is your quirky family having a blast together… AND THEN I get to do it all again next weekend. And then the one after that.

I definitely approach weddings as a photojournalist, with a focus on documenting all the laughter, tears, and tenderness that naturally occur at a wedding with an emphasis on telling the story of your day with as little photographic interference as possible. However, I also LOVE the opportunities for creative freedom that wedding photography allows for. Photojournalism is a very hands-off, don’t interfere style of shooting. With weddings, if I see a gorgeous beam of light, I can ask my clients to go make out while standing in it or near it, (and they’re happy to oblige.)

I also believe that your wedding day is one of the few days in your life when everyone you love gathers in one place AND you spend more time, money and energy on the way you look on your wedding day than any other day in your life. There SHOULD be hundreds of pictures of you lookin’ super-fine! I also know that while wedding photos that feature everyone you love are great, the most important thing is to get through the posed pictures and get everyone back to the celebration that brought you all together in the first place. My goal is to give you the best of both worlds: wedding photographs that reflect your relationship, depict your nearest and dearest in the most flattering way possible, remind you of all the creative details you spent months crafting, and don’t look like the same cookie-cutter pictures everyone else has. Plus, I go to so many weddings, you guys, I’ve totally got your back. I carry stain remover. I know how to bustle. I typically draw the line at helping clients pee while wearing big floofy dresses, but I’ve been known to photograph other people helping out, if those photos crack you up.

Lastly, I’m going to treat you the way I wanted to be treated as a bride, and I’m going to treat your beloved the way I wanted Joel to be treated. I hate when wedding vendors act like the groom is disposable. I believe in fully including, acknowledging, listening to and respecting both partners in the wedding. If you’re a gay couple, I will NEVER ask you, “So, who is the guy/girl?” Er, neither, that’s what makes you a same-sex couple, thanks. I get that. I’m going to email you back promptly, even if it’s just to say, “Hang in there with me; I’m traveling for a wedding this weekend. I’m all yours on Monday; sit tight” and I’ll tell other clients the same thing when your wedding day rolls around.

You can always come to me with questions, ideas and suggestions. My clients and I swap ideas on Pinterest; I follow their wedding planning process on Facebook. They follow my sneak peeks via Twitter, and you can always raise me on Gmail chat if you’re panicking late at night or in the middle of the workday. If you feel comfortable sharing your insecurities about the way you look in pictures, I’ll do whatever I can to de-emphasize everything from acne scars to strabismus. I got an email back in April from one of my clients who thought she looked like a “fat troll” in the pictures from her shower, terrified that she would look “hideous” in her wedding pictures. I don’t do hideous. She’s thrilled with her sneak peek and highlights slideshow, and I couldn’t be happier than she loves the way she looks because she IS beautiful, inside and out. And so are you.

2013 is booking up quickly, so please, shoot me an email at angela.gaul.jackel@gmail.com and tell me all about what you’re envisioning for the big day. I’m running a sale right now- between 10-25% off different packages- everybody wins! And welcome. Feel free to leave a comment or just poke around.

There were so many emotional moments and fun details; I don’t even know where to begin to tell you about them. I’ll just kind of… start, shall I? Fran and Kathy were surrounded by so much love. I hope you can see in the pictures below just how incredibly moving it was.

All of the guests applauded as Fran made her way down the aisle on her brother’s arm. The look on her face as Kathy made her way toward her was full of tenderness. (Everyone applauded again for Kathy, too.) I saw at least half a dozen people wiping away tears when they talked about the beginning of their relationship fifteen years ago, about how for a long time they put other people’s comfort before their own and hid the depth and truth of their love for each other, about how much it meant to them to declare their love for each other in public on their parents’ anniversary.

The receiving line was one of the most emotional I’ve ever seen, with friend after weepy friend lining up to hug the newlyweds. So many devoted couples, some of whom have been together for 25 years, joined them on the dance floor for their first dance, and one of the matriarchs of the gay pride movement, a founder of New York’s Pride parade and veteran of the Stonewall movement, stood up to toast them saying, “This is what I fought for.” (This is when I got weepy.) May 9th, the day President Obama publicly stated his support for same-sex marriage, was a great day for marriage equality, but honestly? So was May 7th.

On a lighter note, Fran and Kathy’s reception was a blast. They attached lottery tickets to the bouquet, so people really wanted to catch it. They gave out a mini-bar to-go for favors, and there was one heck of a congo line. Fran and Kathy, once again, I send my heartfelt congratulations. Enjoy your sneak peek!

Anyway, I was touched by Elsa’s description of her fiancé’s sense of humor. I was even more touched by her description of herself as “proudly disabled,” and I was most touched- after reading about Elsa’s high standards for working with vendors who support who they are as a couple- that they chose me to be a part of their day. I should also say that I was the second photographer there on the big day. A family member documented everything up until cocktail hour, and then I came in so she could enjoy the party!

Let me tell you, their wedding reception was every bit as awesome as Elsa and Jonathan are, with lots of swing dancing, steampunk fashion and accessories (Behold, below, Elsa’s special occasion steampunk cane, which I first saw her use when I photographed Sarah Lawrence College’s graduation last year, although I didn’t realize it was her at the time!). She also had a laser beam on the bottom of her bouquet, bookish Dewey decimal centerpieces, dinosaur details and a Dr. Who-inspired card box ( a TARDIS- so great!)

You combine all of that with their a touching tribute and reminder for AIDS awareness in lieu of favors, a heartfelt message for marriage equality, the best of Jewish wedding customs and their loving community of family and friends (which happens to include some of New York’s most talented burlesque performers, PLUS men in kilts), and you get… well, you get Elsa and Jonathan.

Without further ado, their sneak peek. Hope you’re loving Paris, you guys! It was an honor to be with you on your wedding day.

For my husband Joel, Moab, UT is such a place. He has a tremendous spiritual connection to the Southwest, the exotic geography and dramatic landscapes. Moab is kind of a haven for hippies and European families in rented RVs and mountain bikers in better physical condition than most people can ever hope to be (::: raises hand meekly:::) Joel has been dying to take me there ever since our first date, which lasted into the wee hours of morning and almost made him his flight for his third trip to Moab.

One thing after another kept us from taking a trip to Moab together, until last week. We spent Easter morning shooting sunbeams of light down in Lower Antelope Canyon. These were some seriously incredible sunbeams. We emerged from the canyon peaceful and renewed, as if we’d been to church. These are my favorite pictures from the trip. This is what I do on my days off.

He clearly just loves her so much. You could see it in his smile as she walked down the aisle toward him, in the way he kissed her hand when they were sitting side by side on the altar during the ceremony and when he wiped away her tears during her brother’s toast at the reception. I think perhaps my favorite moment, though, when was Anna Marie rocked out on the drum set right after the first dance. I feel so lucky that I got to be there and represent the SU drumline. It’s one of my favorite photos in this whole post.

I also love, love, love this first one of the newlyweds with the tulips (totally worth laying on the ground among the goose poop to get it) as well as AnnaMarie’s veil blowing in the wind in the black and white shot by the lake. The breeze was whipping her veil around and driving her a little bit nuts, but I’m so glad she let me talk her into keeping in on just a little bit longer for a few pictures. Thank so much for trusting me with your wedding memories you guys! I hope you have a long and happy marriage!