Hi, I’m Courtney. For eight years I spent my weekends as a second shooter at weddings in Charleston. My boss had one rule: the real photo happens about 30 seconds after the posed one. I still believe it.
What I write about
Where my stories come from
At every wedding there was one couple married for decades who stayed for the last slow dance and asked for a photo “like our first one.”
My own grandparents have recreated their wedding photo on the same church steps every ten years since 1966. The steps have been repainted and the church has a ramp now, but the pose hasn’t changed.
How I write
Small gestures over big words. No fairy tales and no cynicism.
Off the clock
I’m from Savannah, Georgia, and live in Charleston with my husband, Sam, and our son. Sam and I met carrying a friend’s couch up to a third floor. He told me to lift with my legs and then did the opposite. We’ve promised to retake that photo in 25 years.
How we check our stories: Editorial Standards and Ethics.
At every wedding I’ve photographed, one couple married for decades stayed for the last slow song. They always asked for one photo “like our first one,” and they always remembered the pose better than the year. These 10 couples took their photos decades apart, from a honeymoon picture recreated 40 years later to a wedding anniversary 55 years after the wedding day.
At every wedding I shot, the couples married 40 or 50 years wrote the shortest notes in the advice book. The best one I ever photographed had two words in shaky blue ink: “Same team.” These 11 Hollywood couples have been together for decades, from a $179 Las Vegas wedding to a blind date that started with a comment about a haircut.
