I find it necessary to first warn you that there is a long story here, however, I also find it necessary to inform you that this story is akin to a train wreck... you can’t help but watch.

Way back in about late April we met Troy and Melissa for coffee to talk about the details of their upcoming wedding in Mexico. We were all full of grand ideas and thrilled at the thought of strolling barefoot down the beach, we talked about the details, we talked about the photos and we talked about life. We talked for hours. It was so awesome to just sit and talk, share stories and share life. This is what we love most about what we do, we love getting to know people, really getting a glimpse into who they are. For sure, this was going to be an amazing wedding but there were some changes ahead.

You see, at the time we had no idea what was going on behind the scenes for Troy and Melissa. Planning their wedding was an ongoing trial and source of incredible frustration. The details of the struggle are almost endless. Shortly after our talk in the coffee shop we got an email from Melissa letting us know that a wedding in Mexico was threatened by the outbreak of the Swine Flu. Well, it wasn’t long and Troy and Melissa’s Mexico wedding was no more. They had to make other arrangements. So, they, along with thousands of others rushed to make changes in their flights and accommodations. Soon, their only option was a Las Vegas wedding, a whole other experience. So, we all packed for Vegas, woke up at 4 am and headed to the airport.

We were happy to go through a tiny lineup at the airline, got our tickets and strolled into customs. As we stood in line we went over our declaration form. Christy and I debated over if we had answered everything clearly. Well, we were soon up to bat and as we approached the cold-face customs officer everything went down hill fast. Before she could ask her first question her supervisor thundered up to her station. He was a dominating presence, a towering and intimidating man with a grouch cloud over his head and a tricycle up his colon. He belted out orders, shouted disappointments and frustrations, made demandments. Soon, the grouch cloud, along with the tricycle, were duplicated and installed in our customs officer... lucky us. I went from smooth operator to dander all the way up. The more I thought about how rude and ignorant this group of government officials were the more rebellious I got. Soon, I was totally lost, a nervous wreck, short tempered and looking all too conspicuous. My indecisive answers and sassiness got us thrown into the “suspect room”.

They made us drop everything outside the door and led us into a waiting room with thick bullet proof glass and locked the door behind us. No one let us know what was going on. No one in the room talked except the overweight officers coming and going to get refills on coffee and remind us of the freedom they’d stolen. We were stuck for hours. We missed our flight. They didn’t care. Christy and I were separated, questioned and they made me go through our luggage and show them all of our gear. Mr. American Customs Officer leaned against the counter, made sure his shirt covered his abdominal advantage, and took a long sip of his 43rd cup of coffee. He glanced at me over the rim, “Well, there is no way you’re getting on that plane, you’re going to be...” He jerked his head away from his obese travel mug and smiled widely at a co-worker, “Yeah, workin’ hard? Naw, hardly workin’! BAAHAHAA!” He took another sip, the coffee slid down and fell off his lip, filtered through his feeble beard and joined the other stains on his uniform. I was irritated.

This was all before breakfast. We spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how to get to Las Vegas so we didn’t have to tell Melissa more bad news. We were able to send our gear UPS and waited all day in the airport until the next flight that afternoon. With all our gear in a suitcase en route ahead of us, new tickets in hand and a new strategy we got back into the customs line. This time we made sure we filled out the declaration form clearly and appropriately. We managed to get a customs officer who was human. Actually, she had been very sympathetic to us through our interrogation and didn’t have any good words for her grouch cloud supervisor. She apologized to us over and over and we were on our way. As we boarded the plane we wondered if we would have any troubles getting our gear... “Naaaaw”, I said. After all, we paid UPS to have our gear shipped to our hotel over night. It was guaranteed.

Our gear never arrived until the day we left Vegas. We spent our first two days in the business office of the hotel trying to figure out why our gear was being held. Standard procedure apparently and there was no way that our gear could have been delivered overnight to Vegas. We were lied to and ripped off. We rented some gear in Vegas, gear that we had never used before and only one camera for two photographers. Things were looking bleak. We settled it in our minds to photograph the wedding tag team. We waited in the lobby for our rental gear to be delivered. We sat on the floor and leaned against a pillar. Nowhere in Vegas is there a lobby that has couches, nowhere in a Vegas hotel is there any hospitality. We waited and waited. I got a few calls from the guy delivering the gear, he was desperately trying to get it all rounded up and out to our hotel and well, his car broke down. He arrived late.

Christy and I had to separate, me with the guy’s getting ready and Christy with the girls, in different hotels. We had to communicate in order to share the camera so we used our cell phones as walkie talkies and obviously racked up a monstrous phone bill. There was running, limos, cabs, a few different hotels, and a lot of phone calls. One phone call, in particular, was terrible. I was sitting with the guys at Caesar’s Palace and got a call from Christy. Apparently, when Melissa went to put the dress on she discovered that something was terribly wrong. The dress was damaged. The stellar staff at Caesar’s Palace burnt a hole in it when they were pressing it and then tried to cover the hole by folding the fabric over and sewing it down. Melissa was horrified, to say the least but she was so accustomed to disappointment at this point that she just let it go.

Eventually we all made it outside to the garden area by the pool, the minister was primed and his lines were memorized and the ceremony was under way. It was the fastest ceremony we’ve ever been to. I was literally leaping back and forth trying to get shots as moments dashed passed me. At first, I tried to respect the camera guy and his shot but soon I was running right in front of him over and over, back and forth. I think I was in the video more than anyone else... sorry Melissa, sorry Troy, sorry camera guy. But things were finally happening for Troy and Melissa, they were finally married and the party was finally under way. Troy and Melissa are incredible people. They had every right to totally lose it and blow stuff up but they kept a great perspective, they focused on each other. All this horrible crap couldn’t have happened to a more wonderful and loving couple.

After dashing around the hotel snapping shots of the new couple we sprinted for the reception. Unfortunately, the reception was in a restaurant in another hotel. It was a long haul and when we finally arrived everybody was beat. But once the food and drinks arrived the energy was back. It was awesome, we got to sit with Troy’s family and, man, did we laugh. We had such a great time, felt like we were part of the family.

The next day, before we went off to the airport, when we finally had our own gear back, we went out with Troy and Melissa and took more photos of them around Vegas. We didn’t have much time but it was a lot of fun scampering through hotels, running from the security guys. Stopping at In and Out Burger was awesome, it was a highlight. You know the trip was rough when stopping at a fast food joint was a highlight. Even with all the disappointments and struggles it was a wedding we are proud to have been part of. We’re proud of it because of the kind of people Troy and Melissa are, the kind of friends they have become.

And this sums up how Troy and Melissa really feel about how things went for them.


In this shot you can see the damage to the dress. Sorry, Melissa, but it just has to be seen.

Tags: Lethbridge Wedding Photographers, Southern Alberta Wedding Photographers