wedding etiquette gone wrong

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Ever had your perfect wedding day ruined by Mother Nature? 

This week’s story submission had it all: a forecast for a sunny, dreamy outdoor ceremony, completely upended by flash flooding, thunder, and lightning while the bride and her bridesmaids were still at the salon. From soggy dresses to late groomsmen, a misnamed officiant, and a brother-in-law signing the marriage license incorrectly, total chaos. Yet the bride’s attitude remained unshakable.

Mackenna and Christa dive into surviving unpredictable weather with backup plans, navigating multi-wedding venues and unexpected guest drama, and why little disasters, muddy dresses, eaten dinners, and wild relatives, don’t have to ruin the day.

They also explore jaw-dropping DIY wedding confessions, from postpartum moms breaking their bodies for receptions that flopped to well-meaning family members being treated like unpaid staff. By the end, the storm passed, the photos were stunning, and the memories? Truly unforgettable.

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Episode Chapter Markers

00:00 Introduction

02:29 Mackenna’s Background and Photography Journey

02:59 College Experience and Career Decisions

05:40 Starting a Photography Business

07:59 Community and Networking in Photography

11:05 Wedding Stories and Industry Insights

15:22 Challenges and Memorable Moments

20:40 Importance of Candid Moments and Storytelling

28:25 Building Client Relationships and Timelines

32:07 Vendor Challenges and Wedding Planning

33:28 Elopements and Family Dynamics

34:01 Destination Weddings and Locations

34:53 Personal Wedding Preferences

37:03 Weather Woes on the Wedding Day

40:57 Unexpected Wedding Day Drama

50:36 Wedding Day Reflections and Advice

54:08 DIY Weddings and Confessions

Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments

• Wedding Weather Chaos – A bride’s perfect sunny forecast turned into torrential rain, flash floods, and even a near tornado, proving that Mother Nature always keeps weddings interesting.
• Timing Troubles – Despite major delays getting to the venue and groomsmen running late, the ceremony only started five minutes behind schedule, showing quick thinking and adaptability saves the day.
• Vendor and Guest Mishaps – From officiants mixing up names to siblings eating the bride’s dinner, unexpected hiccups kept everyone on their toes—but didn’t ruin the celebration.
• DIY Wedding Insights – Mackenna and Christa discuss the joys and stress of DIY weddings, emphasizing knowing your limits, enjoying the process, and having supportive friends and family.
• Postpartum Supermom Moment – One bride cooked all the food just 19 days after a C-section, only to have guests not show up—a testament to dedication (and the chaos that can come with DIY weddings).
• Respecting Helpers – Stories of friends and family being treated like staff instead of loved ones highlighted the importance of gratitude and kindness at weddings.
• Memorable Family Styles – From hideous DIY dresses to motorcycle-riding grandparents arriving in leather and denim, the hosts celebrate letting family members own their style and quirks for authentic memories.
• Photography Perspective – Mackenna shares how professional photographers navigate wedding chaos, from unexpected weather to ensuring the couple gets the photos they deserve.

Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode

• “There’s DIY for fun… and then there’s DIY for emotional damage.”  – Christa Innis
• “Who is asking a postpartum mom to cook a whole wedding meal? Be serious.” – Christa Innis
• “The minute you treat people like staff instead of family, I’m side-eyeing you.” – Christa Innis
• “If it doesn’t bring you joy, it’s not a cute craft — it’s a stressor.” – Christa Innis
• “That’s not just a wedding drama… that’s a boundary violation.” – Christa Innis
• “Nineteen days postpartum and cooking? I could barely imagine standing.” – Mackenna
• “If someone’s helping, you don’t get to boss them around.” – Mackenna
• “That would make me mad as the bride AND as the friend.” – Mackenna
• “You have to know your relationship before calling out that dress.” – Mackenna
• “Some people just have their own style… even if it hurts a little to look at.” – Mackenna

*This conversation is for entertainment and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. Please seek a licensed professional for your specific situation.

About Mackenna

Mackenna is a Middle Tennessee photographer specializing in weddings, maternity, Fresh48, branding, lifestyle, and senior sessions. Known for her steady presence and calm, grounded energy, she’s captured every kind of wedding day—messy, emotional, beautiful, and everything in between. With an eye for real moments and a heart for her couples, Mackenna brings warmth, adaptability, and storytelling to every gallery she delivers.

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Your stories make Here Comes the Drama what it is! Share your unforgettable wedding tales, hilarious mishaps, or unbelievable moments with us. Whether it’s a wild confession or a story worth a skit, we can’t wait to hear it.

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Follow us on social media for updates and sneak peeks at upcoming episodes. Your stories inspire the drama, the laughs, and the lessons we love to share!

A Team Dklutr Production

Blog Transcript:

Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies

Christa Innis:  Hey guys. Welcome back to another episode of, here Comes The Drama. I’m your host, Christa Innis, and we’ve got a great episode for you today. I feel like a broken record saying that, but you guys just send me so many wild stories. It’s just, it’s hard to keep up with sometimes. I was recently looking at a document where all, all of our story submissions get filtered into, and we now have over 600 stories, and that’s.

Marking off the ones that we’ve already shared. So it’s always fun kind of reading through them and seeing what you guys have up your sleeve, what you guys send me. Um, as always, please send me your wedding dilemmas. I’ve been getting more and more sent to me in my dms on Instagram. So if that’s where you wanna send them, feel free to send them there.

You can also send them to me at hollow@kristaennis.com. Um. They’re pretty wild, um, but they’re kind of fun to go through. Anyway, today I’m joined by photographer McKenna Hillis. She is from a small town in the middle of Tennessee. I also a full-time college student majoring in social work and psychology, and she somehow still finds the time to manage this new photography bu business that she’s built over the last three years.

Um, I had a last minute cancellation on the podcast and I was like, I wanna just reach out. On Instagram and TikTok to see who wants to come on and just chat. And she was one of the first people to come, uh, reach out. And I was like, you know what? Let’s hang out. This was fun. We had a great time talking about photography, being in weddings, being in friends weddings, DIY weddings.

Weather, of course, how weather can be very, um, shocking and unexpecting, um, in some of our most precious moments. And then of course, we end reading a shocking wedding story, um, that you, I think you guys are gonna get a lot of joy out of. So without further ado, here is my interview in my chat with McKenna Hillis. Enjoy.

Hi Mac. Thank you for being here.

Mackenna: Hey, I’m excited.

Christa Innis: Yes. This is awesome. So I had like a last minute, like cancellation. and I was like reaching out and you have a lot of experience doing wedding photography and you’ve got some stories. So I was like, this will be fun. Let’s mix things up. And it’s always fun to have like wedding vendors on because they know the industry.

Mackenna: Yeah, yeah.

Finding Your Path & Capturing Unforgettable Moments

Christa Innis: And I’m sure you’ve seen it all. But before we get to all that, can you just introduce yourself, who you are, what you do, and all that good stuff?

Mackenna: Yeah. I’m Mackenna, but my business name and what I go by is Mac. It’s Mac’s photography. I’ve been doing photography for about three years for the public.

It’s been my full-time job for about a year while I’m going through college. I’m a social work and psychology major. and yeah, I’ve just got millions of stories, not even just from weddings, just from general sessions of things going wrong and weather and just all the things.

Christa Innis: Oh my gosh. So you are a, you said a psychology major.

Mackenna: Yeah. Social work and psychology. Social work and psychology. Yeah.

Christa Innis: Wow, okay. So is that a double major then? So you, yeah,

Mackenna: So I’m from Tennessee, so we have like, I don’t know if they do it in other states, but like I’m at a, we call it a community college. So for the first two years I get my associates there and it’s practically free.

Christa Innis: Mm.

Mackenna: So that’s where I’m at right now. And then I’ve got one more semester there and I’ll transfer to university.

Christa Innis: Okay. There you go. Yeah, I don’t know if it’s like that everywhere. I feel like if you do like community college, it’s a lot more affordable. Mm-hmm. I live, I don’t know about free, but it’s a lot more affordable for sure.

Yeah. And I feel like it’s like very under, like undervalued might be the wrong word, like it’s not talked about as much. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like there’s all this pressure to go to a four, four year university right away mm-hmm. From high school and so many people don’t know what they wanna do right away.

Yeah. And then they spend the first couple years at a four year university where they’re paying so much money and then there’s just kind of like are, you know, bopping around trying to figure it out, which no hate to be able to do that either, but I’m just like, I think it’s so smart sometimes just going to community college and just like figuring it out the first couple years.

Yeah.

Mackenna: Well, when I first graduated, I went to a different community college and changed my major, completely transferred to another community college closer to me. And it was just nice that I figured that out before I was paying a lot of money

Christa Innis: Yes. 

Mackenna: To then pay extra, you know what I’m saying?

Christa Innis: Yeah. Oh, for sure.

I mean, I saw it all the time when I was in college. Like people just did not know. And you switch majors? I switched. Not too drastically. ’cause I went in, I, I went in thinking I was gonna be an English teacher, a high school English teacher. That was always what I wanted to do. And it wasn’t until I think like freshman or so, no, I think it was sophomore year that I was like, I don’t wanna go back to high school and I don’t wanna teach.

Yeah. You know, like I just, like, teachers are amazing and I have so much respect for them. Mm-hmm. But I just could not see myself going, wanting to go back to high school and teaching. Yeah. And I think, so I just switched over to like English publishing. So it essentially like the same department, but like later on I just went a different way.

Mackenna: Well, that’s good too. ’cause you have your books now, so that kind of helped you, I’m sure that made your change.

Christa Innis: Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah. I always liked the English and the writing part of it, so that kind of, that, that definitely helped. But I, to be completely frank, I forgot a lot. It’s just like, it’s wild.

And I, and I feel like a lot of people too, it’s like whatever you graduate in, you don’t always go like, get a job in that area, like mm-hmm. Like, you might end up like, ’cause how long have you been doing photography now?

Mackenna: Uh, for three years. 

Christa Innis: For three years? So like, your business, like really taking off, you really enjoy it.

You might end up mm-hmm. Being like, I’m just wanna be a photographer. Yeah. And that’s amazing. You work for yourself, but you know, you just never really know what direction your life will take you. Mm-hmm.

Mackenna: Yeah. I have a lot of, like, my clients and stuff, they’ll be like, are you gonna do this? Like when you graduate college?

I was like, I’ve never stepped it away. I’m always gonna do it. It’ll always hold a special place in my heart.

Christa Innis: I love that. Yeah. Like even when we had did my daughter’s like newborn photos, um, it was funny because we just found someone like, I’m like postpartum. And I just remember like googling someone and she lived close by and it turns out she’s like a, I wanna say she’s a, yeah, she’s a therapist nearby.

And so I’m like, she’s like a full-time, like therapist has like four kids and then she also does newborn photography. And I was like, you go girl. Like, she’s like, I got all my things. Um, so yeah, I, I think that’s a fun thing. And a good friend of ours too, he is a firefighter and he does photography on this side.

Mm-hmm. I love that. Finding the arts is like, I think really fun.

Mackenna: Yeah.

Christa Innis: So like how did you, how did you get into it and like, did you start with like smaller portrait, like photography and then get into weddings or what was

Mackenna: your Well, so I live on a family farm. It’s like, I think we’re like the fourth like generation to have the farm.

So when I was a kid I always just loved like the scenery of it and stuff. So I remember like when I was a kid getting my grandma’s little like cannon camera and just going around and like taking pictures of random places. And then for my birthday, my birthday’s in December, it’s a week before Christmas.

I, my mom gave me, it was a little cannon, like EOS something, some kind of little like DSLR camera. And I remember I was like, Ooh, like this is something I’ve always liked and stuff. So I started doing like little free sessions to like my cousins or my friends or things. And then I was like, I think I wanna do this like.

For like, like to the public for like services. So I’d say it was around the end of January, I think it was January 21st. I like had my first session that I’d done and I made an Instagram and I made a Facebook. And then ever since then it’s kind of just grown bigger and bigger and bigger.

Christa Innis: That’s amazing.

Yeah. I think it’s great too when you’re a part of a small community. ’cause like word of mouth is your biggest like market. Mm-hmm. Like tactic I guess. And so like, just like taking care of one family and then they just tell other people. Yeah. Like that’s bigger than any anything because people Oh yeah.

Word of mouth. I know I do, I trust word of mouth so much more than anything else. It’s just that intimate like connection with somebody too. Yes.

Mackenna: It’s like, so I’m from a very, very small town, like my high school, there’s one high school, one elementary and one middle school in my town. Wow. And we didn’t have a football team.

We were so small. Oh my gosh. Yeah. So like it’s been very nice because like when I, I was doing photography when I was a senior in high school and like I took a bunch of the people, like my classmates senior pictures and stuff. And it was just special because I’ve like, I’ve known them since preschool pretty much.

’cause we’ve all went to school together. Yeah. And then I was taking their senior pictures of their capping gown pictures and it was just very special.

Christa Innis: I love that. So you got in at like the right time. Mm-hmm. You got the camera and you’re like, let’s do this. And so another probably like the known photographer in your area.

Mackenna: Yeah. There’s a few other ones and stuff, but like, I love the photography industry ’cause there’s no jealousy. Like we help each other out. I, I don’t have bad blood with any of them. Like one of my best friends from high school just started the business and like, we’re always texting each other and asking for tips or like sharing location spots and stuff.

It’s like I just, I just love ’em all. Mm-hmm.

Christa Innis: I love that we need more of that because I feel like in the big, like, I don’t know, realm of like, I don’t know, like, I don’t know, things you like business owners, things you see, women are always taught to be like in competition of others, and there is so much room at the table that we should be lifting up other women, especially other women business owners to like, help them, like follow their passions, like mm-hmm.

I’ll have friends of mine text me and be like, how did you get into social media? Like, what do you, how do you post? And I’m just like, here’s my tips. This is what I did. Here’s what you should do. Like mm-hmm. I’m not gonna be like, I don’t know, figure it out. Like, I just feel like we should help each other.

Like why not? Yeah. Like there’s, there’s so much like hate in the world. Like why can’t we just like help each other? I, yeah.

Mackenna: That’s like my thing too. It’s like me and my boyfriend and stuff, we’ve gotten pictures done by be like by other photographers for before and it’s like I could have somebody take it with my camera, but I don’t wanna do that.

I wanna support other photographers and things like that. I don’t know, I just really like it. I feel like there’s no bad blood in it.

Christa Innis: Yeah, I love that. And also too, it’s like you never know if like you’ll, like maybe one of them will get hired for a wedding and then last minute they like can’t make it.

Mm-hmm. So they’re gonna think of you first and be like, Hey Mac, can you take over for this wedding? ’cause I’m sick. Mm-hmm. You know, whatever. Yeah. And you can help each other out because I feel like I see that a lot in the wedding industry. Like even when I got married, like my makeup artist had a couple backups just in case like mm-hmm.

Something were to happen. Um, or if like one’s pregnant and then like she has her baby early, you know? Yeah. She’ll have like someone kind of replace. So I feel like that industry, you have to have someone ready just in case. Mm-hmm. Anything can happen. Right.

Mackenna: Yeah, especially like when busy season is, I consider busy season from like September to about January.

’cause it’s like the leaves are changing. It’s very pretty outside. People want family photos and that’s a busy time for weddings and just things like that. But then it’s also like flu, flu time, sickness time, allergies, all that things. So I was actually a maid of honor in a wedding for one of my friends, uh, in September.

And that same weekend I had a photographer message me and she’s like, can you second shoot for me this Saturday? Like, my second shooter has gotten sick. Oh. And I was like, I’m in a wedding. Like, believe it or not, like I’m sorry. It’s just, yeah. I feel like we all lean on each other a lot.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Yeah. I feel like you definitely need to.

Embracing Wedding Chaos & Making Memories Last

So you’ve been a maid of honor. Have you been in any other, any other weddings?

Mackenna: Mm-hmm. Well, obviously like taking pictures, like the photographer of a wedding, but I’ve only ever been in one, but it was very fun. Oh, cool.

Christa Innis: Well, you’re still, you’re still young, so I feel like you’re probably like about to be at the age where more, more friends start getting married.

I remember like. There was like, I think I was probably a maid of honor bef, that was my first wedding. I was a maid of honor and I think I was probably before any of my friends, because I was for my older sister. Mm-hmm. But then I feel like there was a few years in there where I was like, just nonstop.

’cause that would, that’s when people start getting married and you’re just like, okay, okay. Can everyone slow? Yeah. Yeah. I just remember there was one year my husband and I went to five weddings and I was like, that’s where I’m capped at. That’s, that’s, yeah.

Mackenna: That’s how I’m starting to feel. Like my boyfriend, he’s a year older than me, so like a lot of his friends and like fam, like his cousin just got married and he was the best man in October.

And then I was a the maid of honor in September. So it was like back to back. We were both in two weddings and we were always like kind of talking about like at the end of the nights and stuff, like what we were doing for each wedding. Like I was writing my speech and then a month later he was writing his speech, you know?

Christa Innis: Oh my gosh. And it’s like, you don’t think about like all the different events that go on mm-hmm. While planning a wedding. Like there’s a bridal shower if there’s a bachelorette bachelor party. Mm-hmm. There’s like, you know, if it’s a more DIY type wedding, all the things I have to attend. And I just think about all those years.

Yeah. Like being a part of weddings where it was just like every weekend there’d be something. Plus I have a habit, and I don’t know if this is how you are too, but I have a habit of just like reaching out to the bride and being like. What are you doing? Do you need help with wedding stuff? Yes, because I just like love helping and I love like doing like the crafty stuff.

Mm-hmm. Which I get is not, not everyone’s cup of tea. So I just am like, Hey, if you need extra help, I’m there. Like, let me know what I can do.

Mackenna: Yeah. Well that wedding that I was just in the, like after the rehearsal dinner that night, we all made our own bouquet, so they would all be different and have like our little touch to ’em.

Christa Innis: Oh, I love that. Yeah. That’s a really good idea. I love hearing all these new like trends and ideas for weddings. Mm-hmm. I feel like it keeps kind of evolving. Like when I got married it was a very, like, like I’ve been at weddings where everyone wears the same dress color and style. And then I like, there’s more individuality with dresses now.

Like my wedding, it was like, pick your, I was like, pick your own style and then just in this family of colors. Yeah. And um, now it’s like, pick your own color. Pick your own dress style. And I’m like, I love that. Yeah. I’m not great at like. The visuals, but I love when I see it, I’m like, it looks great. Yeah.

Mackenna: Well that was my friend. She was like, I like this color off of birdie gray. But she said, just get it from Birdie Gray. Get it this color. But whatever style you like that looks on your body will compliment you the best. She’s like, I don’t care. She just, she was like, just bring it to rehearsal dinner and make sure it matches.

Christa Innis: I love that. I did birdie gray too. Birdie gray was so easy. Yes. Like awesome. I tell everybody that. I’m like, I was into weddings where we wore birdie gray and then my own wedding was birdie gray. Yeah. And it just saves the stress of like going to a bridal shop. ’cause I did that for a lot of weddings.

Mm-hmm. And when the bride doesn’t know exactly what they want, you’re all coming out with different dresses that you like for your body type. And then it’s a, it’s a game of like voting, like, yeah. Do you like this better? Do you like this better? I like that color. And like, I’ve literally been to ones where like the bride had no clue, like didn’t know what color or style, which is fine.

But then you’re shopping a long day. Yeah. But it’s exhausting. Yeah. Oh. So when you think back to some of the weddings you’ve been a part of or sessions like, are there any like wild stories or funny stories that come to mind?

Mackenna: Um, well the first one that I always think of, and I’ve told people this before, um, I was like a baby photographer.

I had maybe been doing it six months and my friend, she was like, here, you can use some of my gear and um, you can get used to it and stuff and you can help me second shoot the sweat. Like, I was like, yes, that’s perfect. So we, it was like, um, gosh, maybe an eight hour day or something. I was like, my biggest day I had done yet.

And at the end of the day she had went home. I’d like, we went our separate ways and she got home and her card had corrupted, like her memory card. Oh no. So all the pictures she had was like, from my angle, so. But she, it was good that she had my pictures like that. She had had a second shooter and stuff, but I just felt so bad.

And then obviously the bride and groom were not too happy. Yeah. I mean they at least still had some pictures.

Christa Innis: Right. How does that happen? Like a card getting corrupted? I really

Mackenna: don’t know. Like I’ve heard of it happening before and stuff, and I’ve researched a little bit, so it wouldn’t happen to me, but like, I really don’t, like, I, I’m sure there is a way to avoid it happening, but I think it’s just sometimes, like, I know I’ve heard before, like filling up the memory card, like, and then letting some of the pictures sit in there for a while can cause it.

And there’s a few other, like just your camera in your car not mixing and stuff like that.

Christa Innis: I feel like technology things has to be like some of the scariest. Yeah. Like, I don’t know, like do you ever just like hold your breath after like a wedding, like plug it in, just like hope everything goes okay.

Because yes, I feel like. I’ve talked about it before, but like to me, photography was like the most important vendor at my wedding. Mm-hmm. Because I feel like you just like look back on those, like they’re just all your memories. The day goes so fast. Mm-hmm. You don’t see everything. And like, I love personally looking back at cocktail hour because I wasn’t there.

Right. Like, my husband and I were taking photos mm-hmm. Get our moments together. And so I love seeing the cocktail photos, um, cocktail hour photos of like our family and friends, like interacting and hanging out and looking at the details. And then we had our video videographer take some photo videos too then.

And I loved that because I, I couldn’t be there. Right. And so I feel, I feel like it allows you to feel like you’re at two places at once in a way. Mm-hmm. So I feel like that would be kind of stressful to be like, okay, let’s triple check, make sure everything’s okay. And, and then something’s just happened.

You can’t, you know, you can’t stop

Mackenna: everything from having Oh yeah. Well, I just done an engagement. Mm. It was back during the summer, I feel like maybe May or June. And, um, it was at a pretty popular state park not far from where I live. And uh, it downpour just became a downpour. Like all friends and family were there, you know, we’re all, they’re all in dresses and their hair’s done for pictures and stuff, and downpour.

But like, I feel like that made it special at the same time. ’cause it’s like, you’ll always look back on that, remember? And I don’t know you’ve ever heard the saying, but like, wet knots are harder to untie than, uh, dried knots. And I kept telling ’em that day and stuff, and I, I think it turned out pretty special.

Christa Innis: So while the wedding was going on down port or down, like, were they getting married inside and it was, it was a

Mackenna: surprise engagement.

Christa Innis: Oh, it was a surprising engagement.

Mackenna: Yeah. So the, like, I was there with her family and they were coming from like where they live and they were supposed to be there at a certain time.

And then about a like 15 minutes maybe before they got there. Downpour, just a monsoon. So we’re all like hiding in like my vehicle ’cause she wouldn’t recognize it and stuff. And we’re spraying like that. It’ll settle down for a minute. But the pictures turned out so good.

Christa Innis: Oh, I love that. I’ve been seeing that too, more and more.

Like there was this one wedding, I don’t know where it was, where it started raining and it was not in the forecast, but they still had like some umbrellas to kinda like cover some people but it rained like on the bride and groom. Mm-hmm. And they just like owned it. They just like went into it and it looked so like romantic because it was like her hair was wet and like at the end of the day you can fix up hair after just blow drying.

I mean maybe on someone that just doesn’t care as much about like hair and stuff. But the pictures looked fantastic. Yeah. They had this full backdrop and even though it was raining, it just looked so romantic. Like I think of like a nineties romcom where they kiss in the rain or something. And I was like, I love that.

I thought it looked so beautiful. And I’m sure it’s like stressful at first, you know, seeing the rain. I think if you just kinda like, don’t stress about it or let it just like roll off your back, I think everything can kind of turn out pretty.

Mackenna: Yeah. Well that’s what I was telling her. I was like, you’ll look back at this in 20 years and laugh about it.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm.

Mackenna: Like about how it rained and stuff. I said, y’all, y’all will always remember this.

Christa Innis: Yeah, no, for sure. I think people will remember it too as like a fun, like, whoa, like, you know, all these weddings kind of like bunch together being very similar, but you’ll be like, no, I remember that one. Yeah. Yeah.

’cause this is how we handled it and the pictures were amazing and Yeah. No, I love that. Um, okay. That was cool.

The Art of Wedding Photography: Storytelling, Style, and Connection

Okay, so I wanna do this little segment kind of from like your point of view. Okay. It’s called, um, writing. These are different like scenarios and rate them on a scale of one to 10, one being not important and 10 being very important. Okay. Feel free to add context if you’d like as well.

Okay. So on a scale of one to 10, how important is capturing candid natural moments compared to posed shots?

Mackenna: Ooh. My perspective, I think you said tens like you need it.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm.

Mackenna: I would say like probably an eight or nine. I love the candid photos though. I think it shows like very true emotion to it instead of, instead of like your post ones, like everybody does post ones, you know, but candid ones not.

Like everybody has candid moments, but everybody’s candid moments are different.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm.

Mackenna:  So I really like capturing those like, um, for weddings like cake cutting or surprise proposals, like your moment of when. He’s asking you to marry him. Like, I just think that moment is different for everybody.

Christa Innis: Yeah, no, I totally agree.

I was saying this recently when I got my wedding photos back, I, the, the post ones were okay, like, I mean, I like ’em. They’re good. I’m, this is nothing against the photographer. She did a great job, but the candid ones were just the ones where I was like, wow, I love that. Yeah, because you could see like emotion, you could see connection.

Um, whereas sometimes I feel awkward or stiff like posing and it was so great seeing the candid ones, like I said, like the happy hour of people just like interacting and people laughing. Like one of my favorite photos, my husband and I, out of all the pose ones, it’s when my, I think it was our maid of honor was giving a speech at the time and we’re laughing and we’re just sitting at the head table laughing and I think it’s so cute.

Um, yeah, I love the, the candid ones. They’re just very real. 

Um. How confident are you in matching your photography style to the couple’s overall vision?

Mackenna: Mm. I would say about an eight. Again, because I, that’s like, I pride myself in that is I can do light and airy if you want to, or I can do like dark and moody.

Mm-hmm. It just really depends on what you want. Like I don’t, my editing is just not a base of something. Like I can switch it up if you’d like me to.

Christa Innis: I love that. Did you hear about the, I’m trying to think of where I saw this. It might have been a TikTok drama where a girl sent the photographer, sent the photos and the girl knew exactly what the, the style was gonna be, and then complained about the style and kept asking for raw photos.

And she was like, well, raw, I don’t typically give my clients raw photos. And it turned to be this like whole like TikTok drama. Like what was your, did you see that?

Mackenna:  I’m, I did, I’m pretty sure I know which one you’re talking about. Like it was like their wedding thing was like kinda like that Carnival circusy thing.

Yeah. Yes. Okay. Yes, yes, yes. 

Christa Innis: And she tried making the photographer look bad and I was like, these photo, these photos are beautiful. Like Yeah. When they actually look at the whole album that became public. Yeah. It looked beautiful. Like this photographer did a great job and mm-hmm. It was so terrible of them to pull out a few blurry ones and be like, this is what we got.

And I was like, wait, why are you trying to trash this photographer?  

Mackenna: Yeah. Well, I remember vaguely seeing those pictures and I don’t even think like it was a blurred effect. It was that girl’s editing style and I know like she added like a haste to it, or I’ve even seen, I’ve never done this before, but like people will take like the cream colored pantyhose and put over their lens and make it like that.

And that’s what it looked like to me. It didn’t even look like a, like a focus problem or anything. Right. It was just the editing style. I remember that. Yeah. Yeah. That was crazy.

Christa Innis: Yeah, I know. And it’s like, I always wonder about when people come on the internet to say stuff. I’m like, do they not realize that the one, the vendor’s gonna see it and two, they’re gonna give their side of the story?

Yeah. So I don’t know why. And they even, that girl even like put the photographer’s name out there, like bashing her. Yeah. And um, I felt so bad for the photographer, but now I think like everyone was able to see the truth of like, nope, she did a great job. Like, she even offered on the phone be like, I’ll give you the raw photos.

Um, but you know, typically that’s not. Included in a photography package?

Mackenna: Well, yeah, that’s like in my contract I have like a bunch of stuff listed, but one of them is I will not give raw photos because it’s not that I’m not proud of my work unedited, it’s just I don’t want like for you to post the raw photos and tag me, and then everybody thinks, oh, she just takes the pictures and gives it to ’em.

Like, yes. I always say that pictures or are half of it like taking the pictures. Editing is a whole like, most of my weddings have about a four to six week turnover. Just because like editing is a lot of it. I don’t think people realize that.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And like anyone can pick up a camera and press a button. Right. But it’s the art behind it. Like where are you ang how you angle yourself. The lighting, the, the editing and all that stuff. Like it is an art. And I hate when people come on the internet and act like, it’s like, oh, I could have done a better job. I’m like, no, you probably couldn’t have.

Mackenna: Well, one of, she’s actually took my pictures before.

Uh, we’ve talked about it before and it’s, she was talking about like, anybody can pick up a camera and take pictures and post ’em and then be like, I’m offering services. But it’s like, you gotta build yourself up. And I’m not bashing anybody that’s gonna like start a business or something. It’s just, you gotta build yourself up ’cause I’m self-taught.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm.

Mackenna: You know, I’ve never took classes or anything. I’ve had, you know, friends help me out with advice and stuff, but I also think that there’s building stones before you start charging people, if doesn’t make sense.

Christa Innis: No. Totally. Yeah. I feel like you definitely start with like, you know, family and friends.

Mm-hmm. And then as you kind of keep growing, you can like charge a little bit more and then you charge a little bit more and then you’re like, okay, I’ve been doing this for 10 years, so I can charge this, you know, whatever it is. Yeah. Um, yeah, for sure. I think it’s a, about like building up your portfolio and mm-hmm.

Like I knew a lot of friends that started off that way, like doing like baby showers or birthday parties. Yeah. Just to like get used to the camera and like playing around with it. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Um, but yeah, it’s like people don’t realize, like, they think, oh, I’m just paying them to come to the wedding and take snap photos.

It’s like, no, there’s so much more behind it. Yeah. I’m not a photographer and I can, I can see all that. Yeah. Yeah. Um, okay. This one says, um, let’s see.

Okay. How important is storytelling in the way you photograph on a wedding day? Ooh.

Mackenna: That’s probably like a 10 for me. I’m given all these such high scores like that you need them. But I don’t know, it’s just like the, like what I’ve said earlier, you look back on these photos for years and years and years, and you want it to tell your love story.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm.

Mackenna: Like I’ve had, uh, clients before, like they, you would like walk in to where their ceremony would be and they would have pictures from their relationship. Like they had been dating for golly, like 10 years or something. So there’s pictures of them, literally like in middle school to up to when they got married. And I just, you want that to show in your wedding.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm. Yeah. No, I love that. I love that. Like adding the personality to their wedding. Mm-hmm. Um, because like, especially as a photographer, I’m sure you see so many weddings that like repeat the same themes or colors, which is to totally fine. It’s totally gonna happen.

But then adding those little hinges of like. Personality and like family tradition or whatever that looks like for them, I think is, is really awesome. That’s what’s gonna make them like stand out a little bit. Um, let’s see. How important is it for you to build a relationship with the couple before the wedding day?

Mackenna: Ooh, that’s very important too. I would, I would also probably say like an eight or nine, which with my wedding packages, I offer like a very discounted engagement sessions before then, and also about a week, well, within a month to a week before the wedding, I get on a Zoom call with them. We make a schedule or we’re communicating like we, I haven’t always got on a Zoom call, but we also communicate and we make a schedule before then, because I’ve always had a schedule at weddings that I do, but I’ve known photographers not to, and they’re like, I don’t know why I never made a schedule.

So I always like to communicate with them for obviously the engagement session, I meet them and then making that schedule. I feel like I build a relationship with them also. And also I tell them like, free of charge, message me, ask like vendors that I recommend or this or that. So, yeah. Mm-hmm. I think it’s very important.

Christa Innis: Yeah. No, I love that. I agree. I was just saying to someone about like, anytime you pick a vendor, it should go both ways. They should make sure you’re a good fit for them and mm-hmm. You should make sure you’re, you are a good fit for them. Did I say that the same way twice? But you know what I mean, like, like I know what you mean.

Yeah. Yeah. Like I’ve had calls with brides ’cause I do weddings very, very rarely now when I have calls with brides, it’s to make sure like, Hey, am I gonna fit all your needs? And like, you know, or do you need someone that’s gonna do A, B and C and I only do A and B, you know, whatever, whatever that looks like.

’cause it wouldn’t be honest or good of me to be like, oh, I can do that when it’s something I’ve never done before. Or it’s something that I don’t typically do. Um, and, you know, vice versa. Like, I want her to look at me and be like, oh, like she can do this, but I really need someone to do this whole thing.

You know, whatever. Um, yeah, I think that’s, that’s really important. Building that relationship. Like that was our photographer built out our whole day of timeline too. And it was so great. Like we’d only met her via Zoom before the actual, um. Wedding day, but because of how attentive she was in emails and the Zoom calls, and we had like a two hour call with her kind of going over the day timeline, which I had never had anyone do, do like, do before at any wedding.

Like a photographer at least. And I was like, that, like was so nice. And she even like, encouraged me to eat during the day. ’cause like when you’re busy doing stuff, you kind of forget to eat. And she was like, Krista, go eat. This is your time. Don’t forget. Yeah. And I’m like, okay. So, um, yeah, that’s so important, building that relationship with your, with your client for sure.

Um, all right. And so we were just kind of talking about this, this last one talks about building timelines.

So you’re, you are pretty involved with building your couple’s timeline for their wedding.

Mackenna: I like to have like, even just like general sessions, I always like, if it’s like a family session and it’s like a big family, like grandparents, grandkids, they’re like kid, you know, like a big family.

I even like to be like, okay, we’re gonna start with. Full family shots and then this family, this family, the grandkids will get one. Like, I don’t know, I guess in some aspects of my life I’m very Type A, but in other aspects I’m very type B. But when it comes to photography, I feel like I’m definitely type A, like making sure all my batteries are charged before sessions and all kinds of stuff, which I’m kind of going away from the question, but yes, I like a schedule with really any of my sessions.

Christa Innis: Yeah, no, that’s so important. Like especially I feel like wedding vendors need to be like that, you know? Like that shows good organization, but it also shows that you care about the couple and you want them to have a good experience, or the family, you want them to have a good experience. ’cause I feel like, I feel like so many times, like.

Um, we hear these like horror stories. Maybe it’s a vendor, maybe it’s who know whoever it’s on and it’s like they just didn’t care enough. Or like, they’re like, I’m gonna do things my way when it’s like, it should be a mix. Like, yes, this is what I do typically as a vendor, but okay, this is what you’re looking for on your day.

Okay, let’s kind of interweave them or whatever.

Mackenna: Yeah. That’s what a lot with like some of my wedding couples before, which I’ve done a lot more elopements than I have weddings, I will say. But like still, I’m like, okay, these are the pictures that we’re going to get. You make ’em into a timeline, send it to me, and then I’ll make whatever edits I feel like I need to make and we’ll both approve it.

Christa Innis: Yeah, I love that. So with elopements, do you ever like hear of like family drama or people getting mad about them?

Mackenna: No, not really. So my elopements, I guess. I guess mine are more considered like a micro wedding, but my elopements is up to 25 guests. Okay. So like I have had elopements before where it’s just like the couple and then whoever is marrying them and that’s it.

But I think I’ve only had one of those, but most of my elopements it’s like immediate family like mom, dad, and siblings are there for both sides.

Christa Innis: Oh, that’s cool. Do you, are they like overseas or do you fly to any?

Mackenna: Well, what helps me out is with my location is I’m probably an hour’s drive between like six state parks.

So like a lot of my, like on my Instagram and Facebook, I’ll tag that location and a lot of people find me through that or I’ll put the hashtag of the location and a lot of people find me through that.

Christa Innis: Okay. That’s cool that you can have all these like beautiful different like settings and mm-hmm. Be really aware of like what’s near you.

Yeah. Like engagement photo shoots as well. That’s awesome. Yeah, I was just asking because like I hear of like different stories where families get like they wanna be a part of it, but like maybe the couple just wants to like run off and get engage and not include, not, I shouldn’t say not include anyone, but they just want it to be them.

So I was just curious if like you’re ever brought into that drama or anything?

Mackenna: Yeah. Oh, I’ve always said too, like when I get married one day I wanna do a small wedding, like immediate family. Like I don’t wanna have a big thing and that’s just my personal preference. There’s nothing wrong with a big wedding, but I’ve always said that too. Like I just want something small.

Christa Innis: Yes. Yeah. I think it’s so important to know like what you want and like get on that same page as your partner. ’cause I feel like so many people can come in and be like, no, you need that big wedding. Mm-hmm. What if you regret it? And it’s like, but I’ll regret more doing what you want and not what I want.

Yeah. Because I feel like that’s what I see the most is like brides that regret are typically because someone else came in and took over or told ’em they had to do it away. They didn’t want.

Mackenna: Yeah, well one of my really good childhood friends, she just got married this, uh, past summer and what she done is like, um, it was called an I do BBQ.

So like a month before they got married, they had this big, they had rented out a venue, but it was like a big barbecue and it was just all their loved ones, their friends, their family. And then a month, about a month later, they got married in like a small, tiny micro wedding.

Christa Innis: Mm. I love that. Yeah. That’s like what my cousin did.

She, I’m trying to think of the order. Yeah. So she did a big party, um, I wanna say it was like at a public park ’cause she worked for it at the time. Public park had like food trucks and all that stuff. Mm-hmm. All our family like flew in from all over. And then like a month later, maybe her and her husband got married in Ireland.

Mm. And all they, they brought her mom and then my uncle who married them and did the ceremony. Um, so. I thought that was a really cool way of like, still involving everyone in the wedding, but then they gotta do what they wanted, um, in Ireland. Um, and I didn’t feel like, you know, like I missed out on it.

Yeah. Because it was most beautiful photos. She had the most amazing setup and, um, yeah, it was, it was cool to see.

Chaos, Storms, and Laughter: A Wedding Day to Remember

Okay. Let’s get into this week’s wedding story submission. I’m excited. There we go. I know. It’s never really know what we’re gonna get here. Okay.

“I was very lucky that in the lead up to my wedding, there wasn’t much drama, but of course there’s always something. On the morning of the wedding, the forecast called for warm, sunny, beautiful weather. Perfect, perfect for an outdoor ceremony. When I arrived at the salon for hair and makeup, it looked exactly like the ideal day we’d hoped for. About halfway through getting my hair done, we suddenly heard a loud bang. We looked outside to see torrential downpour, sheets of rain and thunder and lightning.”

Oh my gosh. It was like what we’re just talking about.

Mackenna: That’s what I was thinking.

Christa Innis: You’re like, oh my gosh, I can picture it. “My weather app still claimed it was sunny and clear. That’s the worst when it’s like the weather has like not caught up on the apps and you’re like, yes, I’m looking. It’s not matching.”

Mackenna: Yes.

Christa Innis: Oh my gosh. “Until it didn’t. What was supposed to be a perfect day, instantly turned into a flash flooding and a massive thunderstorm. Trying to get from the salon to the car was a disaster. Our umbrella flipped inside out, soaking me and my sister and my four bridesmaids from head to toe right after getting their hair done.”

Mackenna: Oh my gosh. I would be distraught. Nobody talked to me for an hour. Give me some time to just cope.

Christa Innis: Yes, I know. That’s the thing too. It’s like we were talking about earlier, like I’m, you know, seeing all these weddings where it rains. I’m like, oh, it’s so romantic, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say. First it would take me a little bit to.

Mackenna: Oh, me too, me too.

Especially a bit like snuck up, like how it did on her like perfect forecast that morning and then just flash flooding happened. I would, I would be like, everybody just, just gimme 30 minutes. Leave me in this room. I’m gonna, I just, I need time to decompress, maybe pray. Yes. You know, just gimme a second.

Christa Innis: I know like weather is one of those things you can just never predict.

You never know what it’s gonna be like. And if this tells you anything about like my, I shouldn’t say fear of like weather changing. I knew like the venue that I got married at had an outdoor area and indoor and so it was like, I knew I always had a backup plan. Yeah. We got married in March, so we were like pretty sure it’s gonna be indoor.

And even like the front area was where the bridal sleep, sleep suite, bridal suite was. So we got our hair and makeup done. So I never had to even like step foot outside because I was just like, you just never know. And we had every single weather that day. Like when I woke up, it was sunny and kind of chilly, like forties.

Then it ended up, I think it rained a little before the ceremony. Then it ended up snowing later on at night. So like we had every kind of weather. So I was like, okay, well as long as we don’t have to go outside.

Mackenna: My parents, they got married in March too, and they said like the day of their wedding, it was just like a little bit of everything.

Cold, hot, windy. I think it might’ve like sprinkled too. And now like every year on their anniversary. Like, you never know if we’re gonna have snow, if we’re gonna have rain, if it’s gonna be in the seventies. Like we, we just don’t know.

Christa Innis: Yeah, I know. It’s so, it’s so wild. Yeah, because our, our one year anniversary, my daughter was born a little before our one year anniversary, so I’ll never forget that week.

And it, we, it was like three feet of snow outside when the day before I must just spilled my coffee when the day before it was like raining in like 50 degrees.

Mackenna: So that happened. They went to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I don’t know if you know where that’s at. Yes. Uhhuh. Um, for their anniversary one year.

And they said like, they got down there and it was nice and warm. It was like 60 seventies maybe. They went to bed that night at the hotel. Woke up the next morning and it was like half a foot of snow. And they were just like, uh, well, like, I think they may have planned to go hiking that day or something, but they were like, we’re kind of stuck.

Christa Innis: Oh my gosh. I hate that. So hard to plan for that.

Um, okay, so she says, so “she got soaked head to toe, her bridesmaids and her sister on the drive to the venue. We passed similar cars, stuck in flood water, and the roads completely closed because the rivers had overflowed. So this is like a storm. Storm. This is bad.

Ah, really bad. I wonder where this was. “We got to the venue later than planned only to learn that my soon-to-be husband and groomsmen weren’t there yet. I went straight to the bridal suite to try to fix my hair and makeup when the, oh, she had already had her makeup done too. While my maid of honor called to find out where they were.

They were still in the hotel and had no idea about the weather. They tried calling for a taxi, but it took 20 minutes before one finally showed up. They made it to the venue only about five minutes before the ceremony was supposed to begin.” Oh my gosh. That’s. Oh my gosh. I would be, I would be.

Mackenna: That’s one of those times it’s like, do you just push your timeline back an hour?

Because you gotta think if they’re running late, all their guests, you’re probably running late and then that’s messing with your caterer, your photographer. You’re just, you, you as a bride or groom, it’s, Ooh, that’s a messy situation.

Christa Innis: Yeah, I know. It’s like one of those like quick calls of like, okay, can we push this back a little bit?

And yeah. Because I feel like, yeah, if the groomsmen who are like important in the wedding, the groom aren’t there, maybe we can like push it back just slightly. Yeah. Yeah. “Surprisingly, the ceremony only started five minutes late, but even then things didn’t go smoothly. The officiant of accidentally said, my maid of honors name instead of my partners turning the vows.”

Mackenna: Oh, wow. Mm.

Christa Innis: Oh, no. I always like cringe when I hear stories like this, like that. They say like the wrong name. Yeah. Or they pronounce it wrong. I feel like it’s a officiants job to triple check names and how to pronounce them. Mm-hmm. And this sounds to me like maybe the officiant didn’t know them personally or meet with them before.

Mackenna: Yeah.

Christa Innis: Because like we met our officiant, like at least on Zoom multiple times before I spoke to her on the phone. So she had like practiced our, like she knew our names. Yeah, yeah. But oh my gosh. “And while signing the marriage license, my brother-in-law signed the wrong spot. Thankfully, someone caught it or our certificate would’ve been a void.

Oh my gosh. After the ceremony, the storm finally passed, so we were able to take photos outside. This actually turned out to be a blessing because the post storm sky and the slightly damp surroundings created the most beautiful backdrop.” I love that.

Mackenna: Yeah.

Christa Innis: “The dress did get a little muddy, but nothing major dinner, dancing and the reception were going perfectly, aside from my brother and one of the bridesmaids accidentally eating my dinner when I was busy greening guests, still I was having the time of my life.”

How do you accidentally eat someone else at dinner?  

Mackenna: Yeah, that’s like when I, or like when I’m a photographer or when I was in that wedding, uh, in September, I’m always like, make the bride and groom a plate. Set it at their chair, like put a napkin over it or something so nobody will touch it. Yeah, because they need to eat.

I mean, they’ve been probably stressed out all day. They need to eat something.

Christa Innis: I know the amount of weddings I heard where people were like, I was too stressed or like running around. I never ate. And I’m like, what? Like you need to eat.

Mackenna: In my camera, in my camera bag. I keep little granola bars and I think I maybe have like some gummy packs or something because if I do shoot a wedding or something, or like even like if I travel somewhere to take pictures, I like to have little snacks for me or the people I’m taking pictures of.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Have you ever had, sorry, this is like a side question. Have you ever had a, like a wedding that you’ve been to where they like don’t set aside time for you to eat dinner as well?

Mackenna: Um, I almost all of them set aside a time for me to eat. ’cause it’s in my contract that I have like 30 minutes to eat. But usually the wedding gets so crazy that my 30 minutes turns into like 10 minutes.

Right. Just because like there’s so many moments that like, even though like literally just 30 minutes I have set aside to eat, there’s stuff going on during that. So usually I just make a plate, scarf it down real fast, and then I’m back to taking pictures. So even though in my contract it’s 30 minutes, it’s usually I take about 10 just to eat something real fast.

Christa Innis: Yeah. It’s hard to like sit and allow yourself to like sit when other things are like Yeah. Going on around you. Yeah. Um, no, I totally get that. I, I heard like horror stories from vendors. I was actually, when I was a day of coordinator at a wedding not too long ago, I was sitting at the table with a photographer and videographer and dj, and the one photographer was talking about this wedding she went to where they treated her like scum.

They were like, I was not allowed to be sat in the same room as the guests and the bride. They shoved me in a room, no chairs, no tables, and had me sit on the floor and I got like a leftover plate. You said that was the photographer? The photographer was telling me this and she was like, sometimes you get, she’s like, I got treated horribly at this wedding.

I couldn’t wait to go home. I was like, that’s awful. And I’ve heard this like drama on social media where it’s like, I don’t know if it was another vendor talking about it, but she was like, I was at a wedding once where they did not wanna pay for me to eat. And I said, if you don’t like allow me to sit down and get like a little tiny break, I’m gonna have to leave.

They’re like, well, you can leave and get something and come back. Like so they were like. I don’t know. I don’t get that of like, yeah.

Mackenna: Well even your fir, like you said that that photographer was telling you like they put her in a back room. It’s not even like that. She was gonna mess up the aesthetic of the pictures ’cause she’s literally the photographer.

Like, exactly. That makes no sense to me. That is crazy.

Christa Innis: I know, and like my photographer had told me like, she’s like, I typically, ’cause I had a buffet at my wedding and she’s like, I’ll go up, you know, with the other vendors like right after you. That way like, she’s like, ’cause you don’t want photos of you eating anyways.

And I’m like, yeah. She’s like, so like I’ll eat while you eat and then when you’re done by that point it’ll be speeches and I’ll be like ready to take pictures again. I was like, that makes perfect sense. Yeah. And I literally kept telling her, I was like, and take your time. Like I’m not gonna be like on you or crazy like, oh you’re eating more.

Like please eat. Like yeah, that’s what it’s here for. And like I wanted my vendors to feel as like. A part of the day as like anyone else, like when we had breakfast delivered in the morning, I was like, here, grab coffee, grab a sandwich. Like whatever you want, because they’re there to make your day beautiful. Why treat them like they’re like horrible people or Yeah, like scum. Like I don’t, yeah,

Mackenna: well like even some weddings that I’ve done, like if I know the caterers, I’ve worked with ’em before. I’m like, can y’all make me a plate and just set it to the side? Or like, I’ve done some weddings like where I’ve known like the family and like the bridesmaids and the groomsmen.

Like my whole life actually I’ve done that this summer, is my cousin was one of the bridesmaids and I was like, can you make me a plate when you go up there and just set it to the side somewhere? And she’s like, yeah, I’ll like you one.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I love that. Okay, so this says, “so we’re back at, um, dinner, dancing and reception went perfectly until they ate her food, right?

Still I was having the best time of my life. As the sun began to set, our photographers took us outside for sunset photos. We also planned to take sparkler photos once it got dark, but right as we set up, the wind picked up sharply. The sky turned green and the downpour returned.”

Mackenna: Oh, like when the inside stuff’s happening, we’re gonna have great weather.

Christa Innis: I know.

Mackenna: And if you just don’t wanna go outside.

Christa Innis:  It’s just like, no, don’t come outside. But I was like, at first I was like, Ooh, the sky turned green. That could be, yeah.

Mackenna: Maybe that’ll look good.

Christa Innis: Yeah. “Later we found out that a tornado had touched down less than a kilometer from the venue. People say rain on your day.

People say, rain on your wedding day is good luck. But what does a tornado mean? To this day, we joke about the terrible storms that they’re our favorite part because they remind us of our wedding like we were talking about. And the chaos didn’t end there. After the wedding, we learned that one of the groomsmen.

Got two of the three underage guests drunk. My 90-year-old grandfather took a wrong turn and ended up driving across the venues lawn.” Oh no. Why is the 90-year-old grandfather driving after the wedding? Yeah.

Mackenna: That he needs a caretaker. Somebody the least driving.

Christa Innis: Yes. Let’s get, let’s take care of grandpa.

Grandpa. Um, “and several guests who had been cut off by the bartender decided to go upstairs and crash another wedding.” Oh. So there’s multiple weddings going on at this venue?

Mackenna:  I have never heard that. Like multiple weddings at, at the same day, at the same venue. I’ve never heard that.

Christa Innis: I’ve been to like, I’m trying to think.

I’ve been to one, um, really big one in the city in Chicago and it, I wanna say it was, oh yeah, it was connected to a hotel and they had like two or three weddings at the same time. But it was huge. So you didn’t even know the other one was going on. Um, but. To where it’s like easily accessible. Yeah. I go to go upstairs and crash their wedding.

Mackenna: Like it’s like are y’all mingling on accident? Like is it makes me think too, like is there multiple bathrooms? Is there a bathroom on each floor? Are y’all having to go up and down the steps? Yeah. I have never heard of that though.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Mackenna: Yeah. Learn something new every day.

Christa Innis: Oh my gosh. “Despite everything, we’re still happily married and about to celebrate our eight year reunion with two eight year, eight year anniversary with two kids.

You can’t control the weather or the random drama but it sure makes for an unforgettable story.” I love that. I know too. No, that was a really good story. I feel like for especially having you as a photographer come on and like react to it. ’cause it has to do with like photos and stuff.

Like what do you think you would do in that situation if it just started down pouring?

Mackenna: Uh, I know like most venues that I’ve like shot at. Done weddings or like even like content days or anything, have some type of like, either it’s just like a, almost like a garage type. It’s just got a roof on it. That way you can still let the nitro lighting in or we can even go inside to like the groom suite or the bride suite and we can make it good.

Like I’ve got like the external flash on my camera and stuff. Like you are gonna have good pictures is what I’m trying to get at. It might not go exactly how you planned, but I mean, does any wedding have no drama and nothing happened? I feel like No, exactly.

Christa Innis: I know. I was just saying, I’m like. Someone told me before I got married, they’re like, something’s gonna go wrong.

It might be big, it might be small, but something will go wrong. And you just have to like deal with it. Like at least I think someone said like, three little things will go wrong, whatever. Mm-hmm. So I went into the day being like, something, something’s gonna go wrong. It is what it is. And someone like little things happen, which I can’t even, I’m sure if I really thought about it, I could think of something, but like there was nothing so major that I was like, oh, it ruined my day.

Yeah. And I think it allows you to also be like, you know what, nothing is a hundred percent perfect. It’s not gonna be like, you know, sunshine and rainbows all day. There are some things that are gonna be like, oh, that was, that sucks that that happened, but whatever. So I think her attitude says everything.

Like she was like, you know what? It is what it is. I’m gonna fix up my hair and makeup. I’m still marrying the love of my life. Yeah. We’re gonna have a beautiful day. And now they look back on it and they’re like, that’s pretty funny that that happened. Yeah. And we’re gonna have these funny photos of like, maybe our hair was a mess.

Maybe there was some tears shed that she didn’t talk about. But at the end of the day. It was an awesome day.

Mackenna: Yeah. Well, bouncing off like what you said, I feel like you want your weight, obviously to go as good as it can go and like how you wanted it. But like you said, it’s about you and your groom and the love that y’all share and that you’re continuing it.

Like if it rains, if this happens, if that happens, it’s about y’all too. You know what I mean?

Christa Innis: Yeah, yeah. I feel like a lot of these stories, like people get hung up and I shouldn’t say like, this is not saying like the big drama with like family. I get that’s, that’s a lot to deal with and it’s very complicated.

But some of the drama that I read about people get hung up on little things in Let it ruin their day. And it’s like, it really does come down to like your attitude. Like focus on what’s the goal of the day? Are you surrounded by family and friends that you love, that love you and support you and your partner?

Are you, you know, um, are you happy that someone was able to fly and like focus on the things that you are like. Happy about in the day. Mm-hmm. And then the little things, you know, won’t matter if you’re like a little behind in schedule or maybe someone couldn’t make it to the rehearsal or, um, whatever it is.

It’s like, it really does come down to like, some of that stuff just doesn’t matter. Like really. Like of course, like if there’s someone being disruptive and being rude and trying to ruin your day, then like, yeah, let’s deal with that. Yeah. But for the most part, um, little things I think we can like just let it brush off and focus on what’s important.

Yep. I agree. I loved that story.

DIY Wedding Confessions: When Creativity Meets Chaos

Okay. I always like to end these with confessions that people send me on Instagram. So this is for DIY weddings edition. Have you been a part of any DIY weddings?

Mackenna: Um, I’d say the one that I was kind of, or I was the maid of honor was kind of DIY. Like she bought a lot of her stuff at like, I guess like.

I don’t know what you would call ’em. Like she got a lot of her flowers and things from like Ollie’s and Hobby Lobby and she found a lot of stuff at like TJ Maxx and things like that. She like a lot of her decor and stuff she done on her own.

Christa Innis: I love that.

Mackenna: So I would say yes. I mean, not all of it, but yes, some of it.

Christa Innis: Yeah. And I was just saying this too, like I feel like if you enjoy doing that, by all means you should do it. Um, ’cause like I, like I made a lot of my own signs ’cause I love that stuff. Yeah. Like, I love, like using cricket, I love, like, I remember like handwriting, um, like our table assignments, you know, and that was like fun for me to be able to see.

And then I like painted the backs of ’em, but I feel like some people do it to save money. And then ultimately the time that’s spent, and then it’s something they don’t enjoy. It just becomes like a stressor. Yeah. So I feel like it’s good to like, know yourself in those moments of being like, do I enjoy this?

Yeah. Is it actually gonna save me money? Is it gonna make me more stressed? Do I have to pull in all family members and bridesmaids and groomsmen to help me? Or can, can I do a lot of it myself or with another person? Yeah. Um, ’cause I’ve been a part of those too, where they just then expect all family and friends to come in.

Yeah. And then it’s a, it’s a big ask. Um, so you would just hope you have like supportive family and friends that also enjoy doing it. Yeah.

Okay. So this says, made all the food the day before, 19 days after my c-section, only for most people not to turn up to the reception.

Mackenna: Oh. Oh. I like, I feel like you have a, a child, right?

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm.

Mackenna: Okay. I feel like you might be able to answer this better because like 19 days, like you’re still, you’re postpartum that that’s literally what you are. And to do all that and then nobody show up. Oh, wow. Because like my, one of my really good friends will actually, the one I was talking about earlier that just got into photography, she had a baby and she had a C-section.

And like, I remember going and seeing her like 19 days after and I just couldn’t imagine like getting up and cooking just food. Like I could not imagine it.  

Christa Innis: No. And c-section is, the recovery is so much harder than, I didn’t have a c-section, but I had friends that had C-sections and you are like, I wanna say six weeks is your full recovery.

Mm-hmm. I mean, they’re cutting like a, you have a dinner plate size cut in you. Yeah. Right? And so you’re not supposed to be up and down, you’re not supposed to be lifting stuff. And so the fact that she made all the food before. Yeah, that’s, yeah. That’s just wild. She’s like superwoman. Literally. Yeah.

Literally. It makes me want to, like who said they were coming and then just didn’t show up? 

Mackenna: Yeah, because like that would, ’cause I’m obviously, I’m sure if she’s cooking and she’s, what was it, 16 po days postpartum? 19. 19. Like I’m sure it wasn’t her wedding, but like as the bride, I would probably be mad too if they RSVP’d and I bought all this food and then somebody that I’m very close with cooked all of it and then you just don’t show up.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I don’t know. You bring up a good point. ’cause I read it as she was, uh, the bride, but you’re probably right. She might have just been a bridesmaid or been Yeah. Uh, part of the wedding in some way. Mm-hmm. And I’m like, who’s asking a postpartum mom that just had a C-section? Unless she offered, I guess that’s different.

But if I, one of my friends had a C-section and like I needed something done. I don’t think I would ask them or I’d be like, don’t worry about it.

Mackenna: Yeah.

Christa Innis: Like, we’re not gonna have you up and cooking for this. Yeah. Um, this one says, distant friends started treating my family who were helping set up as workers.

Mackenna: Ooh. I feel like I’d have to say something to that friend and just be like, Hey, like just chill out. If it’s gonna just go with the flow, it’s gonna go how it goes. Like if you need their help, ask, but don’t be bossing them around.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I’ve seen this happen at a wedding and it’s really disappointing because the people that offer to help do to other kindness of their hearts, they don’t have to be there.

It’s not their kids’ wedding. And then when they’re not properly like thanked or like treated like family or like treated like guests, that’s hard because they’re like, why did I go outta my way to help when I’m not actually gonna be like. Respected. I don’t know. Or like Yeah, highly treated. It’s that like wait staff thing, like if someone treats wait staff poorly because they’re a server.

Mm-hmm. That’s like a big red flag in my book. Like, doesn’t matter anyone’s job or position you treat ’em with kindness.

Mackenna: That was, that was my first job, was a waitress. And it was just crazy the way that people would treat me. And I was like, I’m literally like, I would never do anything, but I’m handling your food and you’re treating me like I, I’m, I’m nobody like, you know what I mean? It was just crazy.

Christa Innis: Oh yeah. My first job ever, I was a hostess and since then, I mean I did, I’ve done, um, serving cocktail server and bar bartender, but the hostess, oh my gosh, people were so mean to me. I was 16 years old. And I had people like, um, come get into my face and tell me. I was like, purposely not seating them like we were.

I worked at a busy Irish pub and people would get into my face, they would scream at me. Yeah. And I was like, I’m like, I have a busy restaurant. I don’t know. And and servers too would yell at me. They’d be like, you didn’t seat someone in my section?

Mackenna: I’m like, I’m trying to go through the rotation. Yeah.

Well, like I would have like 50-year-old men and women like chew me out and I’m like, I’m 16. Like, I’m sorry, like, just cut me some slack. Please.

Christa Innis: Yes. I always like to let people know, like if I go to a restaurant, like I’m not one that’s gonna yell at you. Like, my husband and I have both worked in the restaurant industry and like if something takes long and they come up, they’re like, I’m so sorry.

I’m like, you are good. You take your time. You don’t ever have to apologize to me. I get it. Or if at a coffee shop I’ve had them be like, I’m, I’m sorry. I’ll get you in a minute. You take your time. Like seriously, we’re not on fire. We’re not gonna like decombust if you don’t come to us soon. Yeah. You’re safe.

You’re safe here. Yeah. Um, all right, we’ll do one more. Um, let’s see. My mom made her own dress. The colors and the pattern were hideous. I almost made her change. Ooh, it’s very DIY. Yeah.

Mackenna: Mm. That’s your mom and like, oh my. Oh, I don’t know what I would do. I guess I would have to know the relationship that you had with your mom because like my relationship with my mom, I’d just be blunt and be like, you gotta change the pattern or something.

But like, I can see some people just being like, oh, it’s okay. But yeah. I don’t know.

Christa Innis: I feel like if you didn’t see it until the day of, there’s like not a whole lot you can do. Yeah. If she showed you before, like, this is the pattern I’m gonna use, and you’re like, oh, maybe let’s try finding a pattern together.

Like you could really watch her, but if she just comes out on the day and like, I made this and you didn’t realize, kind of stuck.

Mackenna: Yeah, that is true. Oh, I don’t know what I would do, Dan.

Christa Innis: And if, and if she’s someone too that like has her own style and makes her own clothing, it’s kind of one of those things and, and you have a good relationship.

It’s kinda those things. I’d be like, you can look back on photos and be like, that’s my mom. Yeah, yeah. You know, like, um, I just read a story where it was like the grandparents, like were motorcycle riders and they came directly from their motorcycle trip to the wedding covered in denim and like leather.

And they’re like, they didn’t bring clothes to change into. I was kind of like. That’s your grandma grandpa style? Yeah. You just gotta let them own it. I mean, yeah, it might suck for some photos, but that’s their vibe. Like, like I have aunts and uncles that like wear tie dye and I’m like, that was always their vibe.

And I’m just like, I don’t think I would be like, go change. Yeah. I don’t know. Teach their own. All right. Well thank you so much for coming on you. It was so great meeting you and um, I know it was kinda like a last minute thing, but I feel like I need to do stuff like this more often because this was like so fun.

Mackenna: Yeah, yeah. Well I literally, so I’m not much of a music listener. I love podcasts and yours is one of mine that’s in my rotation.

Christa Innis: Oh, yay. I love that. 

Mackenna: Yeah. And I, so I was so excited ’cause like my boyfriend, like. Uh, my phone always connects to his CarPlay in his truck, and I’m listening to your podcast sometimes, and I was like, do you know this podcast? I like, I’m going on it. I love it.

Christa Innis: Yay. That’s awesome. Yeah. No, I’m so glad this worked out. And like I said too, having like a photographer on, you’re like, well in the industry and so it’s cool just to like hear your perspective as well. Yeah. Um, so no, this was awesome. I’m glad it, glad it worked out. And where, where can everyone follow you?

What’s your business name and all that good stuff?

Mackenna: So my business name’s Max Max Photography. Uh, my Instagram is underscore underscore max photography. And then my Facebook is just max photography. Awesome. And then I don’t have a TikTok or anything. I have a personal one. I need, I probably need to get on that.

Christa Innis: Yes. You gotta start making some TikTok content for your photography. ’cause Yes, I need to showcase your portfolio and I feel like that’s the best spot to go to go viral and all that stuff. Yeah. So much for.