Wedding Date on Aug 19, 2023

Jess and Emily met in Massachusetts in 2017. Jess is originally from there while Emily is originally from Hawaii. The two could not have grown up further in the United States from each other. Yet somehow, they found their way to each other. But their timing wasn’t easy. When they met, Jess was only two months away from moving to California. But they made it work, managing the long distance and time difference between the east and west coast. Eventually, Emily would make her way to the west coast to be with Jess and that’s where they stayed. Although they’ve began to grow roots in California, they said that Massachusetts still has their hearts. They knew when planning their wedding they would not only want to find a venue in Massachusetts, but they wanted one that would share in their values. From the very beginning, Jess and Emily’s wedding planning was full of intention. They chose their venue, Gloriosa & Co., because of its dedication to sustainability - providing their guests a place to be all weekend with farm-to-table food. The flowers are grown on property by the owner, Glo and the food is seasonal and allergy-friendly. When asked what they wanted most for their wedding, they said they wanted to foster a sense of community among their guests. And so they would choose this little retreat of a place in western Massachusetts, where most everyone would need to travel to all so that they could have all their favorite people nearby for the whole weekend. And that word, intention, was always at the forefront of their wedding planning. There was so much intention in everything they did to bring their day together. They even created their own invitations modeled off of Gloriosa’s gorgeous weathervane. When planning their story session, they pitched the idea of going canoeing followed by a tandem bike and a picnic. On the outside it would feel like just a fun way to get to know them, but what they were doing was re-creating their first date. Those moments allowed us to catch a glimpse of what Jess + Emily are like outside of the heightened energy of a wedding day. We got to see that in the way they laughed and weaved down a trail on a tandem bicycle. We got to feel it in the way Emily effortlessly cuddled into Jess. Those moments became the foundation for the rest of the film. When their vows ended up mirroring exactly what we captured in their story session, it became such a full-circle moment. With such beautiful story elements, we wanted Jess + Emily to be the authors of this story. Because they tell it best and we love watching their love. It’s a warm and inviting love - one that feels like there’s never been a time before it. We wanted their voices and emotions to shine through and let the visuals softly and intimately carry you along. Thematically we really wanted to explore this idea of migration. Jess + Emily met on the East Coast, had a long distance relationship, moved out to the west coast, and eventually returned back east for their wedding. But as Jess put it, “Home is not a place, it’s wherever Emily Hart is”. No matter where they were or went, home was beside each other. We developed that theme further with our shot choices like a birdcage with two gorgeous parakeets inside; the birds representing Jess + Emily and the cage being the structure of love they’ve built for one another. Using their vows in tandem with their story session, to represent their past, and their wedding footage, to represent their future, was when we were able to see their story come to life.