The Best of Both Worlds
A photographic exploration of Valentines Day weddings in Las Vegas

by Sean Cayton
Freelance Photographer


I live and work with my photographic feet planted in two different worlds.

I have trained and worked as a news photographer for the past 10 years. And I’m currently a contract photographer for a local news weekly, still shooting local assignments and pursuing my own self-assigned projects.

But I also own and operate a photography business that is focused on weddings. I started this business three years ago and it continues to grow and has become a real success story in my life.

In each of these areas, I have learned there is a distinct photographic approach and that documentary photography (which is what I’m trained to do) and weddings don’t always mix.

During weddings, I’m often expected to be a director and choreographer of photography.

At the same time, my strongest images always happen in the spaces between the choreography and the group photographs I’m asked to take. These are the images that couples hire me for.

© Sean Cayton
Gerald and Sandra pose for the wedding pictures after being married at the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel on Valentines Day.

Because of the nature of my work, it is important to me that I don’t forget or abandon the roots of my interest in photography.


© Sean Cayton
Detail of mannequins and wedding dresses in a store front on the strip.
 

Right now is a slow time of year for wedding work. So Kent Meireis, a friend and colleague, and I dreamed up a project that would keep us busy and excited about our craft.

The idea was to visually explore Las Vegas wedding chapels and to try and photograph a 24-hour extravaganza of wedding ceremonies on the strip during Valentines Day.


There are thousands of weddings in Vegas on Valentines Day and they start at midnight. Unlike many of my commissioned wedding jobs, the scenes are unusual, the people are interesting and every 15-20 minutes there is another wedding.

As an added benefit, I had the freedom to explore a few dozen wedding ceremonies without being expected to choreograph, direct or take group photo.

 


© Sean Cayton
Weddings are a big deal, particularly in Las Vegas.
 
Weddings are a big deal, particularly in Las Vegas.

Couples come to Vegas to be married for all sorts of reasons. The cost of a wedding ceremony is usually less expensive than a more traditional location. The wedding and honeymoon can also happen in the same place. The couples being married have a variety of backgrounds, which often makes the idea of a Vegas wedding more convenient.

 

While the couples come from all over the world to be married, the ceremonies themselves are unique. There is a drive-thru wedding ceremony. There is the ceremony officiated by Elvis. And there are host of ways to be married, in a helicopter, for instance.

© Sean Cayton
Elvis serenades a newlyweds in a pink Cadillac after their wedding ceremony in the drive-thru at the Little White Wedding Chapel on Valentines Day.


The Little White Wedding Chapel is one of the more well known wedding chapels. Wayne Newton, Ricki Lake, Britney Spears, Sally Jesse Raphael, Bruce Willis, Michael Jordan were married there.


© Sean Cayton
Two doors down is the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel. Its known best for its themed weddings including ceremonies performed by Elvis and its internet broadcasts of wedding ceremonies at www.vivalasvegasweddings.com.
Two doors down is the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel. Its known best for its themed weddings including ceremonies performed by Elvis and its internet broadcasts of wedding ceremonies at www.vivalasvegasweddings.com.

 

At midnight on Valentines Day the flood of weddings began.


There was the couple from Brownsfield, Texas who spoke only Spanish. Then it was the Detroit police officer who met his fiancé during a traffic stop. Then it was a couple, both in their 70’s, who decided to marry after 30 years of knowing one another.

For 24-hours, the ceremonies, the couples and their stories didn’t stop. We left Vegas exhausted and exhilarated. We were excited about the pictures we made and the promise of continuing our project beyond Valentines Day.

© Sean Cayton
Inensio kisses his bride Illana during their wedding ceremony inside the Little White Wedding Chapel on Valentines Day.



With a full wedding season ahead of me, I also managed to renew my passion for wedding photography and its possibilities as a documentary experience.

Sean Cayton
Sean@caytonphotography.com

http://www.caytonphotography.com

 

 

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