Table of Contents:
- Wait, Film Photography Still Exists?
- What is Super 8 and Why Should I Add it to My Wedding?
- 6 Reasons to Add Film to Your Vermont Wedding or Elopement
- Hiring Your Vermont Film & Super 8 Wedding Photographer
You’ve made it to my guide to Super 8 & film wedding photography! If you’re craving a more intentional, meaningful, and timeless way to document your celebration in Vermont, then you’re in the right place. From the bottom of my heart, welcome—I am so glad you’ve found your way here.
I see you, friend—working tirelessly to plan your celebration, book your vendors, create your timelines, finalize your guest list, and take care of yourself + nurture your relationship. . . all while forgetting that these are moments you should be embracing. The ones that you experience on the road to the big day, the ones that would be easy to brush past amidst the busyness and chaos of planning—but the ones along the journey that are just as meaningful as the destination.
The ones you know you’ll want to look back on in 10, 20, 30 years from now when they’ve grown, changed, evolved; when life no longer looks as messy and chaotic and beautifully imperfect as it does right now. In this moment.
As a past bride, I know exactly how it feels to try and be present all while planning one of the most important days of your life. I know well the balancing act of creating a beautiful day for your loved ones and creating a beautiful day for yourselves. So can I share something with you that I think you’ll love? Something that has allowed me to document life’s most precious moments in a more purposeful, present way—and that will help me document yours just the same?
Drumroll please. . . I’m thrilled to now be offering Super 8 and film photography as part of my storytelling wedding and elopement packages in Vermont, and have been dying to tell you ALL about it.
Wait, Film Photography Still Exists?
Absolutely it does! Film photography may have been invented way back in the 1880’s, becoming more popular and mainstream with the introduction of Kodak cameras & 35mm film in the early 1900’s—but it’s made a comeback in recent years. People looove the grit, the grain, and the colors that film is so classic for: the muted, warm tones, the unique color grading that comes with aged film. . . it all pulls you into a bygone era that feels nostalgic, romantic, and timeless.
Whether you grew up with film as your only accessible form of photography, or you grew up in the age of digital photography and have discovered a newfound love for film, there’s clearly something that humans love about this old-school method of photography that we just can’t seem to ignore.
And more, there’s something magical about the whole process of it all: finding the right roll of film to buy, opening up the package and loading up the camera, snapping photos without instantly being able to see them, waiting weeks and weeks for development, and finally seeing the results of our precious time, work, and creativity. . . the patience and trust this forces upon you somehow makes the outcome even more special.
Film may not be as popular as it once was, now that we have infinite ways to capture our lives digitally—from expensive, professional-level cameras to phones that sometimes look better than those cameras (yikes)—but it re-emerges time and time again for a reason. I mean come on, we’ve all used those Instagram filters that attempt to mimic film photography!
In a world where everything and everyone is expected to be fast-paced, efficient, and optimized, we begin to retreat back into the slower elements of our lives; the parts of ourselves that we’ve long forgotten in the midst of an ever-changing, progressing, evolving world that asks us to keep up, keep up, keep up. This is the beauty of film, and why it’s become such an essential part of my offerings as a Vermont wedding and elopement photographer.
What is Super 8 and Why Should I Add it to My Wedding?
Now that we’re all familiar with film photography, you may be wondering what that other thing I mentioned in the introduction was. . . Beautiful 7? Incredible 9?
Close—it’s Super 8!
Super 8 is a filmmaking medium that dates back to 1965, originally introduced by Kodak as the newest family-friendly, easily-accessible way of movie-making. If you’ve ever sat down on your parents’/grandparents’ couch and watched gritty, shaky home movies from your childhood, chances are that might have been filmed on a Super 8 camera!
You know the ones, where you get to watch your parents get married under the dim lighting of an old church that the camera can’t quite capture. . . where you get to witness the early days of their love and the vacations they took, the dances they shared, the tears they shed before ever deciding to grow their family. These moments are so precious to be able to look back on and experience with the people you love, and it’s all thanks to accessible film mediums like Super 8 that we’re able to do so.
Film photography is a beautiful, timeless way to capture still moments; to freeze them in a singular frame, but Super 8 does more—it captures the movement of those moments. The way your partner brushes their thumb over your cheek when a happy tear falls down your face. The smile that lights up your eyes when they crack a joke that you find hysterical. The movement of your hair blowing in a breeze as the two of you stroll along a beach at sunset. The gentle grasp of your partner’s fingertips as their hand envelops yours.
Super 8 is dreamy, textural, and made for the moments you wish you could touch over and over again—aka every moment of your once-in-a-lifetime wedding day that you’ve worked tirelessly to bring to life.
6 Reasons to Add Film to Your Vermont Wedding or Elopement
You’ve got the gist of what film and Super 8 each have to offer, and why they’re so dang special. Now, let’s talk about why you should add one (or both!) of them to your upcoming wedding instead of simply throwing a film filter over the iPhone photos your friends took.
1. Film is timeless, not trendy
In an online age where we are constantly being bombarded by trends—fashion, music, art, style, etc.—it’s no wonder we feel so pressured to go along with what’s popular. What’s trendy. What could help us go “viral.” But here’s the thing: if you choose to plan your wedding around current trends, your photos will inevitably go out of style. . . and when you look back in 10, 20, 30 years, you’ll wish you’d opted for timelessness over trends.
I don’t know about you, but when I think about capturing memories of my life and my love, I don’t want trendiness to be at the forefront. I don’t want to take a photo because I’ve seen it everywhere on Pinterest, or choose a certain theme just because it’s “in” right now.
Fortunately for you, both film photography and Super 8 are timeless at their core. They naturally produce the kind of footage and effortless style that makes you wonder what decade it’s from—in the best way possible. Instead of editing your photos or videos for trendiness, aesthetics, and virality, film barely needs to be edited—it’s already romantic, nostalgic, and beautiful as is. In its natural state. No heavy filters, tones that don’t match your actual wedding colors, or smoothing-out that makes your photos feel like AI created them: film allows (and encourages) your wedding day memories to be gritty, raw, and perfectly imperfect.
2. Film forces you to choose presence over perfection
You already know that perfection isn’t even a word in my playbook—something that I will NEVER expect of you, your love, or myself. Getting in front of the camera on your wedding day isn’t an opportunity to put on a performance, an air of perfection: it’s an opportunity to capture the real stuff as is, chaos and all. And this is exactly what film and Super 8 encourage.
Because you don’t get the chance to look at film photos as soon as they’re taken, and you can’t see exactly how they’ll turn out on the screen, you are literally forced to be okay with imperfect photos! You have no other option. Same thing with Super 8: these vintage cameras don’t usually have many settings I can adjust, so my goal will never be to get the perfect lighting, or the perfect shot: it will only ever be to bring out the perfectly-imperfect you. You, as you bask in the love you receive on your wedding day; you, as you share your first kiss with your partner as newlyweds; you, as you listen to your loved ones share emotional toasts that leave tears streaming down your face.
Yes, it’s tempting to want your hair to look flawless, to ask your grandparents to please smile more for the camera, or to feel self-conscious about the way your wedding attire might appear on camera, but when you allow that desire for perfection to take over, it completely takes away from the moment you’re in. Digital cameras can often make you feel like your smile, your pose, your style has to match the perfect quality of the photos. . . but with film, you feel a little more freedom to just let go.
This is why I love bringing film and Super 8 into weddings: you have no other choice than to live in the moment and experience it to its fullest, because there are no guarantees that it’ll be captured perfectly. You have no other choice than to prioritize presence, both with each other and with the people you’ve invited to cheer you on.
And honestly? The imperfect photos are often the ones we end up loving the most.
The ones with a little bit of blur that end up capturing the wild, chaotic energy of your wedding party as they help you get ready. The ones that accidentally focus on the dew-covered blades of grass instead of the piece of decor I was looking at, preserving the freshness of the earth the morning of your wedding. The ones in between the prompts and poses when the shutter is accidentally clicked, capturing a completely candid family moment as it was.
Memories aren’t just for looking at later: they’re for living in now, and it’s impossible to do that when performative perfection is what you’re looking to achieve.
3. Film asks you to slow down
Film doesn’t rush. It remembers. And that’s kinda the point.
I think we can learn a lot from film. It forces us to get rid of our instinct to rush, to create and find and seek perfection, to believe that we have a million chances to “get it right” and never stop to appreciate each and every one.
Because here’s the honest truth: Legacy doesn’t always show up in big, staged moments. it lives in the little things—the quiet cup of coffee you sip before you head to your wedding venue, the soft laughs shared between loved ones during cocktail hour, the late night snacks you munch on during a break from the dance floor. Documenting it all is the only way to hold onto it.
Film and Super 8 encourage the kind of slow that lets the magic return. It reminds you that the stuff you want to remember shows up when you slow down: the light in the room as you stepped into your dress, the shadows on the ground, the in-between stuff.
It teaches you to move through life differently. To care less about how the photo looks and more how the moment feels. To trust the process and sit with the patience that is required to get your results; to toss instant gratification to the side in service of something more meaningful in the long term.
I think that sometimes, the best memories are the ones where everyone gets a little lost in the celebration and a little found in each other. Lost in the laughs, the drinks, the desserts, the songs, the emotions, the chaos. . . this is what photos should feel like too.
Not something we rush through. Not a box we check. But a pocket of time where we notice the things that are usually too quiet, too soft, too fleeting to catch when we’re moving fast. When we’re rushing through a timeline, trying to wrangle up all the family members, or making sure vendors have arrived on time.
These are the moments we don’t appreciate enough until they’re gone, but that the mediums of film and Super 8 allow us to freeze in the most imperfect, nostalgic, and present way possible.
4. Film has its limitations
You know that saying, “Restrictions breed creativity?” I’ve seen this apply to many areas of life and business, and it’s so relevant to working with film during your wedding or elopement. Because film cameras don’t give us the full scope of possibilities that digital ones do, we’re kinda forced to play around, experiment, and get creative!
We can’t always get the perfect lighting, the perfect focus, or the perfect angle with every shot we take—because we’re limited by our rolls of film. So instead of focusing on perfection each and every time, how can we make every shot more creative, fun, and intentional? How can we allow the restrictions of film cameras to foster freedom, exploration, and more purposeful images?
It’s so easy in today’s world to just snap a million photos on your iPhone that you’ll probably never look at again, so the intentionality of film and the restrictions it brings can actually be really freeing, opening up a world of opportunities that you wouldn’t have considered if you weren’t forced to be a little more careful with each and every film photo, each and every Super 8 clip.
5. Film creates variety in your gallery
Who doesn’t love a little more variety in the photos they’re paying for? The nostalgia and grit of film is simply something that can’t be replicated with digital mediums, no matter how great of a film filter you slap on there. It’s SO fun to have a gallery filled with crisp, clear, and clean digital shots to use for things like thank-you cards and wedding announcements, but to also have a section of photos that are just a little less perfect, a little less flawless, and a little more you.
6. Film is made to print, preserve, and pass down
Your gallery deserves more than to live on a screen; it deserves to be printed, touched, and passed down—and film offers the perfect way to do that. To not just scroll through your photos on your phone once every few months, but to hold them in your hands.
Here’s what often happens: you open your online gallery and feel your wedding day all over again—the laughter, the smiles, the drunken stories, stepping back into the way it was.
You picture yourself printing the best photos, maybe to frame in that spot on your bedroom wall that’s just been begging to be filled with a precious memory, or maybe in an album that you can lay on your favorite coffee table. You love the idea of sitting down with your gallery, carefully selecting your favorites and designing each page. . . but then the dishes get dirty. The emails pile up. The thank-you notes that have to get written, the emails that need to be replied to, the million tiny things that fill another day. And just like that, the album you meant to make stays a beautiful idea instead of a precious memory to pass down to future generations.
That’s why I’m thrilled to announce that custom album design is something I’ve dreamed of offering for years, and now it is finally here. It is such a gift to be able to take this task off your shoulders and allow you to simply sit back & bask in that post-wedding bliss, while I do the heavy lifting! What an honor to curate and craft an heirloom album that will live in your family for years to come, and be something you can always come back to when you need a reminder of how your marriage journey began.
Hiring Your Vermont Film & Super 8 Wedding Photographer
Curious about what it would look like to add one (or both) of these romantic, nostalgic, and timeless film mediums to your wedding? Film and Super 8 can be added to any wedding package right at booking or at any point in the process, as can custom album design. Drop me an email if you’re already booked with me, or fill out my contact form here to get started!
If you’re not quite ready to reach out yet, I’ve handpicked a few more wedding & elopement resources I know you’ll adore in the meantime:
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