A video of one moment of a September wedding recently went viral as it captured a battle between the wedding photographer and the stepmother of the bride. The video gained attention once photographer Ashley Easterling posted it on Oct. 3.
Lorna and Josh Gantt were exchanging vows in a candlelit barn on Sept. 8 when the small scuffle for the perfect photo began. Easterling was getting into position to snap the perfect shot of the couple’s first kiss as husband and wife when Lorna’s stepmother suddenly moved in front of Easterling to get her own photo on a smartphone. Easterling was not about to be blocked during the most important moment of the ceremony, so in a second she bodychecks the stepmother and starts snapping photos.
The typical American wedding costs about $35,329 for the bride and groom and their families. Naturally, a stepmother would want to capture the moment that all of this pocket change led up to, but a paid wedding photographer has a job to do.
Lorna had posted the video on her personal Facebook page just days after the wedding and found the moment funny, appreciating Easterling’s determination to do her job. According to a comment from Easterling on Lorna’s post, she had politely asked her stepmother to move several times. The stepmother told Easterling that she wasn’t doing her job properly and proceeded to walk in front of her shot. For her part, Easterling felt that she had to do her job no matter the obstacle.
Easterling also said that she has never before had to ask someone to move more than once. Many wrote comments on her now viral post, congratulating her for getting the stepmother out of the way. As a freelance photographer typically makes between $2,000 and $3,000 for a single-day wedding package, fellow photographers agreed that they would have done the same if they were about to miss a shot.
According to a Facebook post from Lorna on Oct. 6, relations with her stepmother have become tense since the video went viral. Lorna mentions that her relationship with her stepmother has always been rough, but the recent feedback from the video has made her stepmother very upset. The family has even received death threats from the too-impassioned. Despite this concerning backlash, Lorna didn’t appreciate her stepmother’s stubbornness during the ceremony and she continues to side with Easterling.
“I would of [sic] been even more devastated if our first kiss wasn?t captured due to someone stepping in front of the camera,? wrote Lorna in her Facebook post.
