The day before their wedding I touched base with Ellie just to check in since they had traveled to Roanoke from Texas and were taking care of some last minute details. Ellie did have a special favor to ask. It seems that Bryan REALLY wanted to have an old fashioned straight razor shave just to make this day a little more special. He had spent a good part of the week just trying to find a place that still did them since it appeared the straight razor shave had gone the way of a two bit haircut.

Well, he finally found Esquire Barber Salon, an old-fashioned barber shop on 11th Street that still did them and he really wanted this part of his day photographed. Could I possibly oblige? Seemed like fun to me, so I prepared for the day a little earlier than usual and headed over to the shop just as the groom’s entourage was arriving.

The shave went really well, and Bryan seemed to enjoy a bit of groom pampering. That is, until the end when he got a little wake up call from the alcohol rub on his freshly shaven face. As for me, I loved photographing this little ritual. I was just a wee bit nervous at the beginning when I looked down as the straight razor was about to start its glide right above Bryan’s jugular. It was apparent that Bryan’s barber was just a wee bit shaky being photographed on the job. Nevertheless, he insisted that we continue to document this special part of the day and he did a stellar job. Bryan lived to tell with minimal blood loss.