Well, it took me long enough but I can finally share that amazing experience. : )
And my absolute favorite from the day...
I can not say enough good things about this day. The only somewhat unhappy moment was when I felt nauseous on the car ride home. And I think that is only because I get sick in cars with manual transmission. : )
I had the extreme pleasure of shooting alongside Troy Battle, a fabulous photographer who is just a joy to work with. He was so chill and with it and just a cool guy to be around. On our 1.5 hour drive to Orlando, I had no idea I was about to fall in love with a family of complete strangers. Troy dropped me off so that I could shoot the groom getting ready. He was so kind to make sure I had settled in nice and cozy, and when we walked into the hallway of the building the grooms room was in, I heard two men talking to the sweet couple that let us into the locked door. They had English accents and I remember asking Troy in my most squeakily excited voice, "Do you think they are with the groom?!" Smirking, he replied, "Hm, I dont know." We no sooner turned the corner, knocked on the door and a striking red headed man opened it and greeted us with that same accent we just heard. My heart did a high kick. His name was Jake, and yes, he was the GROOM! I walked into the most hospitable, charming, AMAZING group of people. I was so happy with humanity in this very moment. If you know me, I have a sweet spot for a British accent. This is no doubt the reason why I love Harry Potter so ardently. I've always secretly wished I had one.
So as the day went by, I got to spend some good time surrounded by these lovely people, all of which had flown over straight from England. It was so fun to compare our countries and cultures on the car ride to the Church. I certainly hit the dorky American girl jackpot. lol
I met Jake's bride before the ceremony and she was a catch as well. Rebecca was glowing and her mouth was the one thing that I could not help noticing. She has the most remarkable smile and it shows so much of her personality, I felt like I knew her instantly. It was clear that this was a perfect couple. I could not wait to see them together!
The ceremony was beautiful, we got to spend a good amount of time alone at the resort with the couple before the reception, definitely a photographer's dream come true. We had so much fun but of course it came to an end and we were off to the reception. The boat ride across the lake was super fun and so different from the average reception transportation, I could not believe how awesome all of the details of this day were. I love different. We arrived at the reception and this is where I met the person responsible for those brilliant details, the coordinator Tracy Marini of Eventfully-Yours. She was a dream, everything was so put together, and it all felt so stress free. I certainly dont think Im the only one who sees that as one of the most important aspects of a wedding. Tracy really took care of us, she made sure we ate, some delish eats of course, and even had cake and food ready for us to take home. I cant begin to imagine how she makes her brides feel! If ever you were to hire someone to take care of your wedding day, this is the company to look to for help. Even if you werent planning on having a coordinator, check out Eventfully-yours, it is definitely a good move.
As the reception went on, I fell more and more in love with this AMAZING group of people. I completely wanted to adopt BOTH families to be mine, if only for a month. The entire night, my heart was dancing...it all secured that this is what I was meant to do. Now that I have bored you to tears with my readers digest version (which is never ever short enough) I will shut up. It was just such a delightful experience, all of it.
I just want to say thank you to Troy, Jake and Rebecca for letting me be a part of it. Jake and Rebecca, it was a great pleasure to meet you and be a part of your day. I wish you the best!
