Tampa, Florida photographer | Theresa Marie | the blog

Alani & Ian | Wedding - Winter Park, FL

Oh my goodness. I can think of no other way to start this post than with those words. Alani & Ian are so incredibly fabulous and from the moment I talked to her on the phone, I knew I would adore Alani for the sweet and laid back girl she is. Their day was as relaxed as they dreamed it would be and just as colorful as they are together. I cant even express how blessed I feel to have had the honor to capture their wedding story and spend time with their delightful family and friends on the most important day of their lives.

Alani & Ian's wedding took place at the Winter Park Racquet Club on a Saturday Evening in October. Their colorful wedding dreams were brought to life by the lovely Brittany Sobering and the girls from E-Events Design and it was a joy to experience just how smooth and stress-free they can make a wedding day feel. Edson Pacheco was there to document the day with his sensational videography, and this is a little sneak peek into their beautiful wedding through my lens:

I couldnt stop telling her how exquisite she looked. Thankfully us women dont get sick of hearing it! : )

I dont know what it is about it but I LOVE this capture. I definitely think that killer veil helps. My favorite bouquet photo.

Alani's aunt performed their ceremony and its obvious just how much it meant to her. It was perfection.

Could this be any hotter?! That is a darn sexy first kiss, look at them!

One of my favorite photos. Ever.

Just as we were finishing the family photos and getting to one of the very best parts of the day, it started sprinkling. Thankfully we worked it out and got our alone time before the reception. Personally, I am smitten with the rain and would love for it to rain on my wedding day but hair and makeup can get messy if you're out in the middle of it. Alani and Ian were both so chill about rain on their day and worked it out like the rockstars they are!

 Leigh Taylor came as a second camera to help me document the day and she hung out with the guys while I was with the girls. Between the both of us, we definitely came to the conclusion that Alani and Ian's incredibly large wedding party is incredibly awesome. : )

Brittany, Lisa and Jessy from E-Events are responsible for how ridiculously gorgeous everything is. They did a sensational job putting Alani and Ian's day together.

Colorful, casual and Sweet. Just like Alani and Ian summed up in three words. : )

Their entrance! Oh my goodness, I couldnt STOP smiling and giggling behind the camera along with a few cheers screamed out! This was such a surprise and I absolutely LOVED it. I completely fell more in love with Alani and Ian at this moment as if that was even possible.

I couldnt even attempt to describe how awesome it is so I added a really fun video that one of their guests grabbed and put up on Youtube. I am so very grateful for being able to re-live their entrance and the fabulousness of their dancing. I laugh out loud everytime I watch it. I can guarantee you that I will watch it again once I finish this post. : )

Seriously?! I LOVE the emotion of this photo.

Ian's Best man and younger brother giving his toast, which has to be the longest and most incredible toasts Ive ever witnessed. Those are definitely watery eyes and I bet you can guess I had them as well.

Their surprise Sparkler exit. It was so fun having everyone crowded around them as they ran out of the circle of people that love them most. The perfect ending.

Sonia & Michael | Wedding Pre-Sneak

Here are a couple of my favorite images from Sonia and Michael's wedding on Friday.

I know I've been MIA lately, I've been so swamped. I Promise Ill be back soon with more from these weddings, Im working on it as you read!

eight cubed.

I am always excited about fun dates, this time Im not talking about the kind of date where you go out to dinner then take a long walk on the beach. I am the one who will make a big deal about how the numbers of a date fall, like 06.07.08 while everyone is either not phased by it or dont even realize. Ive always loved numbers, the fact that they are the universal language fascinates me. It seemed to suit me well that I started dating Nicholas in 2000 and now every anniversary that we have falls exactly on that year; four years in 2004, seven in 2007 etc. That is like the coolest thing in the world to me and I didnt even try!

So when Jeff Mason emailed me to request that I second shoot for him at a wedding on 08.08.08 I hold nothing back by telling you that I was elated and proceeded to skip around in joy. : ) I really wanted to do something fun this year and I didnt have anything planned yet...so to shoot a wedding alongside a pretty cool guy like Jeff makes for a pretty fun day in my book.

Here are a few from the day:

I got this vision on the car ride there. It just HIT me, Im just so glad it came out like I planned.

Loved her bouquet.

Anticipation.

Her last steps, I love when brides come down the stairs for the grand entrance. I dont know what it is but it looks so elegant, sort of like she is a princess. well aren't they all on their wedding day?! I think this is my favorite image to date.

Some time to be along together before the reception, this is my favorite part of the day. I think each newly wed couple should make time for this, even if there aren't photographers following you around the whole time. If there are, then I recommend at least 45 minutes! : )

Thanks so much Jeff for inviting me along, it was so nice to meet you and working with you was a pleasure! If you are reading this, thanks to Cassie and Chris for having me and being so darn sweet!

Time warp?

Last month I shot along Kerri McConnell at the beautiful wedding of Sarah and Chris Jones at the Don Vincente Historic Inn in Ybor. Sarah was a GORGEOUS bride! She was surrounded by such sweet, loving people and kept her cool the entire day. I loved all the details of her wedding, her colors were rich and the whole theme and atmosphere made you feel like you were stuck in the 1920's.

Kerri and I were well taken care of and in good company. Jackie with Table 6 Productions made sure we were fed and had everything we needed. I also had the opportunity of meeting Rob of Sword Sounds, who is a fantastic DJ and such a joy to work with!

Here are a few of my favorite images from the day:

Her bouquet was KILLER. I knew it was going to be a beautiful day when I saw this.

Who doesnt love a bride in Stilettos?

Does this not look like I jumped in a time machine, went to the year 1920, and took a photo of a lovely bride named Sarah? (with my 2008 camera of course)

Had to take FULL advantage of those windows. First the gorgeous dress, now the gorgeous bride in the gorgeous dress. : )

I always love those feelings you get watching the first dance.

I *so love the feel of this wedding. Thanks everyone for letting me be a part of your day!

Just one

Ill have more details later, but here is one of my favorites from a wedding last month. Stay tuned! you like my talk show-ness?? I never watch them so I have no idea where that came from. I refrained from deleting it to preserve the ridiculousness of it. : )

Get Ready....'cause Here I Come

I am so excited for this! The weddings website is live! Finally, right?!

You can check it out by clicking here : )

It took me forever to find the right website I wanted to use until I could build my own. The perfectionist in me wants to have a completely custom wedding website full of color and awesomeness but it would require a large chunk of time, so I have settled for a temporary website for now. I still love this one, the only thing I would really change is the font. But I am letting go and focusing on my brides for right now and perfecting the Theresa Marie Photography experience. This site is beautiful and will serve its purpose until my dream website can be revealed! 

Can you tell I love Rebecca's bouquet? Tommy from Greenery Productions does such gorgeous work!

Oh what a night...

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!

For now....

I have a FUNTASTIC experience to share with you all but for right now this is all I can do...

Promise to update with more photos later! : )

Jason and Katie :: engaged

Meet Jason and Katie.

Jason and Katie are super. They met me in Ybor for some fun engagement shots and it was almost the most perfect day for it. (it was ultra cloudy so there was no sun for some fun flare) They were naturals in front of the camera and totally didn't mind playing kissy face for me! I love that. I adore them. Good people = beautiful people = awesome photos.

Just a few of my faves:

Aren't they such a beautiful couple?

Thanks guys, for sharing your Monday with me. I had such a great time and cant wait to show you the rest of the session!