A long long time ago, we met a guy. His name was Ryan (easy to remember), and he was a counselor at a youth leadership program that we have photographed every summer for…15-20 years. He became a friend, and we always looked forward to that week every summer so we could reconnect and hang out a bit amidst the chaos! So last summer, Ryan comes to us and tells us that he’s engaged! He and his new fiance were now living in Nashville where she was doing her residency (she’s a smart one) and he was going to start his career in politics. Their wedding however, was going to be south in West Palm Beach. After lots of emails and hashing out details, they booked us for their wedding and we had to wait 8 months to meet his bride, Kelly.
We got down to WPB the night before and swung by their rehearsal dinner after-party so we could say hi, meet a few people, and grab dinner. We were greeted with a warm hug from literally everyone, and went to bed that night knowing that we were going to have an awesome Saturday! It didn’t disappoint. We had a kind of tricky timeline as far as transportation of Kelly and Ryan, and their bridal party to get to the different photo locations we wanted. Everything ran on time to the minute – something I rarely say on a wedding day! (we usually run on time, but there are so many other elements including the bridal party themselves, hair and makeup, bus drivers, traffic, etc.) I would like to think it was the best example of karma I’ve ever seen – be good to the world and it will be good to you.
Kelly and her family are lucky enough to have a close friend who is also a wedding planner, so Sharon and I spent some time on the phone leading up to the big day, and again, I was greeted with a massive hug on Friday night. I wish I could stick her in my pocket and bring her up to Tallahassee, because I will be sad not to work with her again for a long time! Thanks for making the day run so smoothly!
Withour further adieu, I give you a big massive blog post with possibly too many pictures….but I think you’ll enjoy it. Congrats to Kelly and Ryan!
Wedding Venue: The Lake Pavilion
Planner: Sharon Hill
Floral Design: Kish Events
Disc Jockey: DJ Rob of MCA Events and Productions
Catering: Potions in Motion Catering
Cake: Publix
Bridal hair and makeup, and bridal party makeup: Makeup by Colleen Stone
Bridal party hair: Trisha D’Amico
Rings: Pickett Brothers Jewelers (Jacksonville, FL)
Bridal Gown: Bellissima Bride (shop), designer Wtoo by Watters
Officiant: Pastor Newlin Schafer, Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church (Jacksonville, FL)
Chairs and Linens: South Party Rental
Bride’s Hotel: Hyatt Place West Palm Beach
I always love the getting ready portion of the day…it’s guaranteed to have some fun moments:
Meanwhile the guys….
First Look smiles:
If this is the look that comes over your faces when your bridal party shows up? You know you picked the right friends!
Their friend Richard played the violin for the ceremony – it was such a beautiful touch:
That smirk! Love it so much….
Kylene captures the tighter shot:
While Ryan gets the wide shot that shows the entire scene:
I saw this pink building with striped awnings earlier in the day when we were scouting locations, and knew it would make for a fun shot! It was a little bit of a walk to get there, but then Kelly wanted to keep going further than this so we were in heaven!
This was Kelly’s vision – no joke! The timing was perfect and the sun was setting and giving us this gorgeous orange in the sky.
The Lake Pavilion was such a unique and beautiful location! The huge windows gave us tons of natural light, but we didn’t have to worry about the south Florida humidity:
Kish Events did such a beautiful job on the flowers, and it’s kind of a Florida tradition to have your wedding cake from Publix! I don’t know if any other grocery chain in the country has such a great reputation for weddings….
Cocktail hour at sunset was beautiful, and the spread of food that Potions in Motion Catering put out was so unique and fun to photograph!
DJ Rob of MCA Events and Productions kept the dance floor hopping from the very beginning of the night:
Even the little guys were loving it:
Huge shoutout to Kelly’s sister and maid of honor, Morgan! She gave the funniest and sweetest toast, and just put a smile on our face all day. She’s a student at FSU, and within 5 days of meeting her down in West Palm Beach, we ran into her at a restaurant back in Tallahassee! I love when the world feels small.
The day was perfect from start to finish! Thanks for making our jobs so easy you two, and congrats!