Stephanie + James

Wedding season is back in full gear, and we are so excited to have a busy spring and summer!  We’ll have lots to blog about, so please keep coming back:)  Stephanie + James got married at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Ybor City, and their reception followed at the Davis Island Garden Club.  This was our first time working both venues (ironically there’s a Our Lady of Perpetual Help church in Hawaii that we have worked a bunch of times), so we were very excited. We always love working new venues, as it is a fresh environment, which really gets the creative juices flowing. A lot of people take that as a negative if your photographer has never shot there before, but I’ve never really seen it that way.

This was our first Catholic wedding in Florida as well. However, we are no strangers to them. We’ve literally shot hundreds of Catholic weddings in Hawaii, so we definitely understand what is going on. I may not be Catholic, but I pretty much have the entire service memorized:)

The couple got ready at Le Meridian in downtown Tampa. We got some great getting ready shots! I especially love the shots we got of Stephanie in the hallway lobby. The lights going down the hallway made for some beautiful images. They chose to see each other before the wedding, so we did the first look on the beautiful stairway in the front of the hotel.  I love watching the groom’s reaction to seeing his bride in her dress for the first time. I know a lot of people don’t want to see each other beforehand, but I (like most photographers) am a big fan.

From there, we journey to the University of Tampa for a quick shoot before the ceremony.  I love shooting at UT because it seems like every time I go there, we are able to find a new spot. The one thing I never want to do is shoot every wedding and engagement shoot the exact same! Every wedding is different and unique, and I’m a firm believer the pictures should be as well.

After the ceremony, we headed to the Davis Island Garden Club. Special thanks to Pea to Tree Events for their coordination and set-up.  The reception room was gorgeous!  We took the couple to the back by the water and got some more great shots. One thing I really love about this wedding is the fact that we were able to get photos in so many different locations. It gives a great variety within the photos, which is never a bad thing.

Everyone had a great time at the reception, especially for the Hora Loca. I had to do a little research beforehand since I had no idea what that was. Basically there were three performers in flashy costumes dancing. And oh yeah, they were on stilts! It was awesome!!!  It was especially amazing how well they could dance on those stilts. I’m pretty sure I would have come crashing down in no time, lol.

Here are some of our favorite images from the wedding. Enjoy! 20