Wedding - Church of the Little Flower - Rania + Andy

Wedding

Nov 1

If you live in South Florida, you know how crazy and unpredictable our weather can be. One day is a sunny, beach-ready day while the following is a tropical depression - literally. Last Saturday's wedding day was the latter. Now, before you start with the "It's like raaai-aaaain on your wedding day" lyrics by Alanis Morissette, let me make one thing clear: October 28th was the single most perfect, fun, and love-filled day for Rania and Andy - and I don't think they would change one thing about it, even the rain!

We arrived at the Trump National Doral with the same enthusiasm we do when we are about to start a new wedding day. This day we decided to step it up a notch, we knew that we needed to keep the energy level high as our first goal was to reassure the bride that a little rain wasn't going to get in the way of her special day. This task was not difficult to do - when we walked into the bridal suite, Rania was already surrounded by positive vibes with her sister, cousin, mother and bridesmaids by her side. Right away, we let her know not to worry about her outdoor portraits. Because the rain was out of anyone's control, we told Rania if she is willing to get dolled up in her wedding gown once more, we would be willing to come out another day to capture the outdoor portraits she envisioned. We hope this put her at ease and helped her focus on her wedding day festivities. Our mission as wedding photographers is to deliver a beautiful final product. We not only document every detail of your day, we want to capture wedding portraits worthy for display. During our final meeting with our couples, we always discuss factoring in time for portraits into the timeline. Some couples opt to do a "first look" where they do portraits prior to the ceremony, some allocate an hour after ceremony for pictures, while others simply plan the post-session ahead of time because of the logistics of their wedding day. In Rania and Andy's case, we offered to do a post-session by circumstance, but we think they will be happy with the option.

Both Rania and Andy got ready at the Trump National Doral - the same resort that would later host their reception. Every aspect of Rania's wedding attire was on point. From her makeup to her unique dress to the red bottoms of her shoes - she was beyond stunning! On the other end of the resort, Andy was anxiously waiting to see his bride. He too was surrounded by positive vibes as he put on the finishing touches before heading to the church. The ceremony was held at The Church of the Little Flower in Coral Gables. The pews were already full of friends and family when we arrived. The rainstorm subsided long enough for the bride to make her grand entrance and the look on the groom's face was priceless. The traditional mass was classy and touching - it was evident throughout the ceremony that these two were truly in love. It was perfect.

A short drive led us back to the hotel where every detail in the ballroom was set to perfection. We always like to take the bride and groom into their venue space for portraits with their decor. We feel that this is a special shot to capture. It's a private moment before they are reunited with all their friends and family. As wedding photographers, we make it our duty to sneak little moments like this in - we did it at the church once the family portraits were over, we did it on the way up the stairs that led to their ballroom and we did it once again before the reception commenced. We do our best to pull our couples aside in a way that doesn't take away from their day. We like to think it helps them slow it down and take it all in! And once that party got started - there was a lot to take in! Everything was wonderful. Their guests were treated to heartfelt speeches as they enjoyed their meal followed by a party to remember. Once dinner was over, friends and family had a blast grabbing a prop and showing their best poses at our open-air photo booth. Rania and Andy got the party started by tossing the bouquet and garter! But wait, there's more. The crowd really got into it when to everyone's surprise the dance floor was visited by dancers, a drummer and stilt walkers during the exciting Hora Loca. The best part was seeing how happy the bride and groom were from start to finish. This was an event to remember!

I started this blog discussing the crazy weather - but as you scroll through the following images you will see that it had no negative effect on this perfect day. As I previously mentioned, I am confident in knowing that Rania and Andy would not have changed a single thing. “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass... it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” -Vivian Greene. And dance while it rained they did!