Well, I mentioned in a previous post recently that there were two couples married this Spring that had me shedding tears during our initial consult, mainly surrounding the question of how they first met. I don’t want to bore you by repeating myself so if you read the first paragraph of this post you’ll get the gist of it (or is it jist?). I had the honor of photographing Steve and Dina’s wedding at the Melbourne Beach Community Chapel and their portraits and reception at the Palm Beach Breakers (if my camera could sigh it would.) They had the most intimate ceremony I’ve ever seen – just Steve and Dina, Steve’s son and Dina’s daughter- and me. The privacy heightened the sacred feeling of the ceremony and gave Steve and Dina space to focus on their love, their promises and their family.
Let me introduce you….
This is Dina and her daugther. Dina met Steve during a difficult time in her life. She didn’t want to meet anyone, in fact she didn’t really want to leave her house. But her neighbor insisted.
This is Steve and his son. He was more outgoing than Dina at the time. He was brave enough not only introduce himself but to go so far as to ask Dina “What’s your story?” Not in the pick-up-line kind of way but the genuine way that one person reaches out to another.
She thought she’d be embarrassed to share until he promised he had a story of his own to “top” hers.
(They could have stopped there and the tears would still have come. I have a thing about people’s stories you know.)
And so it began. At a neighbors party two people were introduced. They shared stories and recognized each other as only two people can who have walked on common ground and felt familiar pain. A journey began because Steve and Dina had the courage to be vulnerable and the faith to hope. The night ended with karaoke -a duet- and a standing ovation. I think it is no coincidence that a day that started in suffering ended in singing.
And here I was, blessed to capture the next chapter, a brand new song.
Link at Eau Gallie Florist again, so fun to be working more and more with my Eau Gallie Arts District neighbor!
When children are brought into a marriage there are of course lots of feelings going on and more often than not there is quite a bit of tension. Not so for this new family. I have seen nothing but love come from these kids toward their parents and nothing but kindness toward each other. They are truly united. (Give the kids a few more months, surely they’ll start fighting like mine do right? Please say yes and soothe my parenting anxiety.)
In this picture above you can see what shade looks like in Florida…
Dana came with me for the night in Palm Beach. We drove separate and the Breakers valet parked our cards right out front. How nice of them… Okay not really but we did enjoy some late night dinner and window shopping on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach!
I am in LOVE with this one! I’ve never seen boys this age who were so comfortable and adorable in front of a camera!! They stepped right out of a preppy ad in a magazine!
The Breakers is full of history and built by Henry Flagler and I love all things Flagler of course. First opened in 1896 the hotel has been remodeled and expanded numerous times and even burned to the ground twice. In 1904 rooms started at $4/night (including three meals a day!) When rebuilding began for the second time in 1926, the hotel was modeled after the Villa Medici in Rome and remains an unrivaled masterpiece. Unfortunately this far grander hotel was never seen by Mr. Flagler but is a testament to his vision. (Information gathered from the Breakers Website.) P.S. rooms are no longer $4.00
Dina loves the Breakers. I think she said she has vacationed here every summer with her family for like forever.
The gorgeous group of cousins. Dina and Steve’s extended family came out for the weekend long wedding celebration at The Breakers. FUN!
Loved Dina’s dad. He asked me to be sure to get lots of pictures of him. That wasn’t hard since he’s obviously the life of the party!
This is me asking Dina for smoulder and her acting like she can’t do it…. We’ll see about that…
My fave!
Wait there’s more! We shot an after-wedding session rather than an engagement so that Steve and Dina could relax and have fun without worrying too much about their clothes – or anything really. We met at the beach for this one, such a blast!
a major favorite of mine above (please note the smoulder is coming soon)
AND. THERE. IT. IS. RAWWRRR
Another favorite above!
Very very best wishes to these guys and thank you so much for choosing Angel Gray Photography!