Kara & Jay | August 2021

Over the past 2 years I’ve built a relationship with a local wedding planner named Janet from Beach Weddings Made Simple and it has become a wonderful little partnership. Because of this I recently got to meet and photograph this special wedding moment for Kara and Jay. I have to admit, I’m always excited when I meet other redheads… I simply can’t help it! So meeting Kara on her wedding day, and seeing just how stunning she looked being surrounded by such colorful clothing, well it’s easy to say I was ecstatic! I’m a sucker for color, and even though my personal preference leans toward greens I love when my couple choose to go bolder and fully express themselves.

I met them out at the Mucky Duck on Captiva Island. If you haven’t been out there before I highly recommend you take the trip out. The food is delicious, the atmosphere is so fun and our gorgeous SWFL sunsets are the icing on the coastal cake. Things moved quickly once we got set up on the beach. Jay helped to get his mother all set up so she could watch with pride, Janet set up the sand ceremony for the two of them and Kara came down to the beach. A quick, yet joyous and loving ceremony was preformed, with smiles and some giggles all around from both the couple and a few onlookers.

These intimate ceremonies focus more on just the couple, their time tying the knot and then photos after with family (if present) and then just them. I get to spend a wonderful amount of time talking to and learning about the couple as we shoot and because there are no big ‘“to-do’s” after the ceremony we get to explore the area and create magic images with little time constraints. It really is so much fun!

We wandered down to the waters edge, taking full advantage to the low tide and a little sandbar area. I couldn’t have asked for a clearer sky and a more brilliant sun! What a beautiful way to highlight their love for each other. All the warm tones coming from the sunset and Jay orange shirt has me feeling all warm and fuzzy (and maybe a little sweaty… it is August, lol!) at the end of their session. They truly were just a darling couple and I’m so thrilled to be able to give them these lasting memories. We worked hard to capture their bold, colorful personalities, as well as the sweet and tender nature they showed one another. Some bad Dad jokes and gentle coaching for more intimate moments from me allowed them to feel comfortable and confident in front of the camera.

Congratulations to you two!