Earlier this year my good friend Errol reached out to me because he wanted to capture his surprise engagement to his (soon to be) fiance Aline. I’m not going to lie, I had the time of my life planning this surprise engagement and the images turned out ah-mazing. There were so many smiles and a few of the sweetest tears. I LOVED it. I couldn’t wait for their wedding. But as luck would have it, Errol and Aline were due to be married at the Lightner Museum the day Hurricane Irma set her sights on St Augustine. We held out as long as we possibly could hoping we could have the wedding before the hurricane hit. Unfortunately, the wedding was scheduled for 10 am and there was a mandatory evacuation starting at 8 am.

Errol and Alina decided to elope that weekend in Washington D.C. so they could be married on their original date. However, Alina did not wear her wedding dress and instead made him wait to see her in it during their wedding portraits. We decided to go back to Alpines Grove park where they had their surprise engagement. It was so fun to see it come full circle, but this time it was Aline, stunning in her dress, that had the surprise for Errol. His reaction was so perfect. The entire session was perfect. The weather was beautiful and the lighting was gorgeous. But I really loved that we just got to take our time and have fun with these photos without the pressure of a wedding reception waiting for us.

A hurricane canceling your wedding is just about every Florida brides nightmare. But everything happened for a reason, these wedding portraits are so stunning and for everything to come full circle at Alpines Grove with another exchange of surprises was just too perfect and meaningful for words.

Errol and Aline, thank you for trusting me with your big/crazy/date changing/ hurricane won’t stop you day!