SAVANNAS | FT. PIERCE, FL

The Savannas in Ft. Pierce, Florida was so beautiful!! So much wildlife, fishing ALL day long and a fabulous breeze! If you are a bird watcher, there were so many birds I couldn’t photograph them all! I tried though! I’m not much of a bird photographer. In fact, I really don’t like photographing birds. . .but the documenter in me had to snap a few!

As soon as we pulled into our site, our neighbors greeted us and told us to watch out for the gators even though they hadn’t seen any during their stay. Y’all! WIthin twenty minutes of us being there we saw THREE! Once we got our camper set up, we immediately threw out our lines and caught some good sized large mouth bass. We also fed a gator!! Not intentionally! Trey had caught a bass and a gator snapped it right. off. his. line. Then went into a death roll with it clenched in it’s teeth. Yep, that was pretty awesome! Didn’t catch that fun part on video but I did get the aftermath of it all! lol

On our second night we decided to go check out downtown Ft. Pierce and found a fabulous new restaurant, Crabby’s Dockside Grill. It was a beautiful restaurant located right on the water. We saw so many fish while we were eating. We saw Sheep Head and Snook! We also made several friends. One family we met after dinner. They were there celebrating her mother’s birthday. I got to chatting with her mom and dad who used to travel to the Keys regularly. They gave us some great advice and spots to check out! NOTED IT ALL! lol

Trey even got out the drone and took some beautiful photographs and videos of the wetlands and of our campground. Such an incredible place here in Florida!!

Can’t wait for our next expedition!!!

Lauren + Brendon | Atlanta Botanical Gardens Engagement Session

I was supposed to meet Lauren and Brendon at Piedmont Park in Atlanta. Once I drove up to the park I noticed it was mass chaos! The park was under construction for Music Midtown the following weekend. There was no way the park was an option. Last minute plan B - The Atlanta Botanical Gardens! It was the beyond beautiful.

While, we were amongst tourists and not one but TWO weddings happening that evening, you would never know from their photographs! We found all the gorgeous nooks of the gardens and took our time exploring.

Lauren and Brendon first laid eyes on one another about a month before they started dating. While at the Mella Hotel, they made eye contact. However, they lost each other in the sea of people attending the event. One month later Lauren was out with friends, enjoying the night! Guess who showed up and greeted her?! Brendon! They danced the night away and ended the night at a friend’s roof top party, staring off into the Atlanta skyline.

Here we are over six years later. Lauren and Brendon will be getting married at her family’s estate for an October wedding! I know it will be another magical night!

KayLeigh and Michael | Arabia Mountain Engagement Session

I am so excited for this couple!! I met KayLeigh through her grandmother, Pamela. Pamela and I have been friends for about eight years or so and I just love her! When Pamela would talk about her granddaughter, I knew that I would love her too! KayLeigh arrived at my office for her consultation after her and Michael got engaged and she was just beaming!! I got to meet Michael for their engagement session just a few weeks ago and he is a wonderful person and, together, they are just amazing!

KayLeigh and Michael went to middle and high school together but they never knew each other existed until years later. KayLeigh’s best friend, Samantha, was also Michael’s best friend in high school. Out of the blue, Samantha said to KayLeigh, “You know who you would be good with?" Michael Baker!” Kayleigh immediately went to social media and looked him up. She realized they were already Facebook friends. She never reached out to him after looking him up but she did think he was SUPER handsome!

Several months later, she was scrolling through social media and his picture popped up, so she gave it a little “thumbs up” and went on about her day. About two months later HE reached out to her AND asked her on a date!! KayLeigh was filled with joy that he had asked her on a date.

Their first date was such a huge hit, they went to Tin Lizzie’s and became best friends instantly and have been inseparable ever since. 

A few months before Michael proposed, he went to KayLeigh’s grandparents house and asked for her Poppie’s blessing. He knew he couldn’t tell her mom OR her grandmother because they aren’t the best at keeping secrets from KayLeigh. They are just so close!

KayLeigh and Michael had a weekend getaway planned for Jekyll Island in Georgia. On May 25th he wanted to go grab dinner at this place next to their hotel. KayLeigh thought that was odd because she didn’t realize there was anything next to their hotel. But, of course she agreed. Instead of walking on the sidewalk to go the restaurant, Michael asked if she wanted to walk on the beach to get to it which was an immediate YES from her. As they were walking down the beach, KayLeigh saw a man down on one knee and a woman standing up next to him. Her immediate reaction was “Oh my goodness, how sweet! I think he is proposing”. She later found out that this was the guy who Michael had hired to take pictures of their engagement and the woman was his assistant. At last, Michael was able to get KayLeigh in front of him and when she turned around to see why he stopped walking, he was down on one knee asking her to marry him!!!

PURE shock ran through her! While she knew with everything inside of her that she would marry this man, she had NO clue that he would be asking her to be his wife that weekend. She shed so many happy tears that day. 

KayLeigh mentioned in an email to me, “I fell in love with Michael extremely fast & it truly surprised me how strong my feelings were for him. He has showed to be the most caring, loving, funniest, most adorable human being I’ve ever met. While our story brought us together on social media, there is no doubt in my mind that God would have drawn us together another way if social media didn’t work. God knew exactly who my soulmate and partner would be the moment he made me and I’m so glad that Michael was that person.”

And that is so true! God has created us and our partners WAY before we knew how to talk! Isn’t that so beautiful?! To know that when we walk in faith and trust our Savior, He will always be there to provide our hearts desires!

KayLeigh and Michael, Congratulations!! I cannot wait to see you two say “I Do”!!

Shauna + Patrick | Covington, Ga Engagement Session

I met Shauna through my relationship with her sister and brother-in-law, Ciara and Mark Edge. I went to high school with Mark, almost 20 years ago (holy cow, how is that possible?!) and when him and his wife, had their first baby, I got to photograph their first born, Conner’s newborn session. We’ve kept in touch over the years and I’ve gone on to photograph many family sessions for them. I’ve loved getting to know them! Their babies are INCREDIBLE!! I’m not just saying that either. I really mean it! They have the most joyous children and I know it’s because of how they are raising their babes. . .they are my serious goals!!

When Ciara’s sister got engaged, she suggested Shauna get in touch with me about photographing her wedding. I can’t thank her enough for that kind gesture! When I met Shauna and Patrick for the first time during our consultation, I fell in love with them both! They are the sweetest couple! They shared their proposal story with me and it’s just so romantic!

While in college, Shauna and Patrick met through mutual friends almost 11 years ago. Throughout those years, they remained good friends, seeing each other at annual events. No matter how much time would pass between events, they always hit it off and would pick back up right where they left off, joking and being silly with one another. It wasn’t until they went to a friend’s Halloween party that they finally saw each other in a different light!

Patrick, dressed in jeans and a Batman mask, and Shauna in her handmade Hamburgalar costume (somehow, she wasn’t the only Hamburgalar at the party!), the two hung out and enjoyed each other’s company all night. They parted ways for the evening but ended up meeting back up the next day! While navigating the chaos at the end of Georgia Tech’s homecoming game, Shauna came across Patrick. The night before, Shauna’s interest in Patrick had been peaked but he didn’t know it. After spending time with him, that next day at the game, they became like magnets the rest of the day. That next week they went on their first official date. Although, Shauna almost turned him down - eek! The idea of a “first official date” may have freaked her out a bit but luckily she went! It was immediate chemistry for the two!

They dated for two years and during that time, their love grew for one another. Although, they both had spoken about their future together, Shauna wasn’t convinced of a proposal anytime soon. What she didn’t know, is Patrick was about to blow her mind and give her a surprise of a lifetime!

Shauna’s sister, Ciara, is a chorus teacher. She had been teaching her kids about the play, Aladdin and she saw that the Fox Theatre was offering that show. Ciara, turned it into the perfect field trip for her students and when Shauna found out about it , her love of theater kicked in and she wanted in too! Ciara’s husband, Mark, is a police officer and is friends with the security officers that work at the Fox Theatre. The two surprised Shauna with an invitation for a backstage tour of the Fox Theatre! It turned into to be a huge event for their entire family, as it was also, Shauna and Ciara’s dad’s birthday too! Soon, the entire family joined in but they couldn’t leave Patrick out! Patrick, reluctantly accepted an 8:00am touring of the Fox with Shauna’s entire family.

They arrived, early that morning and began their tour with the head of security as their personal tour guide. They walked through the magnificent rooms and finally found themselves on the roof top in front of the iconic Fox Theatre sign. Patrick pulled Shauna in front of her entire family, he dropped to one knee and asked her if she would marry him! Shauna, shocked and totally elated, began to hug and kiss Patrick - she totally forgot about the ring! Patrick put that gorgeous ring on Shauna’s hand and the two left the Fox Theatre, no longer boyfriend and girlfriend but ENGAGED!!!

As it turns out, Patrick had been working with Shauna’s entire family to come up with the ruse to lure her to the Fox Theatre and share this special moment with them all. Man, he’s good!! Shauna and Patrick, I am so excited for you two and I cannot wait to photograph your big day later this year!