Michele & Rickie - #meetthemillers2017

I spent this past week in Varadero, Cuba photographing the wedding of my dear friends, "The Millers" (previously referred to as Michele & Rickie)

The Millers were married at the Iberostar Laguna Azul Resort, surrounded by many of their family & friends, who traveled from seven different airports to attend! What a dedicated bunch of loved ones!

This wedding hosted a lot of firsts for me. Not only was it my first destination wedding, but it was also the first time my (oh-so-lovely) fiance second shot for me! Needless to say, theres a good chance I'll hire him in the future! ;) haha. Continuing, it was also the first time I saw the entire guest list jig at the reception, not to mention my first push-up competition between the groom and Uncle Ed! (For the record, Uncle Ed won!) I started the day off with Michele, getting ready in the suite. I snuck downstairs to get some photos of the guys, and then headed back up. After Michele's hair & makeup were done, and dress was on, we revealed her to her mom. That's when the tears rolled!... Even from behind the lens! haha talk about emotional! Michele and Rickie opted for a first glance, and so I took Rickie outside, turned him away from Michele's view and let her walk to him. Check out the photos to see his reaction when he saw his gorgeous bride! We headed down to the ceremony location shortly after. That is when my friend married the man of her dreams! (and now, her reality!) With a beautiful sand ceremony, and ring exchange, it was time to kiss the bride! But wait, everyone hold for the unknown man in the blue speedo to stroll right through the ceremony! (Seriously, do people have no courtesy?) Moving on, the first kiss was spicy! Seriously, a photographers dream! Passion, and laughter when they went back for more! The ceremony was concluded with a champagne toast with all the guests! Followed by family photos, and a few wedding party photos before we whisked the bride and groom away for some shots of just them. The (now official) "Millers" rented a taxi to take us to an old mansion & golf course. The taxi was a gold, 1956 BelAir. Another dream for this photographer! Comfortable, and a convertible! Score. The day could seriously not have been any better. The bride could not have possibly been any more beautiful, (ok, the groom cleaned up nicely too!) and the guests of the couple could not have been any more kind! I met a lot of new and wonderful people, and I look forward to keeping in touch! We ended the week off with a sunrise trash the dress session in both the ocean, and the pool! (Happy to report, Michele's dress dried in record time!) I'll be posting some of those images in their own blog post in the future, but I'll throw one or two in this blog post just because! :)

It's a really special thing when two people fall in love. I wish you two the happiest life together, filled with love, babies (yes, fur babies count too) and laughter. Thank you for allowing me to capture your beautiful wedding day! Love you two!

To The Millers! #MeettheMillers2017