A Downtown Fairhope Engagement Session

I love living on the Gulf Coast! However, part of summer living in our area means that you’re going to have to deal with rain. Lots of it too. Our summers are full of afternoon thunderstorms and high chances of rain every day. It makes it tricky scheduling engagement sessions for this time of year, especially when many of my couples are no longer local to our area.

Mary Catherine and Michael were only here for the holiday week. I was worried we wouldn’t get this session in because our original date was rained out. On top of that, the chance of rain was 80 percent for our backup date. I asked Mary Catherine if she wanted to chance it and see what happened. This was the only time they’d be in town ahead of their wedding day next month. As it turned out, it did not rain on this day as was predicted! Even better, the heavy cloud cover cooled things off a bit!

Even though I am not a hot weather person, I love the colorful crepe myrtle blooms that are so plentiful this time of year! I spotted two gorgeous trees right when I arrived in downtown Fairhope and knew I was going to utilize both of them during this session. These trees are often planted as “parking lot” trees because they are so hardy, so yes we were shooting on the edge of a parking lot for some of these photos, but you totally can’t tell from the camera perspective. I am obsessed with the color they brought to these portraits!

Mary Catherine and Michael have just a little over a month to go before their wedding day! I’m super excited because they’re getting married at one of my favorite places, Bellingrath Gardens! As many times as I’ve been to Bellingrath, I didn’t even realize there was a chapel on property until Mary Catherine told me. While I’ve done engagement portraits at Bellingrath before, theirs will be my first wedding to photograph at the gardens. I know it’s going to be beautiful!

After spending time with these two at their engagement session, I felt like I’d known Mary Catherine and Michael for years. They’re just the sweetest couple and so excited for their wedding day. During the session, Mary Catherine told me she never knew taking pictures could be so much fun. That comment just made my day because I strive to make every session both relaxed and fun for my clients! Thank you Mary Catherine and Michael for an amazing session. I can’t wait to see you two again next month!

 

A Spring Hill College Engagement

Eden and Hunter’s wedding will be my first of 2021! I LOVE January weddings more than most people around here because I am a cool-weather person. Cozy sweaters and winter coats are my thing! When it’s hot and humid outside with a 100 degree heat index, January sounds like a far off dream, but I know it will be here before we know it!

I first got to meet Eden via phone call during the quarantine. My chat with her was one of the few normal working things I was able to do from home. I always prefer to meet with brides in person because I feel that part of a great wedding photography experience is the bride and groom finding the photographer whose style they love and whose personality they connect with. I’m a people person and I always find it easier to get to know someone face to face. But I felt like Eden and I were old friends the second I got on the phone with her. It turns out she knows so many of my past brides and friends! That’s how the Mobile and Spring Hill community is and I just LOVE it!

Eden was a senior this past spring semester and did not have her senior year end as she anticipated it would due to the pandemic. Despite the disappointment of missing so many senior year milestones, Eden is still full of joy and enthusiasm for her new career as a nurse. I also loved hearing Hunter tell the story of how he proposed to Eden. She unknowingly almost derailed his plan to get her perfectly positioned in front of St. Joseph’s Chapel for the big moment, but thankfully he pulled off the surprise just as he envisioned it!

The Spring Hill College campus was the perfect choice for this engagement session. We had the place largely to ourselves since students aren’t on campus right now and most employees are still working from home. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Avenue of the Oaks so deserted. It was actually quite a treat to be able to shoot there without having to work around the traffic. Hunter commented that it felt like we’d walked on a movie set and I totally agreed! On top of that, these two lit up the camera like stars. I just know I’m going to love working with them on their wedding day next year. Enjoy some of my favorites from their session!

 

A Fairhope, Alabama Engagement Session

When Tyler suggested Mexican for dinner the night he proposed to Stephanie, she was slightly suspicious. He is never the one to suggest Mexican food, she tells me. Despite his dinner suggestion being out of the norm, Stephanie didn’t think a proposal was in the works!

It was a few days before Christmas. Tyler suggested they open one present each before heading to dinner. Stephanie happily agreed. When she opened her gift, it was a beautiful ornament that said “Will You Marry Me?” on the front. When she turned to look at Tyler, he was holding a beautiful ring in his hands. Stephanie told me the first time we talked on the phone that it was the most perfect moment and I loved hearing the excitement in her voice as she relayed the story.

They FaceTimed their families to share the exciting news and then headed to dinner. Tyler wasn’t done with the surprise though! When they walked into the restaurant, Stephanie’s best friends and her dad were waiting to celebrate with them! How sweet is that?!

Stephanie fell in love with the Fairhope area when she was a student at the University of South Alabama. So when it came time to plan their wedding, she and Tyler quickly settled on a destination wedding in Point Clear and the area was also where we decided to meet up for their engagement session.

This was my first time shooting at Jubilee Suites. This new boutique hotel is perched right on the bluffs over-looking Mobile bay and it was a nice quiet spot for the first half of this portrait session. For the second half of the session, we headed down to the Orange Street Pier area for some sunset portraits on the bay. It was the perfect location combination!

A Sacred Heart Chapel Wedding

Jill’s family and my family go way back…our grandparents were friends before we were born. My dad and Jill’s dad are near the same age and I’ve heard stories my whole life about the good times the Gelineaus and the Woods had together back in the day. Jill, her oldest brother, and I were all in high school at the same time and that was when I got to know them beyond the “back in the day” stories.

Fast forward several years down the road and I got to work with Jill’s cousin on her wedding day and her younger sister was a bridesmaid in one of my other 2019 weddings! To say this family is one of the sweetest there is would be a major understatement. So, when I got an email from Jill’s mom asking me to photograph her wedding, I was so sad to have to tell them that I was already booked on her date. Then the whole coronavirus pandemic happened and changed everything.

Jill and John decided to scale down their large wedding celebration because of all the uncertainty with the virus. In addition to changing venues, they also changed their wedding date, so Jill’s mom reached out to me again to see if I was available. Due to one of my previously booked brides rescheduling her wedding, I was unexpectedly open on June 6th and was able to photograph Jill’s day after all! I told Jill and her parents that God was trying to work out a way to keep the Gelineaus and the Woods together.

There is always something special about photographing a wedding for a family that you know personally. I’m so glad I got to work with Jill and John. Congratulations to the newly Mr. & Mrs. Busbee!

VENDORS

Church | Sacred Heart Catholic Church

Reception Venue | Little Point Clear

Cake | Flour Girls Bakery

Flowers | Belle Bouquet Florist Gifts

Makeup & Hair | The Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa, Autograph Collection

A Bayfront Park Engagement

McKenzie and Will are one of my 2021 couples! I usually meet with brides in person before they book, but have been holding consultations via phone call or FaceTime these past few months. I was excited to meet McKenzie and Will in person at their engagement session! Since we’d only spoken on the phone, I didn’t have faces to go with their names. It didn’t occur to me until I was getting out of my car in the parking lot that I had no idea what these two looked like! Ironically, we happened to park right next to each other.

Before our parking lot meeting, I was on the way to our shoot location when McKenzie called with the news that they were closed. I had to think of a backup location ASAP! McKenzie and Will love the water and spending time outdoors. We needed a location close to our original meeting spot because I didn’t want us to lose out on the beautiful light.

Suddenly, Bayfront Park popped into my mind! McKenzie isn’t from the Mobile area so she wasn’t familiar with the park, but thankfully I have several sessions here on my blog that were done at the park. After a quick look at some of those posts, McKenzie and Will said it sounded like a good option to them.

The Best Laid Plans

While I was pretty excited to shoot at a new location, I have to say that this backup plan couldn’t have worked out better. The light was absolutely beautiful and we had just the right amount of light peeking through the clouds for some photos down by the water. Sometimes the best laid plans don’t work out, but what you get is better than what you initially imagined.

The beach at Bayfront Park in Daphne, Alabama is a hidden gem. It doesn’t have the white sandy beaches of Orange Beach, but it’s a generally quiet spot with a lot of variety. The day of this shoot the pier was actually busier than normal. Fortunately, a sweet couple let us use their private pier for some portraits at the end of the shoot!

When I asked permission to shoot on their pier, I was hoping to take one or two photos and then move on, but the couple offered for us to walk out to the end of the pier, which was amazing!!! We got some of my favorite shots from the session in this spot and on top of that we had a gorgeous view of the sunset!

McKenzie and Will, thank you for trusting me and going with the flow on switching plans last minute for this shoot! I know you are both going to be such a joy to work with on wedding day!

My first time seeing an alligator at this park! I’ve always known they were there, but they’ve always stayed hidden on past visits!

McKenzie has a background in Marine Sciences so when she spotted this crab and picked it up, she gave me an idea for a very unique ring shot!