Grand Harbor Golf and Beach Club Wedding by Patrick Buckley Images
We started the day at Kimpton Vero Beach Hotel a beautiful property right on the water. After taking a minute to check out the lobby and plan a few photos Jonathan and myself went up to meet Drew. Jonathan stayed with him capturing details and candids as the groomsmen arrived and began to get ready. I headed over to the bridal suite to meet Gwendi and her bridal party. They were in a beautiful room with two balconies overlooking the water, one of which was big enough to fit all 8 bridesmaids 2 flower girls and a junior bridesmaid plus the bride. We hung her dress up in front of the sliding glass doors and took advantage of the refecltions coming off the marble floors. Then using the natural light pouring into the bedroom grabbed some fun photos of her and all her girls on the bed in their matching robes. She got dressed and we captured candids as her mom helped her button up the dress.
Once Gwendi was dressed we set her up in the front hall of her room to do a first look with her Dad, it was a remarkably sweet moment and you could see her dad was beyond proud of his daughter. After that we utilized a corner just outside of the bridal suite to set up a first touch with her and Drew. It's always sweet to see the excitment and anticipation this moment brings, the big smiles and the happy tears. When they finished the first touch Jonathan took Drew and his wedding party down to the lobby for portraits while I worked with the uniqueness of the room to get some stunning portraits of Gwendi in her dress. We stopped in the lobby to grab a few more photos of Gwendi and her girls before they jumped in a limo and it was off to the ceremony.
The ceremony took place at Holy Cross Catholic Church a large church decorated with beautiful stain glass windows. We loved that they had a balcony section so we were able to get a unique perspective on the ceremony. Once the service was over and they shared their first kiss as husband and wife we headed out front for family portraits and we took just a few minutes to get photos of the bride and groom as the sun filtered beautifully down through the trees. We didn't want to take to much time at the church because we wanted to take full advantage of all the great spots the venue had to offer.
The reception was held at the Grand Harbor Golf and Beach Club, which is a beautiful 2 story club house with a ton of character surrounded by a lake, golf greens and even a tree lined road way, what else could you ask for? As soon as we arrived we wrangled all 18 members of their wedding party so we could get a few bridal party photos. Once we accomplished that we used the rest of the cocktail hour to get as many photos in as many locations as we could and you can see below I think we accomplished that :). The reception got off to a jump start complete with a back flipping bridesmaid and full on dirty dancing lifts and then after the first dance literally everyone was on the dance floor! we knew we were in for a fun night and a ton of great candid photos. They had speeches form the maid of honor and best man as well as both Dads. They also did a father daughter dance and a mother son dance before cutting the cake. As is becoming our tradition we snuck the couple outside after dark to grab a few night shots. I love how magical and unique photos are at night it brings a whole new perspective to the venue or location. The dance floor never cooled off and was full of people right up to the last dance. Gwendi and Drew then made a grand exit through sparklers as their friends and family celebrated the new couple.
Thank you to Gwendi and Drew for having us there to capture and celebrate your wedding day with you, we had a blast and hope you'll enjoy this preview while we get to work on the rest of your photos :)
