Jillian & Kevin’s Miami Wedding

Over Labor Day weekend, I had the privilege to travel to Miami, Florida to photograph Jillian and Kevin’s destination wedding. This was by far the best location for a wedding I have gotten to travel to so far! The sunset ceremony took place beneath the lighthouse at Bill Baggs State Park on Key Biscayne.  Afterwords, the couple along with attending friends and family celebrated with dinner at the Fort Lauderdale Cheesecake Factory on trendy Las Olas Boulevard. The guests stayed at a cute retro-style little “boutique Motel” called Motel Bianco. I think I was almost as excited as the bride for this wedding and when it started raining a few hours before the ceremony, I started to worry. But the rain cleared off about an hour before we were supposed to start, and the remaining clouds made for a spectacular sunset! Here are a few of my favorite images so far, I will be posting more on my Facebook page as I work through the rest:

Jillian got this adorable handmade ring box as a gift for Kevin.

Love this image of the bride and her father walking down the palm-lined path to the lighthouse.

What a beautiful setting for a wedding! The officiant suggested this location rather than the traditional one at the base of the lighthouse. As a result, the full lighthouse could be seen in the ceremony pictures, which was great!

The ring exchange. The sunset glow gives all the images such a nice look.

Such a sweet couple. This image was taken during the prayer of blessing Jillian's father gave at the end of the ceremony.

The only problem with sunset weddings is that the light goes away really fast if you are doing portraits afterward. But thanks to Ed holding an off-camera flash, we were able to get some nice images in the fading light.

I will be posting more on my Steely Joe Facebook page as I go, so “like” it and follow along! And now I need a new destination – so who’s super cool destination wedding is next?

Jillian’s Bridal Portraits

Bridal portraits are so hard on me! I want to show them off so bad, but have to wait until the wedding is over before anyone other than a select few can see them. But now that Jillian and Kevin tied the knot, I can post a few of my favorites. There are more on my Facebook page because I had a hard time picking out my favorites. These were done at my studio as well as on campus at the University of Arkansas. We used Old Main and the Alpha Delta Pi house as our outdoor locations.

Bridal Portrait in the studio

I love Jillian's smile so didn't take many "no smile" pictures, but I like this one.

This one was taken on the back side of Old Main near the Peace Fountain.

This one was taken at the Alpha Delta Pi house. She is reacting to the wave well-wishing sisters pouring out of the house when they spotted her through a window!

A more casual portrait taken through the trees outside the sorority house.