Wedding Day Naples Style

The big day arrived for Ryan and Alexandra in style, waking up at the Inn on Fifth in Old Naples. The ceremony at the First United Methodist Church of Naples was beautiful and funny. After the ceremony, we headed down to Third Street in Naples to an area of upscale shops and fantastic architecture, before returning to the Inn on Fifth for a reception that rocked the house. After the reception ended, we went out on to Fifth Avenue to get some night shots. Even at 11:30 at night, the air was a tropical, steamy soup. Ryan and Alex were awesome.

Friday in Naples

After exploring the area around Old Naples on Thursday, Rich and I spent the day with Ryan and Alex on Friday. We started the day with lunch with the bridesmaids and some family at McCabe's right outside of our hotel. I love the covered porches with ceiling fans that most restaurants in the area have. It's such a tropical "Keys" feel. After lunch we headed down to the nail salon for the girls to get manicures and pedicures complete with glasses of wine and a foot spa. (For the girls, not Rich and myself) While the girls we still being pampered, we headed over to the church to scope out the location. It was a beautiful Methodist church with palm trees towering over it. Inside, the church had a split in the wall that let in the natural light in the shape of the cross. There were also teddy bears dispersed throughout the pews. They were there for the congregants to take and bring to those who are in need of a hug and a prayer. Later in the afternoon we had the rehearsal at the church than went to a family friend of Ryan and Alex for dinner. The four course dinner was not only homemade, but was worthy of a five star hotel. The desserts were out of this world.

Lori and Rob E-session

While I'm down here in Florida, Amanda is graciously editing some of my photo shoots for me, including Lori and Rob's E-session from last week. They were a lot of fun to work with. Their wedding is going to be awesome.

Naples Day 1

Rich and I flew in to Ft. Meyers today to photograph this weekends wedding of Ryan and Alex in Naples, FL. We're staying at the Inn on Fifth in Old Naples. Fifth Avenue is a affluent area with high end shops, restaurants and galleries. Rich made me eat sushi for lunch, then we had huge ice cream cones with homemade waffle cones that are still warm when they scoop the ice cream. After that, we walked down to the beach along the Gulf of Mexico. It's amazing how warm the water is already. It felt like bath water. Tomorrow we'll be tagging along with the bridesmaids for lunch then manicures and pedicures before the rehearsal dinner. Here are a few shots taken with my indestructible, waterproof point and shoot camera.

Nug Bug

We did Cade's 7 year photos this weekend. He was such a little dude with his sunglasses and bad ass attitude, that is until he would burst out with the giggles. He smiles with such intensity it's contagious. I could not have asked for a better son. I am the luckiest father in the world to have two of the most amazing kids ever invented. I'm not biased, really.