Marco Island for a Destination Wedding!

Garrett and Olivia planned their destination wedding on Marco Island from Colorado where they live. It was planned in just three weeks! Olivia told me they are anything, but traditional. So they had a trip planned to visit Garrett’s family who winter on Marco Island. They made the decision that on this trip they would get married. Olivia’s parents surprised their daughter by flying her brothers and sister-in-law to Marco Island for her destination wedding. The dads built the arch for the beach ceremony. Olivia’s mom made the flowers and bridal bouquet. The ceremony was performed by the groom’s brother.

Olivia and Garrett met nearly four years ago while at college at Colorado  State University. They were apart for a year while Olivia studied in Prague and Garrett traveled to Thailand. Now they are building there own coffee roasting company using coffee beans grown in a little village in Thailand. In their free time they enjoy taking their dog hiking in the mountains.

Destination wedding on Marco Island

The ceremony was scheduled for 4:30pm but the skies were a little ominous looking, so Olivia called me in the morning to see if we could start an hour early. I have photographed destination weddings on Marco Island for over twenty years and agreed starting early was a good idea. Olivia requested my photography and video services. It was just two hours of photography which gave an opportunity for pictures before the wedding ceremony and we had time for sunset photographs. Well, it all worked out just fine! Olivia said it was the perfect day and somehow the rain held out for their ceremony in this very rainy weekend of December. The clouds actually made for the beautiful lighting that they experienced for their intimate wedding. We planned a ‘first look’ photo with Garrett’s back turned away.  Olivia walked up from behind and tapped him on the shoulder for the first photograph of the two of them on their wedding day. We then included the families for group photos. Olivia said her favorite moments of the day was walking down the aisle to “I Will” by the Beatles, listening to Garrett read the vows he wrote for her, and getting married to the man of her dreams who is also her best friend. After sunset photography, the wedding party went to a great restaurant on Marco Island for a celebration dinner. Shown here are some my favorite images we created.