Nathaly and Kevin met me out at the beautiful Bok Tower Gardens for their morning engagement session this past week. While the two live in Tampa, they will be tying the knot at the beautiful Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate this coming February. In turn, Lake Wales, Florida was the perfect middle spot between their present and future – also, can’t beat the beauty of Bok Tower Gardens!
Nathaly and Kevin actually started out as friends when they met back in college at a social event. Their connection was incredibly boundless and Kevin soon captured Nathaly’s heart. After college Kevin moved back to Daytona Beach from St. Pete Beach, but would regularly visit his darling Nathaly. Their strong foundation built with friendship that led to romance was the perfect beginning to endure a little long distance.
Ironically enough though, as much as Nathaly was falling for Kevin – it was her dog Richard, aka Dick because apparently he is as Kevin fondly refers to him “cray cray”, that made the lasting impression of Kevin stick. While out and about for what Nathaly hoped would be an enjoyable bike ride with her pup, Dick decided to run her off the road after an armadillo taking her down off her bike, onto the ground, and scraped up on her chin, chest, arm, and jaw. I am starting to understand why Kevin renamed Richard! Nathaly called Kevin up and told him what happened. In a heartbeat he was more than willing to drive the three hours to her to take care of her and that my friends is what made the biggest impression on Nathaly. Not only did Kevin genuinely care about her, but he was willing to go out of his way and be her knight in shining armor – even if was just to bring a nice bowl of chicken soup and some Tylenol to help mend her rough day.
Fast forward, Nathaly and Kevin now live together (yay, for short distance!) in Tampa with Dick… who Nathaly still loves regardless of their little bike ride gone sour and is slowly winning Kevin over… very slowly. Kevin loves how Nathaly inspires her to go beyond her “comfort zone and explore new and exciting life adventures,” while Nathaly loves the way Kevin make her feel alive. She loves how he demonstrates his love and affection to her on a daily basis without a need of a special occasion through every little action from a hug to a kiss and asking how her day was. Truly the ‘little things’ are what create strong ties to bring you into a future – feeling appreciated and cared for every day makes a love that much more beautiful!
Kevin knew that Nathaly was the ‘one’ and had to plan out an extra special proposal. After 9 months of planning – yes 9 months! – he asked for her to marry him at the top of a snowy mountain in Colorado, a shocking 12,000 feet up! As Nathaly describes it, “it was an exhilarating moment… such a great memory… and I did not drop the ring in the snow!” Nathaly – I was literally thinking omg what if he dropped the ring on the hike up or you dropped it when he put it on – haha!
Looking forward to capturing these tie the knot this February at the beautiful Omni Resort!
Venue: Bok Tower Gardens
Ps. Check out a few quick snaps of Nathaly and Kevin’s proposal that they were so kind to share!
