Taylor & Christopher's Longboat Key Club Wedding

Longboat Key Club Wedding

Taylor and Christopher tied the knot during their Longboat Key Club wedding in Longboat Key, Florida. From getting ready in Taylor’s childhood home, to our couple’s Jewish ceremony, and finally a ballroom reception, no detail went unnoticed on how beautifully it all came together!

College Sweethearts

Before there was a wedding, there was a proposal, and before there was a proposal, there was the Spring of 2011 when Taylor and Chris met in Boston, Massachusetts. Both in college at the time, Chris and his friends were hosting a party at 24 Chester Street, otherwise known as “the lacrosse house,” where Taylor just so happened to show up with her girls. While hanging out at the party, Taylor noticed her phone battery dying and asked a few of the guys if any of them had a charger she could borrow. Coming to her rescue, Chris offered up his, which gave way to the two chatting it up throughout the night. Exchanging numbers, dating soon ensued and so did romance!

Falling in Love

Falling in love with Chris was easy. From the way he makes Taylor “feel so loved every day” to the way he also loves her family, Chris is one of the “kindest, most selfless, caring, and hilarious” person Taylor knows. As she explains, “he is the perfect brother to my three sisters, the most impressive son, and I know he’s going to be a wonderful husband and father.”

For Chris, he simply put it that Taylor “is the best person he’s ever known.” Sharing the same “fierce, passionate, and unconditional love,” Chris has fallen for Taylor from the bottom of his heart. Truly he explained that he “gets to be in awe of her every day.”

Six years after they met, had graduated from college, and were beginning to establish their lives together, Chris knew it was time to propose. Inviting Taylor along to dinner with his co-workers, which just so happened to be at Ruth’s Chris, Taylor’s favorite restaurant (what a coincidence!), Taylor did not expect what was to come. Walking into the restaurant, the two were escorted to a private room in the back. As the doors opened, Taylor was completely in shock to see Chris’ parents, her parents, and her sisters who had all traveled in from around the country just for this special moment. Turning back to Chris in utter disbelief to see their families before her, she found him on one knee, which was when he proposed. Through the tears of joy and screams of excitement, Taylor of course said, “YES!!!”

Wedding Day at the Longboat Key Club

Taylor and Chris’ wedding day felt like a dream. From the moment we arrived to hugs goodbye, Taylor had the biggest smile on her face! Arriving a bit early to Taylor’s childhood home where she was getting ready, we were greeted by our bride who was having finishing touches done of hair and makeup. While her girls were wrapping up hair and makeup as well, we used the extra time for some fun robe shots with Taylor, her mom, and Chris’ mom. Shortly afterwards, we grabbed robe shots of all our girls before they changed into their stunning silver gowns.

Helping Taylor get into her dress, it was hard for her mom to hold back the tears, which definitely were even harder to hold back during Taylor’s first look with her father. A beautiful moment, I must say it was our favorite part about Taylor’s getting ready time, oh and of course along with her Jimmy Choo shoes that I literally had to have in every shot hehe. Traveling by trolley, the girls headed over to the Longboat Key Club where Chris and his guys were wrapping up to prepare for Chris’ first look with Taylor.

While we had the beach in mind for our sweethearts first look, a very windy day gave way to a spontaneous decision to do our sweethearts first look on their trolley. Seriously the most creative first look we have ever had, the idea was fun, unique, and very different. Grabbing a linen cloth, we blindfolded our groom (another spontaneous idea) so that he wouldn’t see Taylor until the very moment she sat down next to him on the trolley and took off the blindfold. The moment was so beautiful and so much fun to capture!

Making our way about a mile down to the road to the club house at Longboat Key Club, we captured our entire bridal party on the trolley before the exited to go inside. With the winds picking up and the reception ballroom being prepared for their night, we made use of the elegant lobby entrance for formal portraits. As the sun began to set, the wind began to settle down, and we headed outside for newlywed portraits, before going back inside to to meet with Rabbi Huntting to sign the ketubah. Rabbi Huntting has a very special part in Taylor’s family, as he also was the rabbi who bar mitzvahed her and her sisters. Explaining the ketubah signing to our couple’s family, maid of honor, and best man, Rabbi Huntting provided a great deal of insight on the beauty of the ketubah and what it means. In Jewish faith, the ketubah is essentially an agreement of two souls coming together in outlining the responsibilities they have towards one another in marriage.

After the signing of the ketubah, we headed outside to prepare for Taylor and Chris’ ceremony. Taking place on the great lawn, the sun set perfectly behind guests as our couple shared their vows during their Jewish wedding. Through each Hebrew passage, Rabbi Huntting explained the importance and significance to all of those in attendance. After the break of the glass and a first kiss shared, our couple was officially Mr. and Mrs.!

With the majority of formal portraits completed prior to our beautiful sunset ceremony, we decided to use a little bit of time to head to the docks with our newlyweds as guests funneled to cocktail hour. One of my favorite shots of the night, I loved capturing a panoramic image of our couple against the yacht backdrop.

Making our way back to their venue, we headed inside to capture their reception ballroom while cocktail hour began to conclude. A reception entrance by our newlyweds, followed by formal dances, followed by toasts opened the night. While we loved every toast, Taylor’s father’s toast stuck out to me in being molded around the idea of looking at love and marriage in “agree to agree.” The idea that you should work at making one another happy through willingness to agree what is best for the future of their family verses independently.

Tons of dancing filled the night before we said our goodbyes to Taylor and Chris. Truly a magical day, it felt like it came and went too quickly!

Wishing Taylor and Chris a beautiful life together!