Classic Pensacola Wedding || Brittany+Nate

Brittany+Nate had such a beautiful and classic downtown Pensacola wedding, and we are so glad we were there to witness and capture every detail of their most special day! We are so excited to share their Love Story with you, courtesy of Brittany+Nate, enjoy!

“Brittany being a girl from Boston and me being a guy from Tallahassee, our meeting was pleasantly unexpected.  I came up to the Boston area at the end of March in 2014, to help my sister celebrate her birthday in the city.  She had invited several of her friends and coworkers out to bebop around town. While we were standing at a crosswalk waiting for the light to turn, a girl in a bright blue coat came to the same crosswalk on the other side of the street and the rest of my group started waving excitedly.  I was happy to find out that she would become part of the group. As we made our way throughout the city we ended up at a place (Bukowski’s) where this girl in the blue coat spoke my language with jokes and food. The rest of the night was full of laughter and good times. We then parted ways.  I went back to Tallahassee and she moved to Dallas, Texas that following Monday.

Being smitten, I reached out to her a couple of days later to start a conversation.  As time went by, the texts became more and more until we were talking on the phone almost every day.  Around this time, my Dad mentioned that he was going to go to Dallas to hang out with one of his brothers and his mom.  He asked if I wanted to go. I said, “Absolutely,” and made plans to spend the weekend with Britt. After that, we ended up visiting each other every so often until she decided that the job she had was not what she wanted.  An opportunity for her came about in Tallahassee. She came down, interviewed and accepted the position. The next thing I knew I was flying out to Dallas to help her pack a moving truck and spending the next 17 hours finding out how much we really liked each other.  It turns out it was quite a bit.

By early 2017, we had embarked on several adventures, dealt with a couple of struggles and I had realized that this beautiful girl from Boston was the girl I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.  Even though I had found a ring for her in April, I didn’t end up proposing until early October. After getting her mother’s blessing to propose, I arranged a trip to my parent’s house in Navarre, Florida.  At the end of our three-hour drive, I insisted we stop by the beach on the way as it was only about a ten-minute drive from their house. As the sun was starting to go down, we walked the beach, I stopped, dropped to one knee, proposed and she said, “Yes!”.  After celebrating a little at a local Irish pub we would finish the evening at my parent’s house enjoying the Harvest Moon and feeling the breeze generated by hurricane “Nate” as it made landfall just west of us.

The warm spring Pensacola air of 2019, became the setting of the union of the two of our families.  It was such an amazing time getting our people together. We had a beautiful party and are very much looking forward to reflecting on our story when we get our stunning photographic heirlooms from Lazzat Photography.”

When Brittany+Nate reached out to me, they were pretty sure they wanted us to photograph their wedding story. Our pre-wedding Skype chat getting to know each other’s stories solidified their decision, and off we went with wedding planning.

There are a few facts I found absolutely interesting about Brittany+Nate. Her last name was already Smith before she even married her Mr. Smith. And, serendipitously, the day Nate chose to propose on beach, hurricane Nate was coming into the area. What are the chances, right?!

The couple wanted a classic elegant wedding surrounded by families and friends in the heart of Pensacola, where all their visiting guests can enjoy what downtown has to offer. For getting ready location, the couple chose Holiday Inn just a block away from their wedding venue, 5 Eleven Palafox. Brittany looked breathtaking in her lace wedding gown with an epic train from Vows Bridal, her hair and make-up skillfully done by Amber with Vibe Inc.

You could see how much thought the couple put into their wedding details: the handkerchief had the couple’s names and their wedding date embroidered in one of the couple’s wedding colors – pale blue, the bride’s Michael Kors shoes were an exact shade of pale blue, the bridal bouquet and boutonnieres by Fiore of Pensacola had just the right amount of pale blue and pale pink flowers, the unique ceremonial arch created with a naturally arched tree log was decorated with creamy satin sashes that only accentuated uniqueness of the arch that fit just right into the green background of 5 Eleven Courtyard wall. Each one of the reception tables had a photo of Brittany+Nate and the name of the city the couple visited together. You could see Chicago, Orlando, New Orleans and even Isle of Skye in Scotland, the best memory the couple had together.

The bride and groom chose to do the 1^st Look prior to the Ceremony to spend more time together promenading around Pensacola downtown during the Bride and Groom session. A golf cart from Gopher Carts made it easy for us to hop-on-hop-off for a quick photo op. During one of those times, we stopped by Palafox Pier, and a flock of birds caught our attention on a nearby lawn, and Jaco’s Bar was hosting a wine-tasting event. As we were busy with chasing birds to get them in our photographs (Pippa, my right-hand, added a new skill to her ever-growing list of wedding duties – a bird chaser ;), Jaco’s manager surprised the couple with a bottle of champagne – shows a true southern hospitality in this small town with the most beautiful white sand beaches.

DJ Tiger, with Northwest Florida DJ Services, was patiently waiting for us when we got to the venue. Throughout the whole reception, he made sure everyone was having a blast, and they did. Moments captured during the reception dancing are priceless and utterly fun.

Even though you can’t always see the sunset from that part of the town, the epicness of the sky allowed us to create beautiful evening memories for Brittany+Nate. And Grand Exit with sparklers was a beautiful ending to the first day of Mr. & Mrs. Smith’s Happily Ever After! Congratulations to the newlyweds! We are excited to continue capturing your family’s future milestones!