Lightner Museum Wedding: Christina & Ben by Sarah Surette

Christina & Ben threw the most elegant affair. Ok It was mostly Christina I’m pretty sure, but wow. What a day. Christina is my half-sister’s half sister, if that makes any sense. So obviously when she got engaged I was thrilled at the idea of photographing her big day.

“Ben and Christina met 6 years ago in a beautiful, amazing tropical setting “aka” Longhorn Steak house. Christina’s co-worker knew Ben and insisted that the two of them meet. She thought they would be perfect together. Ben was not in search of love at the time, he had no interest in dating, but decided to give Christina a call. They ended up talking for over 45 minutes (Christina was surprised because no one calls these days, it’s always a text)

Ben decided to show up while Christina was working and the rest is history. They went on a date the very next day. On their date they joked about Ben’s blackjack tattoo and INSTANTLY planned a weekend getaway to Atlantic City. Christina thought “What? How random?” (Anyone who knows Ben knows his love for Atlantic City)

24 hours later he picked her up and they headed off to New Jersey. They had the best time watching Ben make a run at glory playing blackjack!

But wait there was one huge problem, Ben had 3 dogs !!! Anyone who knows Christina knows she was petrified of dogs. PETRIFIED! How could this work? Ben took his time introducing her to each dog individually, teaching her how to feel comfortable around them. After only 15 minutes with Ace, Magic and Dory, that fear soon became a love and bond that will never be broken. Now she loves the dogs almost as much as Ben (if that’s even possible). Besides that, and having to overcome how stubborn they both were, they were on the fast track to an everlasting love 🙂

They purchased a home together and created so many amazing memories in it, including a Christmas Eve engagement. Fast forward two years and a massive career change happened. This led them to their new home in Florida!”

These two live in Florida so they got married in St. Augustine. I had never been before, and this was my first destination wedding! It’s such a cool city, the oldest city in the U.S., and it’s known for its Spanish colonial architecture. The only downfall was I left a cold Massachusetts and arrived in a somehow colder, rainy Florida. Whomp, whomp. Sunshine state my ass, lol. It was raining so much that my Uber driver couldn’t drive down the street that my B&B was on. Not legally at least. Obviously I had my suitcase and my camera bag so walking down a completely flooded street was not ideal. My Uber driver so kindly drove the wrong way down the one way street to get me the front door of my B&B. Thank you kind sir! Of course in typical Sarah fashion I was there early and my room wasn’t ready yet. So off I walked in the rain with a broken umbrella from my B&B to go find some lunch.

ANYWAYS…back to their wedding…well actually the wedding day starts similarly. Every time it rains in St. Augustine the ocean floods the streets. So my plan to get to the girls getting ready location nice and early failed because once again, my Uber driver couldn’t get to me. Eventually I made it, only a teeny bit late, and lucky for me I’m basically family.

Christina had gorgeous gold details, sparkling Jimmy Choo’s and classic white long stemmed roses. The ladies were all looking gorgeous and glam just in time for some cute robe photos with adorable heart sunglasses. Obsessed. They popped some Veuve Clicquot and headed over to The Lightner Museum to get everyone in their dresses.

The Lightner Museum is super cool, it used to be The Alcazar Hotel and the room they got married in was a pool! The museum has really great photo spaces including some archways, a gorgeous courtyard, fountains, flowers and balconies. AND that Florida sunshine came out just for us. We got some epic portraits and had a ton of fun.

They said their vows inside the museum in front of all their closest friends and family before partying the night away. I even got to be a guest for most of the reception and had the best time. Wishing you two the best!

Lightner Museum Wedding