Photos by Kristen & Video by Christian

VIEW INSTAGRAM POST HERE 📸

Back in 2019, Shawn and Teara hired me to take their engagement photos. We had a really great time that day and I knew right away that the connection they had as a couple was so real. They were so easy to photograph and had so much joy. However, they weren’t just joyful because we were taking engagement photos, but they just found out that Teara was pregnant with twins. After their shoot, we kind of lost touch. I’m sure life got super busy for them with twins! (We had no idea that they would be reaching baack out about a destination wedding).

Fast forward to 2021, Teara reached back out to me and said “We love our engagement photos so much, I just knew I needed to have you capture our wedding day.” Well, Shawn and Teara weren’t just having any ordinary wedding… they decided on having an intimate destination wedding in Ocho Rios, Jamaica at The Moon Palace Resort. Despite the pandemic, Shawn and Teara remained hopeful to have their dream wedding. So in April of 2021, we all left our homes in Pennsylvania and hopped on a plane to Jamaica.

Ocho Rios, Jamaica Destination Wedding

When we arrived the weather was so perfect! Christian and I took a walk around the property the day before the wedding to scope out some photo spots for the wedding day. We were so excited and had so many ideas! Well… the weather had other plans. We woke up the day of Shawn and Teara’s wedding and the skies were gray and it was raining. The rain was pretty consistent all day. We had hoped the sun would peek out at least by the time the ceremony came around, but nope. The wedding coordinator really was ready to move all the plans indoors, but we just couldn’t let that happen.

Shawn and Teara traveled so far to have palm trees and the ocean as their backdrop for wedding photos, and we were determined to give that to them. So we waited things out a bit, and when we had a stretch of 15 minutes without rain, we had the ceremony outside! However, cue the crazy 30 mph winds. We got through the ceremony, but because of the wind, our poor bride Teara was losing all her accessories and the hair and makeup she spent two hours on was nearly ruined.

Again, Christian and I weren’t going to let that stop us! We strategically placed Shawn and Teara in a location where the wind sort of worked to our advantage. And voila! We made the magic happen, despite the unexpected weather. It also helped that Shawn and Teara trusted us as photographers/videographers completely. That made a huge difference. At the end of the day, we all were reminded of the lesson to embrace the unexpected and just make the best of it. Here are some of our favorites from the day. Oh and you’ll def want to watch their highlight video!

It was an incredible trip! Jamaica and this couple will forever hold a special place in our hearts.
—Kristen