LGBTQ weddings are hard to book down here in Florida. So many vendors feel the need to intertwine their religion into their work. It’s a pretty sad and pathetic excuse, which is one reason we are so focused on normalizing them in our area.
One afternoon I was helping clean my mom’s house and my phone began to ring. It was a call from an unknown number. Usually we don’t answer random phone calls, but in this situation I felt inclined to answer.
“Hello, this is Brittany.”
The voice on the other end of the line sounded so kind and she immediately asked if this was Rivas Images, to which I said of course!
The voice on the other end introduced herself as Tracy. “My fiancé and I are coming down for a destination wedding in PCB in two weeks and We really need a photography for the ceremony and portrait photos afterwards.”
I jumped into our calendar to check our availability, and it turned out we had that weekend open! I let Tracy know I was available and would love to capture her wedding. Then, hesitantly, she followed up her question.
“I’m just wondering, are you LGBTQ friendly?”
“Absolutely! Is that seriously and issue around here,” I asked her.
Unfortunately, it is. There are some photographers/videographers that do not work with LGBTQ couples for “religious” reasons. That blew my FREAKIN mind! To us, love is love. That’s the way it’s always been and that’s how it will always be.
Fast forward to the beach: When I arrived on the beach, I was straight away taken aback by how gorgeous the evening turned out. The archway where they held there ceremony looked majestic against the sunsetting sky – fun fact: the archway was handmade by a family member.
Lawton was the first person I met, along with her sweet mother and father. “All you need is love” played after the ceremony and I teared up right away — don’t worry though, I keep shooting through my tears <3
After the ceremony they drank wine and cheersed with tequila shots after the sunset. Their family was so hospitable, they offered to make me to-go plates not just for myself but for Dennis and our daughter back home! Tracy’s son cooked the entire dinner btw. I swear, this is the most hands on family ever!
All in all, working with Tracy and Lawton was such a great experience.
