On Sunday Nikki and Steve were married at the Renaissance Tampa Hotel International Plaza.  It was dad’s first time photographing a wedding there and other than the overly dedicated parking guard 🙂 he thought the people there were great.  Nikki’s morning started super early as she had her hair done at 5:30 am by Michele Renee of Michelle Renee Hair and Makeup Artist Group.  Dad joined her a couple hours later and everyone seemed energetic and upbeat despite the early start.  Shawna from Flawless Occasions was the couple’s planner and dad thought she did a great job.  After emailing with her, it was great to meet her in person!  The couple also had R-J Vida from Advance Entertainment as their DJ for the night.

Dad had two favorite parts to Nikki and Steve’s wedding.  The first was Nikki’s surprise to Steve during the reception.  Nikki had arranged for a barbershop quartet to sing as dinner began.  Dad thought they sounded great and he liked their rendition of Auld Lang Syne.  Dad’s other favorite was the cake topper on the cake made by Chef Nelson’s Cake Studio.  It was Rudolph and Clarice from the Christmas television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  Dad was excited to show us a picture of the cake topper because he knew we would think it was cool.  Dad also likes to share the useless trivia that Rudolph was originally “invented” in 1939 for Montgomery Ward department stores.  Mom remembers shopping there as a kid and during Christmas their bags had big pictures of Rudolph on them.

Of course another part of the wedding dad loved was working with Nikki and Steve.  They were focused on what was really important about the day; not the wedding itself as much as the marriage.  They were starting their lives together as husband and wife and they kept that in their minds and hearts all day.  Nikki and Steve, thank you for having dad there for your wedding day and we wish you the best!