Orlando Wedding Photographer :: Carrie & Greg’s First Presbyterian Church of Ocala ceremony and Hilton Ocala reception

We have really looked forward to Carrie & Greg’s wedding day! Mike had such a great time hanging out with and getting to know them during their getting-to-know-you session in Ft Lauderdale. Truly getting to know and understand our couples is so important in this journey we take with them. Mike was in Ocala a few weeks ago on Friday for the rehersal and the dinner and then all day Saturday for all the wedding excitement! It was only like the coldest weekend of the year! Brrrr!!! Nonetheless, Carrie and Greg were united as husband and wife in a beautiful ceremony at First Presbyterian Church of Ocala. They then joined all their family and friends to celebrate at the Hilton Ocala. It was an amazing time, complete with a super duper FunBooth, that you must check out!!

We have produced a slideshow to tell the story of their day and give you insight into who Carrie & Greg are, spoken by some of the people that know and love them the most We hope you enjoy it!! Because it is a very large file, wait for it to load for maybe a minute or so. (It’s very worth the wait!!) Happy viewing!

Click to watch Carrie & Greg’s Wedding Story Video:

Wedding photography and video by Orlando Wedding Photographers Mike & Ann | Visual Storytellers

We asked Carrie to answer a few questions about some important things. Here’s what she had to say.

1. What was it about Mike & Ann that had you choose them to document your wedding? Both Greg and I took a family approach to planning this wedding, meaning our families and friends that are like family are so important and need to be celebrated with us. This lead to us hiring most vendors who are in fact composed of a family! Having a married couple as our photographers granted us more of an opportunity to celebrate the value of family  as well offer an insiders’ view as to what capturing a marriage in photography means. We appreciated how personal our journey to marriage became to them. We felt as if they were meant to be a part of our day.

2. How would you describe your Getting-to-know-you session with Mike? What was unique about this experience? It was literally an all day affair! I believe most photographers do not really take the amount of time or the opportunity to get to know their couple. It wasn’t about getting a pretty shot, it was about knowing Greg and me as a couple and documenting the beginning of this amazing union.

3. How did working with Mike and Ann increase your enjoyment and that of your VIPs on your wedding day? What was it like to have Mike there all day? It was a pleasure to have Mike there all day, and actually even the night before. He was not only our photographer, but he was our guest and we hope he was able to enjoy being there as much as we loved having him present. The only way to really tell the story of the day is to go from start to finish, and start to finish he and his second shooter did!!

4. What was the most memorable moment of your wedding day? I loved reciting our vows, listening to the music in the church (we lighted the unity candle and our church music director sang “I could not ask for more” with a piano and string quartet!), and having Father O’keefe read us the story of the first marriage at Cana from the bible right before the ceremony. And of course the trees inside the reception tent were awesome, the dancing was great, the people were amazing! And I can’t forget those sunglasses-shizam!!!

5. What was most unexpected about your day? There were peaks and valleys. There were times that went by soooo slow then others that just zoomed by. The best compliment we continually received at the wedding reception was how moving and beautiful our ceremony was.

6. What most excites you about being married to Greg? He is my best friend! We have so much fun together and he makes me want to be a better person (so cliche, I know). Greg makes me laugh,  fight for what I believe in, and he is my Chevy! (Like a rock, hahaha one of our many silly nick names for each other.)

7. Do you have any wedding planning advice? Any marriage planning advice? Oh my goodness! Just remember that if your mom is driving you crazy you are so very blessed to have a mother who is so invested in loving you and celebrating this momentous occasion to sometimes drive you batty. There are so many things that will go ” wrong” and no one will notice like the guest list changing at the last minute. It’s the little details that make a wedding personal, and it’s ALL about family.

8. Do you wish you had done anything differently? Is there any advice you wish you’d been given? I wish I had gotten  in the dang photo booth with my bridesmaids more! I should have pulled my friends onto the dance floor more because I remember how they used to get down in college. Also, even though so many people told us to sit and enjoy the food at our sweetheart table,  I would have rather tasted a little then been available to greet and thank people for coming and honored us on this special day.

9. What was your favorite part of your engagement? I enjoyed having those 20 minutes after he proposed to really let it soak in and just be the two of us.  It’s been great having our family &  friends get acquainted. We received some of the most interesting advice from married couples we respect!

First Presbyterian Church of Ocala ceremony and Hilton Ocala reception images by Orlando wedding photographers Mike & Ann | Visual Storytellers.

Other amazing vendors that helped make this day so special for Carrie & Greg include (but may not be limited to) You-niquley Yours event planners, Coral Gables bridal, Petal Pusher florist, Jackie Jo Ramputti makeup artist, The Cake Lady Janice Edison, Bay Kings Band, and the Hilton Ocala. We also want to thank Brad Arthur for his time and talents to help us capture this day.

Thank you so much, Carrie & Greg, for inviting us in and sharing yourselves with us. It has been our pleasure to document and preserve for you and your families this amazing time as you begin your journey as husband and wife. We wish you the richest blessings God has to offer on your marriage and your lives!!

Stay tuned for an album pre-design and full image gallery soon! Log into their getting-to-know-you session gallery to be notified when the full gallery is released.

~Ann