Marco Island Elopement Photographer | Audrianna + Nate Make it Official!

After 11 years and a beautiful baby girl Audrianna & Nate finally made it official! Despite snow storms cancelling their flight they got in the car and drove down to Florida to capture these sweet memories.

“We met in 2011 while we were both still in college while I was visiting my sorority sister in her home town. She had dated one of Nate's friends in high school and they had a mutual friend circle. We met in the spring of 2011 and sparks flew, but our colleges were in different states so neither of us pursued anything other than enjoying each other's company whenever I was in town. Upon graduating I moved to Chicago, however, Nate still resided in Colorado until his graduation upon which he moved back home. A couple weeks after he was back I was visiting my friend, again, and at a bar that Nate walked into. If you ask me about that night, I'll tell you Nate was on a date, he vehemently denies this. Needless to say, the spark was stronger than ever and we were finally living in the same area. The rest is history.”

Audrianna describes their first date, “Nate asked if I liked sushi, I lied and said yes. He picked me up and we went to a place in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. It was quiet, small, and an intimate setting. I was naturally nervous and panicking about the fact that I lied about sushi. He ordered a plethora of food and I had a full blown panic attack, admitting to him that I am to world's pickiest eater. To be honest, I don't know why he asked me for a second date after the first.”
How did he propose? “Marriage was never priority for me, I never dreamed of being a bride . I like intimate, small, private moments and the thought of a wedding alone would send me into hives. This is largely while after over a decade together, we still were not married. However, we knew the time to make it official was long over due. We shopped and designed my ring which sat for a while because Nate still wanted to surprise me, which is impossible to do. We own a sail boat in downtown Chicago and on the last Wednesday of the summer that they were doing fireworks from the pier, Nate asked if I wanted to pick up my favorite food and take the boat out with our dog. He couldn't have been more obvious, because he hated my favorite food. I tried to back out but he insisted. I was in sweatpants with our dog who has been with us since 2011 when Nate popped the question during the fireworks on our sailboat. It was far from a surprise, but it was perfect. It was simple, authentic, and private...just as I had asked of him when the time came.”