Cait and I have always carried a theme of penguins in our relationship. Penguins are monogamous, and when they find their mate, they hand them a pebble, and they mate for life. I knew I wanted to incorporate this somehow into the day.
Cait loves to read, so her grandmother and her shared a special bond of passing books back and forth from an early age. Pride and Prejudice is one of the favorites, and so I wanted to take a quote from that. By pairing the two, I wanted to make things beyond impressive. I’m a hopeless romantic.
I booked an Airbnb that we spent our first date at. Wanting Cait to think that’s what we were celebrating so that I could get away with planning the day. I had booked a planned photo shoot with our dear friend and photographer, Cortnie. Taking pictures in front of murals has also been a tradition of ours.
I knew getting a custom painted mural for this photo shoot would be hard. I found an artist that helped create my vision on a canvas [that would later be hung like a mural]. Taking a quote from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen reading, “A lady’s imagination is very rapid, it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony, in a moment.” I paired that with two penguins holding hands with a heart above and had her hashtag a saying between us “for keeps” to represent I am all or nothing in this life, and I am all or nothing to you. Two words that I had tattooed the day before.
We were having brunch [at our favorite spot] before what Cait thought would be meeting Cortnie for our shoot. I told her Cortnie forgot her batteries back home, and she would text me when she was headed our way. I explained to her that we could hang at the Airbnb before we go out to meet her. Little did she know Cortnie was waiting at the Airbnb with the canvas hung, peonies [her favorite flowers], luminary candles, and custom vans with the same penguin and the saying “for keeps.”
Confused at first thinking Cortnie brought her favorite flowers for my birthday, she then read the quote and pieced it all together.
It was magical and perfect.
Photography by Cortnie Dee Photography
