We spend a lot of our time behind the camera, documenting milestones for our clients. It’s actually one of the things we love most about this job – capturing moments that will mean the world to our couples 5, 10, 25 and 50 years down the road – knowing that we play a small part in keeping those memories fresh forever. In a world of selfies and documenting every moment of our lives via instagram and cell phone snaps, it’s easy to forget how much a “real” photograph can mean. We were so very blessed to be reminded of their value this week as we got to spend a little time on the other side of the camera.

On April 25, we celebrated a pretty big milestone of our own – our 10 year wedding anniversary! It’s been 10 whole years since we walked down the isle. 10 years since we said “I do.” 10 years since we were just a couple of crazy kids in our early twenties who couldn’t wait to start our lives together. At the time, we had no idea where life would take us or where the path would lead. We were just excited to be walking down it together, hand in hand. That part really hasn’t changed at all after 10 years :-)

Since we never really loved our wedding photos, I thought it would be pretty perfect to commemorate our milestone anniversary by surprising my cute hubby with a photo session with our dear friends (and CRAZY talented photographers) Amy & Jordan. Little did I know, Ryan had a few surprises of his own up his sleeve! I told him about the photos a week in advance so we’d have time to coordinate outfits. And then, unbeknownst to me, he went to work making sure we not only got beautiful photos, but an unforgettable experience as well. Ryan surprised me with a stay-cation at the incredibly gorgeous Montelucia Resort & Spa. Our stay there was A-MA-ZING! From the champagne and strawberries in our room when we got there, to the incredibly attentive staff that ALL knew it was our anniversary, to the beautiful spa room where I got to have my hair and makeup done for our photo shoot – we were treated like royalty. It was an absolutely outstanding experience. HUGE thanks to Jennifer, the Reservations Manager, and Albert, The Director of Marketing and Communications at the Montelucia for making our dream weekend come true and even letting us use the stunning property for half of our photo session. Leave it to Ryan to take my fun surprise and make it into a grand adventure! He’s always been so good at this stuff!

For a couple of people who feel a lot more comfortable behind the camera, we had an absolute blast! It was so much fun to get all dolled up and snuggled on each other for the afternoon. I have the incredibly talented Sarah SanMarco to thank for making me look and feel so beautiful! She did my hair and makeup and I could not have been more thrilled with the results. She made me feel like the very best version of myself. (Not to mention the fact that Ryan thought I looked an awful lot like the hot young girl he’d married 10 years ago so that’s a big plus! Ha!)

Here are some of our favorite photos from our time in front of the lens. Amy & Jordan blew us away with these images and we’re SO glad to have photos we truly love to commemorate this moment in our lives together! Words can’t express how grateful we are to have these two as friends and how lucky we feel that they were kind enough to be a part of our special weekend even though they were coming off a double header wedding weekend themselves. That’s just the kind of awesome they are. Can’t thank you guys enough!

It kind of makes me laugh that it took several hours to get me camera ready and Ryan just hopped into a snappy suit and looked like a stud. This guy just keeps getting better with age. I’m one very lucky lady.