This session was shot by GMP founder and principal photographer Elizabeth Millar, second shooter Angelina and videography by principal videographer Elijah

This downtown Tampa micro wedding hit many locations including Current Hotel, Le Meridien Hotel and Cooper’s Hawk where they finally settled in for their ceremony and reception dinner.

With my focus on elopements and micro weddings, I don’t often get to experience the elements of a traditional wedding day like the couple getting ready.

Getting-ready-shots are so much more than pictures of you getting into your clothes. This is the time when your photographer can get shots of all the little details you so thoughtfully put together for your day. This is also a time of great excitement and anticipation that starts off the visual story of your day.

For getting ready, what couples on a budget tend to do is have us for just one hour before heading out. This is when we quickly work through some staged getting ready shots. So while we may not be there when your hair and makeup starts, we’re there when you’re camera-ready.

Nicole and Antonio got ready at the Current Hotel. I, along with my second shooter Angelina and videographer Elijah, captured each of them getting ready in separate rooms. We were there when they received gifts from each other which was a very special moment. Us being there to capture the moment you don’t see is powerful. While they didn’t get to see each other’s emotional responses to their gifts, us capturing it means they got to see it later on and now, an unseen moment has become a memory!

We staged a first look and did family group photos before heading to our second location: Le Meridien Hotel. This hotel is in the heart of downtown Tampa and quite exclusive because they charge a permit fee to take photos even on their front steps. Luckily, we arranged that in advance and I’m so glad we fit it in because WOW what stunning money-shots they were.

After Le Meridien, we headed to Coopers Hawk restaurant for their ceremony and reception. They opted not to have this in their wedding video so that portion only exists in the photos. And man they crammed a lot of people in that private dining room! The lighting was a challenge but I made it work.

All in all, this was an incredible opportunity to capture that old feeling I had of doing full wedding days in multiple locations and it was such a wonderful experience.