punta cana rock the dress, macao beach {heather + kelvin}

 Heather: “I am not going to lie … at first Kelvin thought I was absolutely, lost-my-marbles, totally insane to want an experience like this! He was definitely not thrilled with the idea that I wanted to wear my wedding dress (which was a pretty large investment and had taken me forever to find) … straight into the ocean. With much prompting, a lot of begging and bombarding him many photos of examples, he gave in. I think I recall the words “Happy wife, happy life.”  Smart man, haha! In the end he enjoyed the shoot just as much as I did, if not MORE! He has said countless times how happy he is that we had this experience, how special he felt AND I’ve seen him looking through the photos on several occasions. Proof positive he loved it! I know that he absolutely adores these photos and the memories that go along with them.”

This sunrise Macao Beach Rock the Dress session … what an experience! No two sessions are EVER the same, and this one will definitely go down in the books as one of our absolute favourites. HEATHER & KELVIN … love you guys!!!! xoxo K & R. 

“So here Kelvin is supposed to be pouring champagne into my mouth and instead he ended up pouring it ON me (he missed my mouth by a mile LOL!).  On our very first date Kelvin spilled a drink all over me, it’s actually happened many times in our 12 years together and this has become our running joke. Of course it would happen during the photos!”

“Our most memorable moments from the session were watching the rain stop as we arrived to Macao Beach and beginning our photo session with a rainbow! Popping champagne on the empty beach (my husband almost hit Rob in the head with the cork, sorry Rob!) at 6 am while sharing the largest mango I have ever seen in my life! Watching the rain come back just as the shoot ended and Kelvin and I went for a quick skinny dip (it rained during our engagement photos, and during dinner on our wedding day. Does that mean something?? 🙂 Oh yeah, and, getting naked in the surf and wrapping myself in nothing but my veil 😉 That was definitely another memorable highlight!”

Heather: “The idea to do a Rock the Dress session came … from Pinterest of course! Isn’t that where all great bridal ideas come from?! Early in my wedding planning I saw several “Trash the Dress” shoots with women rolling in the mud, with paint on their gowns, women in big ball gowns jumping off of cliffs into the ocean and it called to me, I craved that experience. It seemed like it would be such a release after the pent up stress of wedding planning! You have to understand, it took me over a year to find my gown, I went to 4 different states and countless boutiques before I found “THE dress.”  Finding my husband was easier! There were times where I thought, I can’t wait to “trash” this dress because I was so frustrated with dress shopping. Now that my dress and I have been through this experience I wouldn’t trade her for the world, she’s perfect. “Rocking” the dress was extremely liberating. Fortunately for me, I came across Katya Nova on Pinterest and her “Rock the Dress” shoots and I instantly fell in love with her and her photography style. I came to love the idea of “Rocking” my dress rather than “trashing” it because I had become so emotionally invested in my gown.”

“I think the most unique detail of our session was the way that Katya styled the last several shots of me with the veil. It was like I could just see her creative mind at work and we went with it. I never could have imagined I could feel so empowered and so beautiful all at the same time. It was absolutely INCREDIBLE!”

“Katya had asked Kelvin and I to close our eyes and take a few deep breaths and just feel one another’s embrace. We felt so connected to one another in that moment. Looking at that photo brings back the same feelings I had that morning during the session.”

P.S.

“Lastly … if you’re wondering, my beautiful Maggie Sottero’s “Britannia” gown is absolutely fine, she couldn’t be better! After the session Kelvin and I soaked it in the jacuzzi at the resort. We swished it around several times and hung it on the balcony to dry. All of the sand came out and she was as good as new!”