When I tell people that I got married in fabulous Las Vegas, they first assume that we eloped. Quite the contrary -- we had 109 guests pack the chapel at the Mandalay Bay resort on a beautiful Friday morning five years ago. It was a really nice ceremony followed by, of course, an awesome all-you-can-eat buffet lunch reception. It was such a fun day and everything was perfect... except that I didn't have any pre-ceremony detail pictures (of my dress, his suit, etc.). But I was okay with this because it was more important to me that the photographer spend the allotted time taking pictures of everyone at the reception -- the wonderful people that traveled all the way to be with us that day; not of things -- THINGS that I could get pictures of later.

So fast forward to our recent 5-year wedding anniversary...

We celebrated the milestone occasion by going away to the JW Marriott/Ritz-Carlton resort in Orlando for a few days. I was looking forward to the vacation, the lazy river pools, a fancy dinner at Norman's (which turned out to have THE BEST shrimp ceviche of my life!!!...yes, that deserved three exclamation points), and the opportunity for me to bring along my wedding effects to finally take pictures of. Because what didn't happen in Vegas -- had to happen somewhere else fabulous.

I could not have asked for a more beautiful location to take advantage of. What girl doesn't dream of getting married and/or having their reception at a Ritz-Carlton?! This was the closest I was going to get to having my wedding pictures done at one; well, just without me in the dress. I took pictures of my bridal treasures throughout the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton since both resorts are connected. I used the lobbies, the convention area, and even the Fairways Pub restaurant -- where we had lunch one day, and where my husband used to bartend so many years ago when we were still dating!

The entire "3-day session" went great. The mix between the gracious interior and natural lighting made for ideal photography conditions. It worked out that I was able to take pictures of our personal and precious "things" myself -- to honor that special destination wedding five years ago, and remember the new memories we made at this destination anniversary.