Nautical Wedding : Whitney + Drew

It all started with her blog post. She was single girl writing about what she looked for in a Christian man…and Whitney poured her heart on the web. A stranger by the name of Drew left a comment. A rather nice comment, so Whitney did what any girl would do: She Facebooked him. And–oh-my-goodness–he was cute! And from Manhattan. Whitney envisioned Drew walking chic New York streets in an oversized pea coat and was smitten.

They corresponded over the web and Whitney admitted her passion for sailing, a tradition passed down from her grandfather, and Drew confessed he dreamed of sailing the world one day. Sometimes he worried he'd miss the hills of Kansas. Kansas? Didn't he mean New York? Huh? No, Drew explained, I live in Manhattan, Kansas.

Whitney fell deeper in love with Drew from Kansas, and when he decided to move to Marina Del Rey, California to be closer to her, he took residence on a boat. It was the first stop on his world tour…little did he realize Whitney would be his passenger for life. They married two months ago and bought a boat for their future trip. Though Whitney started a business and Drew is an associate pastor, their goal is to board their boat in Long Beach and sail away. Together.

With much appreciation, this Nautical Wedding Shoot was styled by Kelly Makes Things, who also provided the vintage Emma Bomb dress, which she accessorized.

The shoot was located on their dock in Long Beach and it was definitely bright, but worked around the sun for a bit before taking the boat for a spin…

I was thrilled to find a patch of shade to work in, so I photographed Drew and Whitney in this small area for a while before the sun began to set…this time of year the sun likes to play tricks on me…

The ever fab Kelly Makes Things created this nautical inspired bouquet used aged rope, roses and lamb's ear…she also set up a sweets table…because life is always better with sugar…

Once the sun dropped in the sky, we took Sea Bird for a spin…and I couldn't have been more excited…

My favorite photo of the day…

Oh, Whitney, you kill me…so, so gorge!

Work…It….Out…

One of the coolest (and quite sailorish) things about Drew is that he handcrafts pipes…they're so awesome! You can check out his work here…you, too, can now look like Popeye!

To see more of their nautical wedding photos, feel free to check out Whitney and Drew's slideshow with music by Bravest Ghost found at WithEtiquette