Want to know a secret?  In the 16 years I have been photographing weddings, I’ve never (not once!) shot an elopement at the local courthouse.  And I’ve ALWAYS wanted to!  Cue Lindsay and Alex, who were married on a Tuesday afternoon at the Escambia County Courthouse, a huge concrete structure built in a classically brutalist style – a far cry from the romantic, floral-adorned ceremonies I typically photograph.  

It was raining.

I parked and, as I was getting out, I realized Lindsay and Alex were parking right behind me.  We had never met – only email – but somehow, before all of the car doors were closed and locked, we were all laughing and hugging (and trying not to get wet) and basically felt like we had known each other forever.  Inside, Lindsay and Alex laughed their way past the signs for “felonies,” “foreclosures,” and “misdemeanors” before making it to the marriage counter.  The ceremony lasted 57 seconds, everyone hugged, and then it was time to celebrate.

We had planned to go take photos in a nearby park, but after a brief tete-a-tete, Lindsay and Alex bashfully asked if we could go get a drink instead – so off to Seville we went!  Alex brought a lunchbox out of his car and they shared bites of Publix key lime pie while sitting in an empty bar, sipping cocktails and laughing non-stop.  

It was my favorite.