Sarahann and Christian are from the Boca Raton area. They could have stayed close to home. Instead they chose St. Augustine in December, and they chose The Treasury on the Plaza, a converted bank where the old vault is now a bar and the bones of the building are still very much present. That choice told me something about them before we ever met in person.
December in St. Augustine also means the Night of Lights. The city wraps itself in warm light from end to end, and it runs all season. When we talked through the timeline together, it was clear we had to use that. So the night before the wedding, we walked the lit streets for a pre-wedding portrait session. What follows is the full story, from those evening streets to the very end of the reception.
The Night Before: St. Augustine During the Night of Lights
The colonial architecture, the crowds moving through the streets, the decorations overhead, December in St. Augustine has a specific atmosphere that no studio or ballroom can replicate. These photos are from that pre-wedding evening session. Sarahann and Christian were relaxed and easy to be around from the start, and that showed.
Getting Ready
Shoes, rings, the dress. The details of a wedding morning are small and quiet, and they go fast. These photos from Sarahann and Christians preparations hold that part of the day.
The First Look
Christian was tense waiting. He'd been relaxed all morning, but standing there knowing Sarahann was about to come around the corner, changed things. He didn't hold it together and Christian's face gave everything away before he could say a word. It was the most charged moment of the day, and it moved everyone who was there to see it.
The Ceremony
The ceremony took place in the lounge, a room that holds its history quietly. Nothing about it needed to be dressed up to feel significant.
Reception
The speeches were touching. The room felt full in the right way, friends and family who were genuinely glad to be there, not just attending. Sarahann and Christian moved through the evening the same way they'd moved through everything else, beside each other, unhurried, taking it in.
How the night ended
Stairwells, windows, a champagne toast, and a sparkler exit. The building gave us a lot to work with at the end of the night, and the two of them were still present and generous with their time through all of it.
Some weddings have one moment that stays with you. This one had several. A converted bank with a vault behind the bar. A city that wraps itself in light every December. And two people who stayed present through all of it, from the lit up streets the night before to the last ember of the sparklers going dark.
Nothing about that day will come around again, and that's exactly the point.
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