Wow!  This last month has been busy!  With a May and June full of weddings (including my first international wedding in Italy) my blog has not been feeling the love.  I have so much prettiness to share, but for now, I am focusing all my time on getting these pretty images into my sweet couples’ galleries for them to enjoy.  This very desire led to a fortunate accident while overseas, and I want to share it with you.

We were on the express train headed from Verona to Florence.  My mom and I had been traveling in Italy the last couple of days and we were finally headed to the city where I would be capturing Brittany and Aaron’s wedding!  That evening I planned to meet up with Brittany and Aaron for a tour of the Tuscan countryside.  Lovely vineyards and sun kissed castles awaited, and I couldn’t wait to photograph this gorgeous couple in such amazing locations.

As the train chugged along, I opened up Lightroom to put the finishing touches on a wedding I was editing.  I couldn’t wait to get the photographs to the couple and I lost myself in a happy brightening and straightening routine.  When I looked up, the train was parked at a station called Firenze Santa Maria Novella.  My mom asked if this was our stop and I honestly didn’t know.  The name looked familiar, but I was expecting to see “Florence” at the stop.  Looking down at our tickets, we realized Firenze was Florence!  We quickly grabbed our enormous suitcases and tried to squeeze past the people pouring onto the train and out the door.  Long story short, we didn’t make it in time.  The next stop, Rome.

Even though we caught the first train from Rome to Florence we did not make it back in time for the tour, missing the bus by 4 minutes.  I was devastated, crying in the hotel room and looking for any way to join up with the tour later.  After the man behind the front desk of our hotel assured my mom it was impossible, I wiped my tears and put on my walking shoes.  It was time to explore Florence.

Walking from where Brittany and Aaron would be getting ready to their ceremony and reception site, I realized that if I wanted to get beautiful photos of these places I would have to get up earlier.  I decided to wake up the next morning at 5am to photograph the amazing architecture of Florence at sunrise.  Strolling around the practically deserted Palazzo della Signoria glowing with soft, warm light was truly magical.  Compared to the hot and very packed square I had seen yesterday, it was an absolute dream.  I felt so strongly that Brittany and Aaron’s wedding portraits needed to be taken at this time.  I said a quick prayer and shared my professional opinion with the bride. To my surprise, Brittany agreed, committing to begin portrait time at 7:30am!

Looking back, I realize that if I hadn’t missed my train stop, I wouldn’t have missed the tour of Tuscany.  I wouldn’t have explored Florence until the next day, and I wouldn’t have seen this amazing city at sunrise until the day of the wedding, missing out on the opportunity to photograph Brittany and Aaron at that time.  What seemed like a very unfortunate accident, turned out to be a true  blessing!  I said a quick prayer, thanking God for always knowing best.