Ben and Leo’s Kraft Azalea Garden Elopement in Winter Park

Some couples fill a ballroom. But Ben and Leo chose a Kraft Azalea Garden elopement instead, and that was the whole point.

So on an August evening in Winter Park, they gathered their closest friends and family under the cypress trees by the water. No crowd. Just the people who have loved them the longest, and the two of them at the center of it.

In fact, this is exactly the kind of day we live for. So let me tell you a little about them.

A Kraft Azalea Garden elopement by the water

Kraft Azalea Garden sits right on the lake in Winter Park. Old cypress. Soft evening light. And a quiet, green kind of beauty that doesn’t need much help.

A six o’clock ceremony in August means warm, low light by the water. And it is the good light. So we slowed the evening down, because Ben and Leo deserved to feel it, not rush through it.

And with just their closest people there, every face meant something. So you could see it. And these were their people.

A rainy day full of surprises

It rained all evening.

But right when the ceremony started, the rain stopped. It held off for the vows. It held off for photos. Then, the moment we finished, it came right back.

And the sky gave us a gift. It went soft and full of rainbow color.

In a field of Spanish moss, two sunflowers stood right in the middle. Just two. Sunflowers are Leo’s favorite. And there they were, waiting for him.

Then an owl came. It watched over us through the whole session and would not look away. Like it knew something we did not.

Some days you plan. And some days the day plans for you.

Who Ben and Leo are

Ben is American, Southern through and through. Leo grew up in Venezuela. And somewhere in the middle, they built a whole world together. Leo brought Christina Aguilera. Ben brought Lady Gaga. Now they trade playlists and teach each other, and they love all of it together.

They are Disney people, fully. In fact, their bucket list is a map of every Disney park in the world. So when Ben wants to make Leo’s whole week, he surprises him with an evening at the parks. That’s their language.

And they are funny too. Leo, to Ben: “Papi, eres muy dramático. Eres Latino.” Ben: “I know.” Because if you want to know what their love feels like, it’s that. Warm, quick, and completely theirs.

The moments that make them, them

Ask them for a favorite memory, and two rise to the top. It starts with the night Leo proposed. And the first time they put up a Christmas tree together, in their own home, as their own little family.

So ask what makes a hard day better, and the answer is simple. A big hug. And the best gift either can give the other is a little love note left behind.

I care about this work because of exactly these things. The hug at the end of the night. The note on the counter. The quiet ways two people take care of each other. Because those are the photos you come back to.

Why an intimate Kraft Azalea Garden elopement works

You don’t need a big guest list to have a big day. And Ben and Leo are proof.

An intimate Kraft Azalea Garden elopement gives you room. Room to be present. Room to actually talk to the people who came. And room to feel your own day instead of managing it.

So elopements are one of our collections, built for a day that feels exactly like theirs.

So we guided the evening so the two of them could stay in it. Winter Park gave us the setting. And they gave us the story.

Congratulations, Ben and Leo

Here’s to every Disney park on that list, to the trip home to Venezuela, to the house that’s coming, and to a life lived all the way full.

And it was an honor to hold the camera for this one.

Felicidades, Ben y Leo. Fue un honor ser parte de su día.

Que la vida les regale cada parque de Disney en su lista, el viaje a casa en Venezuela, y muchos años de notitas de amor y abrazos grandes. Ustedes dos son el tipo de historia que nunca se olvida.

If this is how you want your day to feel, we would love to chat with you.