Kimberly + Kirby | Wedding at The Plantation on Crystal River | Tampa Bay & Destination Wedding Photographers

November 13, 2019

Kimberly + Kirby | Wedding at The Plantation on Crystal River | Tampa Bay & Destination Wedding Photographers

The Plantation on Crystal River, Uncategorized, Weddings

FROM THE BRIDE…

THE PROPOSAL | Kirby proposed on November 21, 2018 on our way to spend Thanksgiving with his family. We flew up to the Washington, DC area in a 1964 Cessna 182, with me in the copilot’s seat and Bentley comfortably occupying the whole back seat. Kirby’s sister, Brooke, had landed box seat tickets to the Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals hockey game the night before Thanksgiving. The plan was we would fly down to Richmond, VA the next day going to his aunt’s house for Thanksgiving. We have done this flight up to Virginia a few times before, so we knew it was going to take about 6 hours to get there, plus a fuel stop about half way through the trip. At our fuel stop, Kirby mentioned that we were a little bit ahead of schedule and suggested that we fly a little more westerly than we normally do. Going this way we would see the foothills and a section of the Blue Ridge mountain range, and then we could stop at a small airport in Hot Springs, VA that was literally on top of a mountain to do some more sightseeing. I readily agreed, happy to see some different terrain than Florida and up for some sightseeing. So we flew west, saw some mountains and other beautiful scenery, and then found the runway for the airport, on top of a mountain ridge and landed in Hot Springs, VA. It was colder and windier than we expected when we got out of the airplane, so we both had to put on jackets and prepare for the cold. While I got Bentley out and started walking him around, Kirby was digging around in the airplane for his camera and other things. I switched with Kirby when he was finished in the airplane, taking the camera to take pictures while Kirby took Bentley’s leash. As we walked to the end of the runway, I was taking pictures of the scenery from on top of the mountain and then some of Kirby and Bentley together. When we got to the edge of the runway, Kirby switched back with me, saying he wanted to take pictures of Bentley and me with the mountains in the background. He took a few pictures of them looking at the camera, and then he told me to turn around and look out over the mountains. After a few moments, Kirby said to turn back around and when I did, there he was, down on one knee, with a ring and some loving words for me. Obviously I said yes, and that’s where we are today.

THE VENUE | Our venue is actually the first one we visited back in January and we loved a lot that this place had to offer. We loved the ceremony site and that we could be married outside and by the water, which is something both us wanted, but didn’t want to get married on a beach. We liked that the resort offered reception space, catering, and that it was a hotel, so people wouldn’t have to travel to and from the wedding/reception. We also liked the venue because it’s very Florida and we thought that if our families were traveling down here, then we wanted to give them something tropical and by the water and what people think Florida is.