Every wedding we shoot is so special, but this one may take the cake! The reason why? It was the first sibling wedding we shot! Stephen has an older sister and I have two brothers and we're always excited about new happenings in all their lives!

Laura has been teaching overseas in Panama for quite a few years now. While there, she has built and awesome community of friends who surround and support her. It was when she decided to help out with the local youth group's camp that she met Jovanni. They met trying to get students to try the "slack line", an activity where you try to balance on a tight rope of sorts (it's really hard)! They started talking, sharing stories and immediately hit it off.

Over their time of dating we would always see social media posts of these two and their adventures together, but it wasn't until Christmas last year that we actually got to meet Jovanni. He came out to spend the holidays with the Diaz family and we had a lot of time to hang out and get to know him better. He could not fit more perfectly into the family. He is so patient, kind and loving towards Laura, and he has an entrepreneurial mind so you know him and Stephen get along just fine! It was on this trip that we went to lunch with these two and while Laura was up getting some water, Jovanni leaned in and told us his plan to take her on a helicopter ride and propose. Just a couple months later, we heard the news, it was official! YAY! Jovanni popped the question and Laura said yes, helicopter and all!

Fast forward to the following December, it was now time for a wedding. What better place to have it, than the place this all began, Panama! So the "Americans" flew out, Stephen's immediate family, some close friends and even some of my family tagged along for the adventure. We arrived in Panama and getting off the plane you could immediately feel the drastic temperature change from our cold weather we've been having. The tropical rain was a scare, but on the wedding day, the weather in Panama was gorgeous and could not have been more perfect! The wedding was held at Panamá Viejo, which is a historic site filled with tall ruins left from the Old Panama city surrounded by lush greenery. Needless to say, it was a pretty epic photo and video spot!

When we tell people we were at our sister's wedding in Panama, the first thing they ask is did we shoot it?!? We love shooting good friend's and family's weddings, we wouldn't like it any other way...but for this one, we knew we needed some extra help to make the day more relaxed and enjoyable. You may remember Caleb&Brittany from the blog, we shot their Minnesota wedding in the summer of 2015. They are a husband and wife team that do photo AND video like us, and we've stayed in touch since their own big day. We reached out to them to see if they wanted to tag-team this wedding with us and they were all for it! It was awesome having them with us and we were truly able to capture Jovanni&Laura's story better because of them! Brittney shot photos alongside me, while Caleb shot video alongside Stephen (we can't wait to show you the wedding video someday)! We were so blessed to have these two shooting side by side us, seriously so thankful for their hearts to serve us and our family!!

Jovanni&Laura both got ready in a hotel near their jaw-dropping venue Panama Viejo. I seriously wish we could pick up parts of the old historic ruins and place it all over venues in California. Everywhere you turned, there were beautiful places to take photos! Even in the heat and humity, we could have taken photos for hours! Jovanni&Laura chose to do a first look and Jovanni's reaction to seeing his beautiful bride for the first time was so sweet! Can't wait to share part of that in the video! After portraits, we headed to the ceremony and reception site which was also under historic ruins.

Jovanni co-owns a local Ten Tu Evento with some of his Groomsmen, and they went all out. They decked the place out with lighting, audio and even live streamed the wedding for some of Jovanni's family who couldn't make the wedding. The ceremony was so special with Stephen's dad as the officiant. He did a wonderful job with the ceremony and truly made it extra special for these two.

Jovanni&Laura, we are SO honored to have been your wedding photographers and videographers, but more importantly, we love being your family! God has truly knit your story perfectly together and we're so excited to see how He uses the two of you to love others well! Keep praying for big things and we can't wait to see what happens. Here's to many more adventures, we're excited for what the future holds for you two! Enjoy some favorite photos of ours from the day and stay tuned for your full gallery link (coming your way) later this week!