Nate Smith | Minneapolis + St. Paul Wedding & Portrait Photographer

Angie + Andrew's destination wedding in St. Lucia was a dream. A multi-day celebration in a tropical paradise, all centered around the love between two people.

We arrived a few days before the wedding at the Sandals Grande St. Lucian, just in time for the amazing welcome party hosted by the resort for Angie + Andrew and their guests. With a live steel drum band and oyster shooters, it was the perfect kick-off to an amazing weekend.

The next morning the guys headed out on a deep sea fishing trip (not pictured) while the ladies had a bachelorette "spiked tea party" and enjoyed the sun and sand on the beach in preparation for the big day tomorrow.

On January 19, 2019 there was not a cloud in the sky in beautiful St. Lucia. Angie got ready for the day surrounded by her closest friends, including her mother and sister. Andrew left a sweet surprise for her; he secretly stole her wedding shoes and wrote on the bottom:

Mrs. Angela Faron

Est. 1.19.19

I love you from head to toe!

My wifey for lifey!

Love, Andrew

The gifts didn't stop there--at their first look Angie + Andrew shared gifts (a watch for Andrew and a beautiful necklace for Angie) and they privately exchanged rings in a quiet moment together before the ceremony.

Angie walked down the aisle with her father to the sounds of a live saxophone player. To symbolize the joining of their two lives they held a sand ceremony and read vows they had written themselves. As the sun began to inch towards the horizon line they shared their first kiss as a married couple and were promptly pelted with rose petals by their friends and family.

Let me take a quick moment here to explain how Angie + Andrew met. They were both out with friends at the same show and Angie spied Andrew across the room and boldly went up to him to ask him to dance. His response? "I don't dance." But after some convincing, for Angie he did. They danced together again at their wedding. Andrew spun her around the floor in a beautifully choreographed dance while Lee Brice sang:

I don't dance but here I am

Spinning you 'round and 'round in circles

It ain't my style but I don't care

I'd do anything with you anywhere.

Nobody knows how to throw a wedding party like the St. Lucians. This has to be one of the craziest, firiest parties I've seen, and I mean that literally. After the first dance and dances with parents, everyone was out on the dance floor and even grandparents were busting some serious moves.

Things really heated up when St. Lucian fire dancers came to put on a show and teach the bride and groom some dance moves!

After a few dance battles, a limbo stick, and a conga line, everyone walked down to the water's edge for lantern lighting on the beach. It was the most perfect, romantic close to Angie + Andrew's amazing wedding day.

The next day at sunset Angie donned a second, just as amazing, wedding dress and then proceeded to roll around in it in the sand with the man she loved.

This session was so romantic and dreamy. I loved getting to wade through the water with Angie + Andrew and witness their newly-wedded bliss.

Congratulations Angie + Andrew, and thank you so much for bringing me along on this amazing adventure with you.