Sometimes when it rains, it pours…
That seems to be the theme around Gina and Tori’s Engagement session in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

We spent months planning their session, we had every detail figured out – we were all soooo excited. Then the unthinkable happened. Gina’s father passed away unexpectedly the day before their session. I can not even imagine the pain she felt and is continuing to feel. We all know that we are not guaranteed tomorrow. It’s one thing to know it, and another to experience the lost of a loved one first hand.

Naturally their first reaction was to postpone the session, so we did. Then at 6:30pm the night before the shoot they decided to continue as previously scheduled. They already had so much planned around this session; make up and hair by the OHH so AMAZING Lindsey Ragan Thorne with Be Pretty, a cabin rented in Gatlinburg and everyone had already taken off work. Despite the terrible circumstances, they thought it may be just what they all needed to get their mind off of it for a while. Rain or shine, we decided we were shooting that day.

So that morning I left Winston Salem and set out for their shoot. It was a gorgeous day filled with beautiful blue skies almost the whole way there… then it started to rain, and it didn’t stop. Between the rain and us losing driving time because of detours – we were all running much later than planned. It was already 5:30pm by the time we started their session, so we only had an hour left of daylight and a whole lot of ground to cover still! To top it all off, our first location (one of the most sentimental) was a mess with traffic flying through the tunnel – causing us to set up and run out quickly. We probably did this about 10 times before we were able to get a few shots. Which was totally worth it – see tunnel photo below.

Despite EVERYTHING we had working against us, I’m super happy with the outcome. Things don’t always work out how we plan, but they can still be beautiful. That is the beautiful thing about being a human. We have the ability to see beauty and to love fully even through the toughest of situations. It’s clear that Gina and Tori do just that.

Hope you enjoy!