From the first moment we said hello to Rita and Nick at our engagement session, I just knew we would have great chemistry and a wonderful session – and we sure did! Our original plan was thwarted because there was unexpected construction on the fountain at Hyde Park…BUT this was so meant to be and our impromptu alternative turned out to be even better! Rita and Nick love movies and concerts, so it was very fitting to begin at the historic Tampa Theater. We walked over to the beautiful steps of Le Méridien Tampa and then we saw a steeple in the distance. Rita and Nick mentioned that they are members at Sacred Heart church – which was just a couple of blocks away! How perfect!
Next we explored the Hillsborough River and took pictures with the fountain at Curtis Hixon Park, and then went across the river to University of Tampa to capture the skyline in the background. We ended our session on Harbour Island and we had such a beautiful sky just after sunset!
As for Rita and Nick’s love story, Rita says their relationship is just more evidence in my life that God exists. Rita was 34 years old when Nick and she were matched up on eHarmony. She was pretty skeptical about online dating and Nick had only been living in Florida for a couple of years and was trying to meet new people. Rita had a lot going on in her life at that time and was not the best at keeping in touch. After her paternal grandfather landed in the hospital and later passed away, only days before her maternal grandfather also passed away, her mind was elsewhere. It was a difficult time and by the time she remembered she had been emailing back and forth with “some guy”, she felt it was too late to continue so she let it go. Then in July of 2015, Rita was on a solo vacation in Miami Beach and decided to check out another online dating site for fun while laying out by the pool. At this point, she was 38 and had pretty much given up on finding “the one”, so she looked at these sites as a way of meeting some interesting people, and getting some good laughs (there are some nutty people on there!) Nick had just joined the site and came across my profile and remembered Rita…. Almost four years later! In fact, Nick says he was in Afghanistan in 2013/2014, since he had somehow stored her email address from the time they had been emailing, Rita popped up as a potential contact on LinkedIn. Nick was not so happily involved with someone else at the time and yet when he saw my picture then, he felt a tinge of regret that it had not worked out between them. But God’s timing is impeccable and although they had a bit of a rough start, everything eventually fell into place and they couldn’t be a better match!
Lead Photographers | Rebecca + Michael Zoumberos
Hair Stylist + Make-up Artist | Carlos Olivera with Chanel