Photographing my cousin and her life partner's December 21st wedding in Patagonia was beyond a dream come true. My dad was born in Santiago, Chile and his whole family moved to DC when he was in high school. About 20 years ago my grandparents and aunt and uncle started to feel the pull of the fresh air, clear lakes, and mountainous skyline and opened a bed and breakfast called Quinta Del Lago about a 2 hour plane flight south of the capital in Puerto Varas. (You may have heard of the town in 2015 Volcan Calbuco erupted and covered the area in ash.) My uncle renovated an old german farm house next to Lago Llanquihue and turned it into a BnB with lakeside cabins, volcano backdrop, and working farm. Now, my grandparents live on the farm with my cousins and their 4 girls who take care of horses, alpacas, sheep, cows, chickens, cats, dogs, and tend to apple and cherry orchards and the gardens. You can follow their adventures on Instagram and book your stay on Air BnB too!

My family lives all over the world, so it was perfect that Cristina (Titi) and Chris decided to get married in paradise and bring us all together to celebrate their love on the summer solstice. Chile is special not only because of family, but Chris also proposed to Cristina on a backpacking trip to Parque Nacional Villarrica and upon return to the farm asked our grandfather for this blessing. Chris and Cristina are the most caring, welcoming, and loving earth people. They currently live in California on their own homestead where they teach others about organic farming and make medicinal tinctures from their garden. Their connection to the earth and its cycles is what inspired the summer solstice celebrations to take places right at 1:30pm, the peak of the longest day of the year for us in the southern hemisphere.

Titi and Chris planned the most amazing day! The week leading up to the wedding was so special too because our whole family got to be together, sing songs around the fire, go on horse rides and white water rafting together, and just enjoy the goodness and love of the festivities. Titi and Chris also were excited to include their adorable one year old, Isaiah's, in their wedding too!

The personal details of the wedding are so special. The family came together in celebration but also to help throw an awesome party!
Dress: Titi wore her mother's wedding dress
Jewelry: Titi's bracelet was her mom's (and my dad's) grandmother, so our great-grandmother's, Laura or, "Lala" who I was named after! 
Invitation: Chris's mom, Lynn Frost, is an artist and painted Volcan Osorno on the invites
Rings: Chris wore a handmade ring from Puerto Montt inlaid with volcanic stone 
Flowers & Centerpiece: Family helped cut wild flowers to decorate the venue and Titi's bouquet are from our grandmother's garden.
Arch: Chris hand wove the arches from Kila from La Quinta's backyard temperate rain forest and hand laid the stone aisle www.quintadellago.com/
Wine: Another family member, Pato, has a restaurant in Puerto Natales, Chile called Aldea and he hand selected all the wine for the wedding!
Band: Evelyn Cornejo Banwww.facebook.com/EvelynCornejoOficial/d is from Santiago and friends of my cousins!
Getting Ready: Family's working farm and BnB La Quinta Del Lago
Venue: Cabins down the road from the family farm called Rio Pescado

The ceremony was touching and personal as the waves of the lake lapped and snow capped Volcan Osorno peaked out in the background. The officiants blessed all guests as they entered the arch way with flowers and sage. Titi and Chris honored those who could not attend by placing a rose in a bowl of water and saying their name. They were later released into Lago Llanquihue. They exchanges rings and vows, sealed their promises with a kiss, and then danced to their friend's singing as we threw flower petals in a colorful shower of love and joy.

At the reception, local seafood was served with an array of all thing yummy in Chile like salmon from the lake, empanadas, fresh salads, Chilean cakes, and even a traditional asado where a lamb is roasted over a pit the entire day. The toasts were brilliant as family and friends shared memories, stories, and well wishes for the perfect couple. 

I am still so honored and humbled by the opportunity to capture these memories Titi & Chris. I loved seeing all my family in one place to honor and love on Titi & Chris and the personal touches of the wedding made it even more memorable and special. 

At the end of this post you can also see a little video I made shot and edited on my iPhone of all the amazing things the Lakes Region of Chile has to offer.

Thank you Titi and Chris for letting me document your amazing day and for bringing everyone together for the most magical celebration!

This is my second post documenting my awesome adventures in Chile! You can see the first one about my sister and her boyfriend letting me capture their love on my family's farm HERE. My dad was born in Santiago, Chile and then moved to Washington, DC when he was in high school with his parents and two siblings. About 20 years ago, my aunt and uncle and grandparents had this awesome idea to move back to Chile, but head to Patagonia and open a working farm and BnB. My uncle is a builder and my aunt is an interior decorator, my grandfather is an accountant, and my grandmother is a gardner. So with their powers combined, they created La Quinta Del Lago in Puerto Varas. Check out their website here and book an Air Bnb too! Now my cousin and his family have taken over the farm and have horses, cows, chickens, alpacas, and all sorts of fruits, veggies, and flowers! It's on a Lake, Lago Llanquihue, and surrounded by several beautiful volcanos. It's pretty much paradise in the summer time. And by summer I mean our winter because the seasons are flipped in the southern hemisphere! Because we were so far south, we had the sunshine out until 10pm! It may have been summer, but we had our puffy jackets on!

Because this place is so magical and my grandparents still live on the farm my cousin, Cristina, and her incredible life partner, Chris, decided to get married in Puerto Varas! It was the best decision because it brought all the family together from all over the world in  one place. We sang songs around the bon fire, sipped pisco sour from my grandparents deck, at meals together, and explored around Puerto Montt, Puerto Varas, Ensenada, Osorno, and Petrohue. While we were there I hung out a lot with another cousin Francisco (Panco) and his awesome fiancé. 
Drew and I got to visit them and their two pups in Denver this summer and it literally almost made us want to move out there! They're the best. Goofy, always up for anything, inspiringly optimistic. So, of course I had to capture a few photos of them as we traveled and explored! I laughed and smiled editing these photos! Just a blast to hang with my super cool cousins!
1. Volcan Osorno - we drove up as far as we could (it’s a dormant volcano, we think?) to the ski resort and then hiked up to snow from there. It was me, Paulina, Justin, Victoria, Daniel, Disco Francisco, and Phoebe. Victoria found a plastic tarp in the car’s trunk and we obviously turned it into a sled! The ones of Panco and Phoebe were right before they crashed over the edge haha oops.

2. Rio Petrohue - Driving to the volcano from the farm there are parts of the road that aren’t paved because they’re old lava flows. Apparently cement shifts and never stays. But the cool part about it is that you can drive down one of these massive ash lanes and park right next to a turquoise river. The water is glacial cold! We actually all got to go white water rafting down it! The best time! The mountain in the background is actually another volcano! It’s Volcan Calbuco. It’s infamous for erupting a few years ago.
3. Lago Llanquihue - this lake is across the street from the family farm and is super ideal for sunsets as the snow capped Volcan Osorno reflects the colors.

Hope you enjoy these amazing, genuine, and lovable rock stars’ spontaneous engagement session in Patagonia, Chile!

This stunning beauty is my sister Paulina. She's hilarious, spontaneous, and caring. She also puts up with my constant photographer-ness where I'm like, "oh wait this is a beautiful pic stop wait ok that's perfect!" So when my cousin decided to get married on our family farm in the south of Chile, I knew I had go on an adventure with Paulina and her boyfriend Justin. She lives in Raleigh, NC where Drew and I grew up so it was the best Christmas gift to spend a week with them in Chile and then show them Miami! Paulina is studying nutrition, is an incredible animal whisperer, the life of the party, and so generous. Justin works for Cisco, is a former Marine, is the hardest worker I know, and up for anything. They're perfect!

My dad was born in Chile and now my grandparents and cousins have an incredible farm called La Quinta Del Lago with horses, cows, alpacas, apple and cherry orchards, and beautiful flower gardens next to Lago Llanquihue surrounded by volcanos. It's a working farm that's paradise and they turned into a Bed and Breakfast. You can actually stay there on Air Bnb too! Down the road is the beautiful Putrohue Waterfalls with aqua water of the Petrohue river and views of Volcan Osorno. On the farm we walked through the orchards where the sheep graze, frolicked through the alpaca fields, and walked along the lake as Volcan Osorno reflected the sunset colors. It was so hard to not pick a billion, but enjoy these travel photos of my beautiful sister and in this incredible Patagonia backdrop! Photos from my cousin's wedding will be coming soon!! 

I love to travel and experience the world with my husband by my side. This summer Drew and I took an anniversary trip to Shenandoah National Park and hiked several trails, saw black bears, and incredible views. One of our before we die bucket list items is to visit every national park! We also were able to visit family in Ocean Isle Beach which is an amazing island with gorgeous beaches and amazing neighbors.