Helena and Gabe’s story is the kind of story we hate hearing! Helena and Gabe have been married for over 14 years without a wedding photo on their wall to show for it! *gasp* Apparently, the wedding photos their photographer took are so bad that they didn’t want to put them up.

Fast forward 14 years to our contest in September. Helena and Gab saw our anniversary shoot contest as a great oppurtunity to get the great photos of their love that they never had. Here is what Helena said about why they wanted to win,

For us, the best part of being married is always having our best friend right by our side. We have grown up together both mentally and spiritually which we think is just amazing! We deserve this special treat because we didn’t have our dream wedding. On a limited budget, we had to hire the cheapest photographer around, and needless to say, it showed. We have never displayed any wedding photos in our home With that said, I sure hope we have a shot at this as it would be a huge blessing!

Over 300 of Helena and Gabe’s friends and family voted for them and they won the anniversary contest and planning began!

A closest fashion diva, Helena wanted the shoot to express something edgy but sweet. Her dream was to really step out of her box! Inspiration for the shoot came from Tim Burton, Alice in Wonderland, Disney and high-fashion! The amazing Collette Budd from Brier Rose Design worked her magic and created this “Queen of Hearts” themed shoot.

The anniversary shoot was an absolute blast and we truly couldn’t have asked for a better couple. One thing that really stuck out to us about Helena and Gabe was Gabe’s sincere love for his wife and his selfless desire to see her happy. He kept saying to us…”I’m so glad she is getting to do this! She will love this! Gosh! She looks so happy and beautiful!”

Helena and Gabe,
Thank you for blessings us with your sweet love story! We are so so glad that we are able to give you the photos you always wanted, but never had. Fourteen years is a long time to wait, but we pray it was worth it! Happy Valentine’s Day!
xoxo,
Kristin and Dustin Smetona

Vendors

Photography: Smetona Photo
Styling: Brier Rose Design
Make-up: Riley Hagel
Florist: Merryl Jensen
Cake: Itty Bitty Sweets
Rentals: Smoketree Junction Antiques

Today (of all days) leave some love for Helena and Gabe below!