What an amazing engagement session to end the year on! I don’t know how to describe the excitement I had for this session!! My jaw just about dropped when Kelly emailed me asking to do their engagement session in Busch Gardens BEFORE the park opened!! Not to mention, during Christmastown!!! Kelly’s dad does HR for Busch Gardens so he was able to get us into the park a full 2 hours before it opened!! How crazy is that?!! I grew up in the area so I’ve been to Busch Gardens countless times, but this was a whole new experience! Wandering the park with no one inside was quite an experience. Sometimes I forgot I was there to do a session, I just wanted to walk around all day!! We really felt like VIP! I can’t thank Kelly’s dad enough for letting us do this! He was so excited for his daughter to have her pictures done here. He’s been working for Busch Gardens for years and he has so much pride in the park! We got to talk with him about all the stuff that goes on behind the scenes- so cool!

I have to admit, I was just as nervous as I was excited for this session. Trying to do justice to such a gorgeous place was quite intimidating! Not to mention, doing so at noon on a day when there wasn’t a cloud in the sky! Challenge accepted!! After the session was over, we actually got to stay in the park for free! We had some time to kill when we finished the session before it got dark for Christmastown, so we actually brought our laptops inside the park to get some work done for a few hours!! So surreal!! Then we bundled up and wandered the park as guests enjoying all the beautiful lights! It’s a totally different place after dark! I think we may have circled the park 3 times that day! Kelly’s family stayed in the park after the session too and we actually ended up running into them again- what are the chances?!

Kelly and I actually went to high school together, but never knew each other! But she and Branden actually remembered each other from a few classes they had together- small world! She now lives in North Carolina with her boyfriend working for UNC. These guys are so sweet and we had such a blast wandering the park with them for their engagement session. Can’t wait for their wedding next November!!!Yep, we just hopped right on the train- no big deal! :-p

And then we may have just strolled right into the penguin exhibit for some one-on-one time with Maggie, the penguin! 
I can’t even describe how cute little Maggie is. She actually waddles when she walks! So adorable!! 

To all of you who waited hours in line to see the penguins, please don’t hate us! haha!










Yep, that’s Alpengeist above them!




Kelly’s parents accompanied us for the shoot, so of course they had to hop in for a few shots!
Just taking a leisurely stroll through the streets of Germany. 











We had the big Christmas tree in front of the Festhaus all to ourselves!!! It’s so crazy to think that just a few hours later, this spot was swarming with people! 






I’ve gone over this bridge countless times, but never when there was NO ONE on it!! 
Verbolten in the background!



Next stop, Italy!







Once we made our way back to England, the swarms of people were already starting to come in!