I recently had the pleasure of working with a client named Rita, who asked me to take photos of a very special surprise party she was planning for her daughter Vanessa’s 22nd birthday. Not only did Rita want to capture Vanessa’s reaction to her surprise celebration, but she wanted photos of the entire event. I could not wait to help her! I love any opportunity to help my customers remember special occasions such as this.

During the week of the party, my brother Cristian also happened to be visiting from Puerto Rico. Cristian is a photographer as well so I was especially looking forward to working together on at least one photo shoot with him – Rita got the June special, two photographers for the price of one! It was a lot of fun collaborating with my brother as we both have different skills, allowing us to teach and learn from one another.

Now back to the surprise party – how did Rita pull it off? Well, that’s a funny story. Rita told Vanessa that they would be spending the day helping her grandmother with some things, so would not be able to celebrate her birthday together. Of course, this upset Vanessa momentarily, but little did she know she would spend her birthday not only with her family, but with all of her youth group friends. Vanessa’s youth group director and friends spent the day decorating the Youth Center in preparation for Vanessa’s arrival. As the time drew nearer, another friend of Vanessa’s, along with her sister, drove her to the Youth Center, pretending they needed to stop and pick something up there.

When Vanessa walked in the room, she was in complete shock! Taylor Swift’s “I’m Feeling 22” was blasting from the stereo in a room full of pink and white decorations, and most importantly full of Vanessa’s family and friends. There were so many memorable moments for me to shoot during this party. My favorite part of the celebration was seeing how happy and thankful Vanessa was to her family and friends for organizing such a wonderful and unexpected surprise. I’m glad I was able to capture all of the fun!