We added this page to share a special story about us and it has to do with the flower on our invitation. So here is the story about a ghost orchid.
The ghost orchid is one of the rarest flowers in the world. They only grow in a few locations in Florida and in Cuba.
In June of 2021, Pete and I went looking for one that was blooming. That year, unfortunately, I only discovered its roots clinging to a tree. However, it was at that moment that we both said "I love you" for the first time. That location means the world to us. We marked the spot in our minds and vowed to come back the next year.
Fast forward to March 2022, and it was really flooded and I (Dani) was not quite ready to do a slough slog. So we kept on our hike, past gators and cottonmouth snakes, and a family of red-shouldered hawks, and about a mile away from our flower we got engaged.
Now it's May 2022, we had to cancel our engagement photo shoot due to rain, but we decided to go to our spot anyways. Parts were dry, other parts were flooded...including where we had seen the orchid last. This time I was determined not to miss it again, so in we went. Walking carefully around the poison ivy, and into cold, hip-deep water (well for me it was), around trees and over fallen logs that we could not see...when we finally found the tree from a year before, with a single flower in full bloom.
It was beautiful.
Pete and I managed to get a few pictures in, before the flashes of lightning and sounds of thunder made us wade out.
We can't tell you where this is at, we are sworn to secrecy - I'm not even kidding. But now you have a photo of one ghost orchid.