2 brides destroyed their wedding dresses by taking photos in the ocean to celebrate their elopement

English was working as a server at a bar and grill in San Angelo, Texas, in 2018 when Zlogar, a helicopter pilot in the Marines, came in to eat with a group of friends.

English told Insider that Zlogar's best friend Henry was actually the one hitting on her at first. He ended up giving her his number so she could meet up with them again at a different bar after her shift.

"I showed up, and Annaliese was with her best friend. She was like, 'Do you want me to introduce you to Henry formally? He's upstairs.' I was like, 'No, I'm here for you,'" English said. 

"She ended up buying me a drink, and we talked for a long time," she added. "I called my mom that night and told her that I had just met my wife. We were inseparable after that night. We just hung out all the time. We had six weeks together before she deployed." 

English said she knew it was too soon, but she wanted Zlogar to know where she stood. 

English then joined the Coast Guard both as a way to pursue a career as a law enforcement officer working with victims of human trafficking and to stay close to her future wife. 

"I told her, 'I'll wait for as long as it takes, and I'll do whatever else to convince you that I'm totally all in and I'm here for it.' And she thought I was crazy, but two years later, we were still together," English said.

She added: "She's just incredible. She's taught me so much about life and hard work, and friendships. That first night, I thought the way her friends acted around her was so special. I could tell that they just loved her so much."

Two years after they started dating, the couple moved to North Carolina. On January 1, 2020, they went for a picnic on the beach in Emerald Isle to celebrate the new year and that's when Zlogar proposed to English. 

"It was amazing and beautiful, but then the pandemic hit," English said. 

Because of the pandemic, the couple had to move across the country with very little help since their family members were quarantining. The two decided to stop in Texas to spend some time with English's family on the drive to San Diego. 

English told Insider that during their stop in Texas, she and Zlogar eloped at the courthouse in San Angelo on May 18, 2021. It was the best way to ensure that they were both going to be stationed together after getting to San Diego, California. Because of the courthouse's COVID guest policy, only English's mom and brother could attend. 

The photo shoot was gifted to the couple by English's friend, Brittany Cubero, who is a florist.

Cubero needed content for her website, LGBT Weddings Asheville, and she knew that the brides didn't have any wedding pictures, so she gifted them a shoot with the photographer Bree Hulan in exchange for photos to put on her site.

When it came to the brides' bouquets for the shoot, the florist said that she picked flowers that would pair well with the color yellow because it's English's favorite color. 

The brides wore dresses from the online shop JJsHouse, and they cost about $150 each. 

"They came in and they were so beautiful," English said. 

English wore a sleeveless dress with floral embroidery, while Zlogar wore a gown with thin straps and a pleated bodice. 

Both of the dresses were destroyed by the end of the shoot, as the brides took photos in the ocean. 

"We were so cold and exhausted, and it was dark outside, and we just threw the sandy, wet, salty dresses on our driveway," English said. "By the next morning, the dresses looked horrible, so we just threw them out."

"At the end of the day, the flowers don't matter and the dresses don't matter. What matters is we will remember this amazing photo shoot for the rest of our lives," she added. 

The brides were shooting in the water for about two hours, English said.

"It was such a beautiful feeling because trashing that dress to me felt like I was solidifying the fact that I'm never going to get married again because this person is my whole world," she told Insider. 

"I feel so right about her, I feel so good about her, and our love is so beautiful that I loved trashing the dresses with her," she added. "And I love that we got the beautiful photos together because, ultimately, it's the memories that matter."

Despite how much fun she had, English said it was a lot tougher than it looked to pose for pictures while the waves were crashing around her and her bride. 

"The pictures looked more graceful than it was, but we were just getting beat by these waves," English said laughing. 

Hulan said the hardest part was making sure the dresses didn't get wet prematurely. 

"I wanted to make sure that we could capture them getting the dresses in the water for the first time perfectly, so trying to avoid the waves was challenging," she said. 

Hulan said English and Zlogar were a dream to shoot with because they were so natural in front of the camera. 

"They were so cute and sweet. I could tell how in love they are from the photos and from how they interacted in the photo shoot," she said."Their love was such a beautiful thing to witness, and they were comfortable in front of the camera within five minutes. They were giggly, fun, and down for an adventure the whole time!"

On February 10, Cubero shared a TikTok video of English and Zlogar's wedding shoot that had over 9 million views at the time of writing. 

Hulan shared her own clip on February 18, and it got more than 2 million views.

Hulan told Insider that since going viral on TikTok, she's had a lot of people reach out to her about how inspiring her photos of English and Zlogar were.

"That is so great for me to hear because I just want people to feel empowered to do what they want on their wedding day and not have to stick to tradition if they don't want to," Hulan said. "I want people to be empowered to show their love in the most authentic and real way to them,  whether it's at their wedding or otherwise."

Growing up in west Texas, English said "gay people didn't exist" in her world, so she didn't feel comfortable coming out until she was 21.

It wasn't until she started seeing other people like her on social media that she realized there was nothing wrong with her. 

"I clung on to that, and it changed my life, and it made me feel normal and like I could have a life that was beautiful and healthy and happy with a woman. So being older and being able to be a small part of that representation for young people who have very limited access to gay representation or the LGBTQ world is amazing," English said.

"I want people to see the TikTok clip and recognize that there are gay women and men all over the world that can be happy," she added.