How Flying Dress Aruba Pulled Off 54 Photoshoots in One Day, The Real Story

Mar 1
5 min read

Mz Nikki, the 54 Women, and the Day Aruba Tried to Take Us Out (and Failed)

There are certain people who come into your life at exactly the right time. Not because life is being kind, but because you are hanging on by a thread and the universe decides to throw you a lifeline.

This is a shoutout, a thank you, and a whole love letter to one of those people: Mz Nikki.

Nine months ago, Mz Nikki messaged me to ask about a flying dress photoshoot for a group of women coming to Aruba on a cruise ship. They were in port for one day only. One day, one shot, no wiggle room. She casually dropped the number like it was nothing, “around 40 ladies.” And I remember reading that message thinking, “Oh my God… this is the answer to my prayers.”

Because here’s the part most people did not know.

Behind the scenes, my business was on fire

From the outside, Flying Dress Aruba looked fine. Pretty dresses, ocean views, dreamy photos, happy women, the whole fantasy.

Behind the scenes, it was chaos.

My ex business partner was actively sabotaging my business. Dresses were being held hostage. Camera equipment was stolen. Old clients were being contacted. Accounts hacked. Company vehicle and phone gone. Legal bills were stacking up so fast I could barely breathe. I was rebuilding a whole new team while trying to keep the ship afloat with duct tape and adrenaline.

I had to sell my furniture to pay the staff and keep bills covered. Eventually I had my water and electricity cut off because every penny I had was going toward legal fees and survival. He even stopped my salary and redirected clients payments to his personal bank account before the company account got frozen, which meant for eight months I didn’t get paid a dime.

There were nights I cried myself to sleep and went to bed with real hunger pains so my child could eat.

Looking back, I honestly don’t know how I did it. But somehow I did.

So when Mz Nikki came along with that message, I didn’t pause to “think it through.” I said yes almost immediately.

Not because it was easy, but because I needed something big like this to say yes to.

Months of planning, swaps, dropouts, and chaos, the glamorous kind

If you’ve ever organized anything with a big group of women, you already know what I’m about to say.

It was months of back and forth. People joining, dropping out, changing their minds. Switching session types. Swapping dress colors. Details changing. It was like planning a wedding, times a hundred.

Eventually we landed on the final number, 54 women.

On paper, that sounds like a dream booking. And yes, financially, it helped more than I can properly explain.

But let me also be clear, because I’m not here to sell a “boss babe” fairytale.

That money went fast.

It paid staff. It paid legal bills. It helped pay my mortgage to stop my home from being repossessed. It covered photographers, dress assistants, editors, logistics, new dresses, equipment and all the behind-the-scenes costs people don’t see.

It didn’t magically fix everything overnight.

What it did do was keep us alive.

The day itself, 54 women, six team members, and Aruba chose to be bad

Then the day arrived.

Me and my team photographed 54 women in one day, with a team of six, in the baking heat.

And just to make sure we earned it, everything that could go wrong… did.

The heavens opened. Torrential rain. Not Aruba’s usual “ten minutes and done” sprinkle. This was proper “is this a sign from above” rain, for almost an hour.

We all ended up hiding under a big tree, soaking wet. Dresses soaking wet. Dresses for later sessions soaking wet. Everyone packed together trying to keep the vibes up while Mother Nature tried to humble us.

At one point I walked away from the group, stood out in the open on the beach, looked up at the sky, completely drenched, and thought: “I have to pull this off. I have to hold it together. I cannot fall apart today.”

I remember thinking, thank God the rain is washing over my face, because nobody can tell I’m crying.

Then, because apparently the universe wanted extra drama I ended up with a sprained ankle and a gash on my forehead from where a broken tree branch stabbed me... And as always, I told myself "the show must go on"... And what a show it was!

We did it.

We actually did it.

We pulled it off.

We got the shots. We kept the energy high. We guided every single woman through her moment. We hyped them up, made them feel beautiful, kept the experience fun, even when the conditions were basically “Aruba: The Extreme Edition.”

And the results were phenomenal. My team were phenomenal!

What those women gave me, without even knowing it

Those ladies came to Aruba for a photoshoot, a bucket list moment, a fun day off the ship.

What they gave me was much bigger.

They gave me proof that Flying Dress Aruba was still standing.

They reminded me why this business exists, it’s not just about a pretty photo. It’s about how a woman feels when she realizes, “Wait… I still have her in me.”

They pushed me and my team to our limits, and then showed us what we’re capable of.

I will forever be proud of that day, not because it was perfect, but because it wasn’t, and we still delivered.

Mz Nikki, flying dress connoisseur, and the compliment I didn’t know I needed

Now let’s talk about Mz Nikki.

This woman is a flying dress photoshoot connoisseur. She has done them all over the world, Dubai, Greece, Jamaica, and more. She knows what a flying dress experience should feel like. She knows the difference between “here’s a dress, good luck” and a fully guided, confidence boosting, luxury experience.

At the end of that day she said something I will never forget:

Given all my flying dress experience around the world, you and your team are by far the best flying dress photoshoot experience I’ve ever had.

That hit me right in the chest.

Because when you’ve been fighting for your business, your reputation, your sanity, and your survival, you don’t always realize how much you need someone to look you in the eye and say, “You’re doing it. You’re still excellent. You’re still you.”

Mz Nikki didn’t just book a photoshoot.

She backed me at a time when my world was falling apart.

And I will never forget it.

So this is my thank you, my flowers

Mz Nikki, thank you for trusting me with the biggest group session of my career. Thank you for your patience through months of planning. Thank you for believing in Flying Dress Aruba when you had absolutely no idea what was happening behind the scenes.

And thank you for giving me the kind of validation that doesn’t come from likes, or numbers, or “on paper” success.

It came from respect.

That day was for your ladies, and it was also for me.

Proof that even when everything is falling apart behind the camera, something beautiful can still be created in front of it.

With the right team, the right grit, and the right women beside you.

And if you were one of those 54 women, just know, you didn’t just take photos that day.

You helped save a business.

You helped save a dream.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Mz Nikki, you’ll always have a special place in my story and I can't wait for you to return to Aruba so we can go for that long overdue cocktail.

With love and gratitude,

Stacy xo