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| Met my husband when I was 15. Married him at 28. Got pregnant at 30. Just turned 32 and more in love than ever. |
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| I am crazy about photos and I knew I wanted them to be intimate and special. Thankfully I have such talented and creative friends because my budget did not work with the cost of a professional photographer. I asked my friend, Ashley V., to take our photos for us! She has the eye and I knew she would capture the more intimate side of the wedding. This was her first wedding and since then I can't even count how many she has done. She has made a great name for herself in the industry and I'm so proud to be apart of some of her first shots. Not only did she not charge us she also created a gorgeous wedding album that all of my interior design girls pitched in to get... this gift will be with us until the end of days! Tip: Photography can be one of the highest purchases for a wedding. Have a friend do it!!! |
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| Love all of the ocean shots, Ash! |
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| Flowing veil shot! |
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| I asked another friend, Melissa Livengood, to take photos as well. Although she does not shoot professionally she loves to take photos and they are always beautiful. While Ashley used her digital pro cam, Melissa used real film. It was awesome to see the different perspectives between the two photographers. She printed every single photo she took and I have them in a leather album. I love them. She took one of my favs of Der and I dancing! Thanks, Melis! |
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| My brother John was my videographer! I wanted it to be candid and intamite, once again, and it was exactly that... I love hearing his voice on the other end, the loud wind and ocean gusts... it's like being there again. He captured some of the most beautiful moments of my life. I love you so much, John boy! See Video Clip Below: Be prepared for a very awkward and nervous bride! : ) |
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| Since it was a destination wedding I decided to have flowers sent to the beach house from a wholesale company similar to FiftyFlower.com. I was nervous about the quality because they were so inexpensive. They showed up gorgeous and fresh and each stem had it's own water vessel. My mom made all of the arrangements... exactly what I had in mind. She's amazing! |
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| The bridesmaids dresses were from Target for $50! I bought ivory ribbon to wrap around the girls so they matched my ivory gown. |
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| I love to make jewelry so I made my bridesmaids earrings and bracelets. They were ivory and champagne looking pearls and looked perfect at the beach. |
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| All of the groomsmen's linen suites where tailor made in India thanks to our great friend, Kavir. It ended up being less expensive to do it this way and the guys say that it is the "go to" suite for summer weddings. I love that they get to wear them over and over again! |
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| We had everyone sign a shell and use them as there place setting. They returned them into unique glass vessels that are now in our bedroom. It was an awesome way to take something special from the wedding and use it as decor in our home. |
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| Galvanized buckets lied in the sand as guest approached the beach. Each bucket had a handmade program, shells, a bag of rice to throw, brushes to wipe the sand from your feet and a paper fan to stay cool. I made the programs and the invitations, see above, with sea grass wallpaper samples and stamped the D&M on the front. I loved the idea of sending out invites that I made as a special touch. Plus it was super inexpensive! |
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| Thank god for my last minute wedding coordinators, Dan and Johnna Sheets. I told them what to do and when I showed up it was done. They ran around like crazy from the beach to the reception area setting everything up from the ceremony aisle to the details on the dinner tables. I seriously have no idea how it would have gotten done without them. And after all of that running around they still looked amazing! |
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| The canopy was from a coworkers wedding. She only charged me $50, it was $175 originally, and Derek sold it for that much on Craigslist... so we broke even on that purchase! |
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| And my awesome brothers put it up! |
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| I thought I'd throw in some funny shots. Best Man, Derek's brother Scott, getting knocked out by my veil |
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| And the "Man of Honor," my brother Dennis, reacting his pose with Der. Ha! |
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| Sand can be a bit challenging in a ton of fabric. Haha, I love how everyone came running towards me to help me up... I couldn't get up because I was laughing so hard. |
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| And up!!! Thanks guys! : ) |
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| And finally this lovely photo because I think it represents us perfectly. We balance each other beautifully. Happy Anniversary to my sweet husband. Melis |
