A Perfect Beach Wedding

Ok, now I'm really back! Mare's wedding in Navarre Beach, Florida was perfect, and while she and Justin are off having a fabulous time in the Dominican Republic, we all had to come right back to hectic stuff at work. When I got an email from Uncle Chris with a subject "Where for art thou, blog?" I knew my blog break needed to end soon. Now that things at work have calmed down a bit, I am finally ready to share some photos. I'll just let the gorgeous pics Katie and some other family members took speak for themselves.

Amelia performed about as well as I expected her to as a flower girl, which meant she was not good at all. Ha. But who can expect a toddler to really do anything other than look adorable in a wedding? She definitely pulled that off. I had hoped she would hold my hand and walk down the aisle, but I had not anticipated how long the boardwalk down to the beach would be, so I ended up carrying her. When I put her down in the sand, she started whining, so Cliff got her and they spent the ceremony doing this:

I, however, spent the ceremony doing this:

Y'all, I was a hot mess! I knew it would be bad, but I didn't expect to really lose it as bad as I did. But hello, she IS my baby sister. AND my dad sang this song. I didn't stand a chance.

Afterwards, I hoped Amelia would smile for some photos, but that wasn't happening either. It was ridiculously hot, and I know that dress was uncomfortable, so we were doing good to get the ones we did. Here she is smelling Grammy's bouquet after the ceremony.

I swiped this one from Justin's dad's facebook page. I don't know who was holding the camera that we were actually looking at. Hopefully it was the professional photographer. I plan to share some of those when we get them in a few weeks.

A family shot on the beach was out of the question, but Katie did get these candid snaps while we tried to convince Amelia to smile for some pics.

Guess who got the best smile of all with her?

Sweet flower girls

The reception was held under a pavilion on the beach, close to where the ceremony took place. Mare gave me pretty much free reign to decorate as I pleased, which was so much fun for me! I just couldn't trust a florist that I didn't know not to do something tacky, so I took a chance and ordered the flowers here. I was thrilled when they arrived on Thursday just as expected, and I spent the next two days doing this:

I've done a little floral arranging for events at work, but this was my first time to do a wedding. I went to my trusty friend for some tips, and was pleased with how the bouquets and table arrangements turned out. It was a ton of work, but I loved every second of it! Family members, bridesmaids and groomsmen really pitched in to help decorate, and we were so thankful for their help.

Don't those lanterns and cushions on the picnic tables just scream "beach wedding?" Oh my word, did I love planning this wedding!

More snaps from the reception. How cute were these guys?

Mare looked so pretty!

My parents being silly.

I loved every second of it, but I am so glad that's it's over and we're home and getting back to our normal lives. And I couldn't be happier for this sweet couple!

Justin has been a part of the family for a long time now, but he is now officially Uncle Justin. Congratulations, guys. We love you!