Our Wedding: Ceremony
I woke up the morning of the wedding still in the dress I wore for the rehearsal dinner. My head hurt and I wanted some greasy hangover food. I also want to note that I think I was up at like 8 a.m. We went to IHOP for breakfast (got it TO GO!) and ate on the balcony of our hotel suite. It was shaping up to be a beautiful day.
After lounging around … I wanted McDonalds. And fresh air. So we walked to the beach McDonalds and had some Diet Coke (necessity!) and another large, greasy meal. This was going to be a long day of drinking — I had to gear up for it!
After eating and walking round trip from the McDonalds… I totally took a nap. I didn’t wake up until I had to and I was kind of in a foul mood. I started to feel better once the mimosas were flowing and my hair was pinned and ready to be set.
But, oh wait. I still didn’t have a bouquet! Luckily I had some help from the wife of one of the groomsmen. She was quite crafty and turned my bouquet into a reality. I have no idea how I would have done that without her!
So… to paraphase the crazy that was the morning of and getting ready…
Ihop, McDonalds, Nap.
Mimosas, bouquet panic, shouting, stress, trying to hide a microphone in a very tight dress, more mimosas, getting the guys their ironed suits/ties, hair and makeup, trying to figure out the keg situation, working out who was going to transport the desserts to the reception place to set up the dessert table… trying to get ready in time for the FIRST LOOK.
Sheesh! It was certainly a very memorable morning.
Getting my hair set. I am not pleased for some reason.
Hair & makeup done! Putting in my earrings.
Me getting my earrings in!
Apparently needing help.
Zip me up!
Still am not looking too pleased! Was definitely feeling the stress.
Trying to hide a microphone.
Hey camera man! Get me in this damn dress!
My brooch bouquet — COMPLETED! 🙂 So excited.
Time to smile for the camera. 🙂
Scott’s mom had her camera and was always snapping away too 🙂 I love this one.
On the balcony of our hotel suite.
Detail shot of my hair, hair pieces and earrings.
Let’s get this show on the ROAD!
I think I was writing out detailed instructions on keg purchasing and delivery.
Scott’s mom caught me on my phone. Not pleased?! Who was I talking to!?
*All photography by CSE Photography unless otherwise noted.
Edited to add: My hair flowers came from Ban.do! I ordered the mini pom pom set in peach and aqua. I *loved* them and they looked like carnations!
My Bridesmaids
While I was busy getting ready and finishing up the final touches on the wedding itself, my girls had to get ready too! =) I did not require them to get their hair and makeup done by the makeup artist I hired, but they were more than welcome to if they chose to. I was very pleased with how we all looked. Everyone kept true to their own style and I loved it!
P.S. — If you’re in the Tampa area, consider Michelle Renee Hair and Makeup. They did a GREAT job on my hair and makeup (obviously, the photos don’t do it enough justice!) and they did good work on some of my ladies and family members as well. 🙂
The always fabulous Jamie.
Christine works her cocktail ring.
Deanna looks mighty fine in aqua. 😀
Now…since I had originally wanted my girls to carry smaller brooch bouquets as well… you can imagine the stress that set in the week of the wedding when I realized that it wasn’t going to happen. Realistically, there was just not enough time and I did not have the patience to create the rest of them (Some of my bridesmaids had helped earlier in the wedding planning stages). So… I did what any of you would have done in this situation.
No, I didn’t buy flowers.
I used different color paper for each girl. In hindsight, I probably would have used two sided paper, but I think it came out fine as it is.
My girls were dressed, accessorized, and were pinwheel ready. Now what? We sat around and waited for the boys to get ready so we could have our first look.
*All photography by CSE Photography unless otherwise noted.
The one shoulder ruffled dresses came from Lulus (and have since sold out!). Modcloth carried the aqua one for a hot second, but again, it disappeared.
The two other ladies in aqua are in J. Crew with my lady in aqua with the brooch at her hip… a last minute dress find at Ross. No, really. Seriously. It was two days before the wedding and the original J. Crew I wanted her in just wasn’t working out!
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The Groomsmen
While the girls and myself were kind of frantic, it looks like the guys were relaxing. We luckily had two photographers so while Caroline was shooting the ladies, her husband Evan was shooting the men. They were a rowdy bunch, so I’m eternally grateful he got them to the first look ready to go!
The guys got ready at a nearby hotel and look like they had a good time hanging out all day. PS, the weather was GORGEOUS. We couldn’t have asked for better weather.
My groom with his pinwheel! I am so glad he let me give that to him to wear! I made that by gluing a pinwheel onto a pin.
The groom and his father
Get in my belly?
I’m sure those papers are important.
Checking himself out…
A beer is a necessity!
Brothers
Posing.
Kisses for the groom!
One of my favorite photos of my groom. Taken on Clearwater Beach near Shephard’s Beach Resort. Sand Key is in the background — where we held our ceremony.
*All photography by CSE Photography unless otherwise noted.
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The First Look
Since the ladies were staying at a beach front resort, it was easy to find a spot to have our first look. Coincidentally, another wedding was getting set up to begin later that evening in that spot (hence why there are chairs in the background). Once Scott was positioned on the rock on the beach, he turned to face the water and I came out.
No peeking!
I better be getting a thumbs up!
I feel like I should be saying “hey girl heyyyyy!” LOL
This is me almost falling.
Sneaking up…
Why hello, there!
🙂
Inspecting his attire
Grabbing my groom! It’s time to get hitched!
No, I don’t have a mole on my arm. I’m thinking this is dirt from the beach! At least this can be Photoshopped out, LOL
*All photography by CSE Photography unless otherwise noted.
Wild Wedding: The Ceremony Set Up
After the first look, we piled into the trolley to take the entire bridal party to the ceremony site. There was, of course, some drama with that (which will probably be seen nationwide soon) that involved the groomsmen being rowdy. When we cleared up what had happened, we all shared a 12 pack of Yuengling and went the three minutes to the ceremony site–Sand Key Beach. It’s a public beach, less crowded than Clearwater, and a favorite of mine. My wedding planner set up a gorgeous ceremony site. It was simple, beachy, beautiful.
I told you, we had really perfect weather.
The detail of the arch: I was using burlap for the reception tables, so we incorporated burlap into the ceremony as well.
Getting ready for the sand ceremony
My steel drummer, getting ready to start the show!
Note the benches and the burlap aisle runner behind him. I LOVED that we were able to rent four white benches from my wedding planner. They were again… simple and very cute. Why just four benches? Well, this is kind of a wedding faux pas, but we only invited close friends & family to the ceremony. We didn’t want it to be that large and having a huge ceremony on the beach seemed like it would be challenging anyway. So, we had about 30 people at the ceremony and 100 at the reception. It worked well for us. Some people might have been a little sad they were not invited to the ceremony (but they could’ve came if they asked, it was a very laid back affair!), but I received more than one “thanks for only inviting us to the party!” at the reception later that night… and no, they weren’t being sarcastic!
The boys followed our officiant down to the ceremony site.
I wanted the guys to walk by themselves and the girls to also walk by themselves during the ceremony.
I kind of love this picture.
They make it to the finish line… the groom ditched his shoes along the way. Figures!
And then… one of my favorite pictures of all… the ceremony begins and my groom sees me…
… it’s just a really sweet moment captured on a camera!
Next up… I share our sand ceremony and something else a little unique.
*All photography by CSE Photography unless otherwise noted.
Wild Wedding: Random Photos {Pre-Ceremony}
These are some random photos I want to share before I start with the ceremony & reception recaps. These were taken by Scott’s mom and they set up the scene a little more. 🙂
During the First Look, I ditched my shoes.
I love this shot of Scott, he looks so happy!
The bridal party waiting to be ALLOWED on the trolley.
The boys milling.
They were VERY loud… I’d say causing a ruckus is a good explanation!
Finally — we are allowed on the trolley! This is us coming over the bridge to get to the ceremony location.
Wedding guests ready for the show to begin!
The boys figuring out what to do.
Sunglasses. Appropriate.
And they’re off! Time to get hitched!
Wild Wedding: The Ceremony {Part One}
It was time to start. I remember waiting on the boardwalk, impatiently, alone ready for my “cue” to start walking. It was a long walk from where I was to the ceremony spot. I ended up sneaking forward and waiting with one of my ladies.
But, it was their turn to walk down the aisle and I had to just wait. Patiently.
They made it to their places… and it was now my turn.
And, then, the music started.
One foot after the other…
Trying to remember to smile
I love this
My eyes are sparkly in this!
Wild Wedding: The Ceremony {Part Two}
I wish I could remember more of the ceremony…but I don’t. I laughed. I remember talking about someone being drunk. It happened so fast, I can hardly remember it all.
After the first part, my bridesmaid Jamie did a reading.
“Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part.”
“Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement,
it is not the promulgation of eternal passion. That is just being “in love” which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.”
“Those that truly love, have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two.”
With the first part of the ceremony completed, it was time to do our vows and put our new bling on.
Wild Wedding: The Ceremony {Part Three – Vows}
After the reading, it was time for us to read our vows. We decided to write our own — which definitely made me nervous. I absolutely procrastinated and ended up writing them like 2 days before the wedding. Oops. Either way, they were still awesome.
He had his vows neatly stores on his iTouch. Classy. 😉
“I, Scott, take you Krystal to be my Lawfully wedded wife,to be my best friend, my faithful companion and my cohort in all of our adventures, to be the future mother of my children and forever my fighting partner.” [And there’s the lyric from my tattoo!]
“In exchange, I promise to always be there for you as your loving husband, to be your everlasting source of smiles and laughter and your sanctum from rough seas.”
“All these things I vow to you as we share a byline on the story of life for as long as we both shall live.”
My turn!
“Scott, I love you. You are my best friend and will be forever. Today I give myself to you in marriage to be your wife.”
“I promise to encourage you, to laugh with you and to comfort you in times of sorrow. I promise to love you in good times and bad. I promise to cherish and respect you.”
“I vow to be true and faithful for as long as we both shall live. Because of you, I laugh, and I smile, and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you. I’m forever your fighting partner.”
Probably laughing because we both put that song lyric in our vows… and he included it before he knew about my tattoo. It’s funny how things work out! 😉
Time for the bling!
Wild Wedding: The Ceremony {Part Four – Sand & A Kiss}
Our vows had been read, our new wedding rings were on… now it was time to carry on with the sand ceremony. Sure, this is a popular way to symbolize marriage in a beach wedding… but I wanted to add a little something to our ceremony. Otherwise, it would have been like 4 minutes.
We walked around the arch way and started pouring some sand.
I’m sure there was a reading going on now that talked about the symbolism of sand and the ocean…
I don’t remember what was said. I just remember pouring.
All done! We walked in front of the arch and it was time for the KISS!
Our officiant pronounced us husband and wife and it was GO time.
Oh, hi, we are married now.
And we were OFF!
Though we weren’t going very far…
We led our guests toward the water!
Wild Wedding: The Ceremony {Part Five – Sea & Shells}
We said our I Dos and kissed…. now we asked our guests to follow us toward the water for a shell ceremony. I had found this early on in my wedding planning when it came to beach weddings. Guests would gather a sea shell and toss it in the water while making a wish for the couple. The week of the wedding, we hit the beach and collected several seashells and random rocks from our ceremony site.
Stopping to get our shells — I took a big white rock.
Our bridal party walked down the aisle to follow us — picking up a seashell along the way!
Then, we headed toward water.
Making sure everyone is following us…
Okay, we are HERE!
Ready and waiting…
Everyone getting lined up…
On your mark…
The reading our officiant used:
“Before you met, your lives were on different paths with different destinations. But love has brought you together and joined these separate paths into one.”
“Each one of your friends and family here today has been given a small seashell that represents their unique individuality and their presence at your wedding today.”
“You also each have a shell of your own that symbolizes your previous separate lives, separate sets of friends, separate families and the different life’s journeys you once traveled.”
“I will now ask that everyone please take out the shell you have been given and pause to make a wish or blessing for happiness and good will for the couple for the future of their marriage.”
“Let’s cast our shells into the sea, as we wish for this marriage to be forever blessed.”
And, with that, it was all over.
All the stress, all the planning, all the details… it all was over. The ceremony was more important to me than the reception. We had struggled over how many people to invite to the ceremony versus the reception…He envisioned a private beach ceremony while I wanted something a bit more lively. We didn’t see eye to eye on having chairs, an arch, or even an aisle.
Yet, in the end, we had such a beautiful and personal ceremony. It was a little bit of his ideas, a little bit of mine. It was perfect.
And, now, we could relax. It was time to party.
I love seeing everyone gathered and happy on the sand.
But, before that sun goes down… we needed to do some beach pictures. =)
Wild Wedding: The Ceremony {Group Pictures}
Anyways, on to the show!
All married & stuff
Parentals
Scott’s parentals + brother
The entire bridal party {How long can the boys stay still?!}
Not long obviously 🙂
Sassy ladies + Wild boys
I love, love, love this picture. 🙂 Everyone kept it together JUST long enough!
And, then, well, I’m not sure what happened!
This picture is too funny…
…I imagine that they were screaming when they were taking these…
Everybody JUMP!
And… higher this time… unless you’re Kris on the left who clearly did not listen to instructions!
Time for pictures with the ladies
Give them sass!
With my Maid of Honor
And, before everyone darted to the reception, I wanted one group picture… of EVERYONE that made it to the ceremony. I figured that it would be nice to see a picture of those nearest & dearest.
Serious
Not Serious! {I see middle fingers, cigarettes, attitude, sunglasses, dying pinwheels.}
Not Serious Part Deux {I see people looking surprised, fingers, and lots of open mouths. This is what happens when you say “Okay, we want a silly picture!}
Wild Wedding: The Ceremony {Bride + Groom Pictures}
After the group pictures, we escaped to the shoreline for some private pictures. Some of my favorite pictures of the day are included in this set. Can you guess which ones they are?
I like this one, it makes me feel like my paparazzi is following me.
Isn’t the background so beautiful?
I love love love this one. I’m not sure why.
Lovely.
Watching the pirate ship go by
Was most definitely shaping up to be a gorgeous evening
I love this one too
Perfection
Stunning!
Now, we were so ready for a beer!
*All photography by CSE Photography unless otherwise noted.
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