July 3 was the beach wedding of Barbara and Fred. It was a private wedding with just her mom and dad as witnesses. Barbara and Fred are from Green Cove Springs and came down to Flagler Beach for a vacation and wedding. There are very few places where you can have complete privacy on the beach, but Flagler Beach is one of them. This Thursday is another quiet beach wedding for Cindy and Jay. They will be having the big celebration later when they return home. Then we are off to visit our granddaughter for a few days in Ft. Lauderdale. I think a trip to the water park is included in this trip. It was a hectic three day weekend for the Fourth of July holiday with a car show, parade and picnic barbecue. We hope your Fourth was safe and happy too.

Something different

Last sunday, June 22 was the wedding of Angelica and Sean at the Sunset Harbor Yacht Club. It was a lovely and elegant affair. This couple were high school sweethearts who waited until they had established their careers and bought a house and were finally ready to take the big step of getting married. Yesterday was something really different. We performed a double wedding of Peggy and Keith and Peggy's daughter Shannon and her fiance Chad. It was a Hawaiian themed wedding with real orchid leis flown in from Hawaii for the celebration. Rev. Ted and I had a chance to wear the outfits we bought in Maui last October. We had a first in that this wedding had to be moved indoors because of a horrific thunderstorm which started just moments before the ceremony. The storm was headed away and then turned around and came back. We can no longer say it has never rained on one of our weddings so if you catch us saying it out of habit be sure to remind us of this one.

Last weekend was the wedding of Brandon and Hillary in Jacksonville Beach. Once again the weather was perfect. Brandon and Hillary had the stone ceremony where all their guests walked down to the water's edge at the beach and threw special polished stones with which they had placed their wishes for the couple, as far into the water as they could so that the wishes could be carried out to sea and up to God. Everyone seemed to have a good time. The next morning we left for a long awaited vacation to New Hampshire and Massacusetts to do some ancestry research. It was very successful as we completed four lines of ancestors for Ted. We look forward to being back home to do two weddings next weekend. Nothing like getting right back into the swing of things.

catching up

Danny and Kelly's wedding at Washington Oaks was beautiful. Although rain threatened, it stayed away until the wedding was over. It was held on the beachside of the park. Danny and Kelly are from the middle part of the country so they were delighted to have the ocean as a backdrop. The heavy clouds made the pictures more interesting and kept the temperature down to a tolerable level.

We took off Memorial weekend to spend some time with our daughter Ariel and granddaughter Kaylie. We went to Disney's Animal Kingdom and had a great time. The Mt. Everest Expedition roller coaster is the best ever! We stayed two nights in Orlando and then came back home. The next day we went up to St. Augustine. We got to the fort just before they were going to fire off the muskets and cannons so we had an unexpected treat. We took the trolly ride around the city and had Kaylie's picture taken in a victorian outfit. So cute. She is doing a report on St. Augustine in fourth grade next year so she took a lot of pictures and collected a lot of information. She made the gifted class for next year and we are so proud of her.

The 7th of June we have two weddings, one in Jax Beach and one in Palm Coast so we will be very busy.

The past week and things to come

It has been a very busy week. Last week we had a wedding on Flagler Beach. Just the couple, Sherri and Joseph, were there (besides us of course), but is was a beautiful ceremony nonetheless. Sherri and Joseph had to head up to Pennsylvania for a family emergency right after the ceremony, so we didn't get to spend much time with them. We are sending them our prayers that everything works out according to God's plan and that they are comforted by Him in their time of need.

Saturday was a bright and beautiful day for the wedding of Dustin and Calley at the Ginn Hammock Beach resort. They had the ceremony on the events lawn. Dustin and Calley had the sand ceremony (orange and ivory sand) as part of their wedding. They gave out flip flops and fans to all the guests in keeping with the beach theme. They used large conch shells to hold their sand which was a unique touch. They flowers were orange calla lillies for the bridesmaids and white calla lillies for the bride. The flowers were quickly renamed Calley lillies in honor of the bride.

This Saturday, May 17th will be the wedding day for Kelly and Danny. They will be having their ceremony on the beach at Washington Oaks. I will try to remember to take a picture for next weeks blog.

Wednesday's wedding

Tomorrow, May 7 is the wedding of Sherri and Joseph. They are having a small romantic ceremony at the beach at Washington Oaks. They live in St. Augustine, but like the quiet, secluded beaches in Flagler County. Sherri and Joseph have been waiting seven years to tie the knot so we know that they are ready for the big day. Next Saturday is a wedding at the Ginn Resort. More about that later. Meanwhile visit our website at www.exceptionalweddings.net.

Pamela & Steven's Wedding

May 3 was the wedding of Pamela and Steven at the Deltona Inn. It was a perfect day. The weather was just a little cloudy which kept the heat down and make the photos better. When we got there Pamela was all ready and all the guest showed up on time. Pam & Steven chose the traditional wedding music: "Trumpet Voluntary", "Here comes the Bride" for the processional and Mendelssohn's "The Wedding March" for the recessional. They had blue and white sand for their sand ceremony and Steven gave Pamela's son Dylan a family medallion in the Medallion Ceremony. Dylan was a superb ring bearer marching down the aisle with such dignity and perfect posture. He was surprised by the medallion ceremony and was so pleased to be part of the ceremony. We wish Pamela and Steve all life's best and may they live long in love and happiness.