DGD and her Groom had a destination wedding in that it wasn't held in the town where they or any of their relatives lived. DGD and Groom and his parents live in a small college town mid-way between Orlando and Tampa; DH and I, MOB and DGD's only aunt live in Orlando area, and the rest of the relatives live on the East Coast from New York to South Carolina, mostly in the Washington DC area. The Bride and Groom love the beach and planned their wedding for Cocoa Beach in March. One not-so-major problem was that they chose a date right in the middle of rolling Spring Break and hotel rooms were at a premium.
They sent out "save the date" cards in October, so everyone had the opportunity to plan ahead. I did the research for the venue and found a resort that would conduct the wedding on the beach, complete with the bridal canopy, sound system (i's noisy on the beach!) and 100 decorated chairs, the reception (a brunch with breakfast foods, {eggs, bacon, sausages, pastries, Mimosas and Bloody Marys}, carved meats, salad, vegetables, breads, single-serve desserts), including table linens, decorated chairs, floral centerpiece containers for each table, decoration for the wedding party table and the cake table, and the services of six wait staff and two bartenders. Their package also included a suite for the Bride and Groom on their wedding night and the services of an officiant, but my niece (the Bride's second cousin) was licensed and invited to conduct the ceremony. The resort set aside a block of 15 rooms for out-of-town guests (paid for by the guests). The total cost charged by the venue was $3,000 for 100 people. MOB and MOG started collecting decoration items (bows for the chairs on the beach, table runners, wall decorations, guest books, guest favors, etc.) as soon as the engagement was announced, so the cost of those things was spread out over six months.
The wedding cake and Groom's cake were ordered from a local Publix bakery (and were delicious!). One of the bridesmaids works at Lowe's Garden Center and is very knowledgeable about flowers as well as being very artistic, so the afternoon before the wedding, the Bride and her attendants all but cleaned out the same local Publix flower shop! The female bridal party then spent the rest of the afternoon fashioning bouquets for the bridesmaids, a basket of petals for the flower girl, and the floral decorations for the tables at the reception. The Bride's bouquet was simple, but spectacular! The flowers were all stored in the refrigerator in the 8-person "loft" the MOB booked for the girls for the night before the wedding.
The attendants each paid for his/her wedding finery. The Bride selected wisteria multi-use spaghetti-strap street length dresses for her attendants at a cost of $40 each, and the flower girl wore an heirloom dress that her mother had worn in a family wedding 25 years earlier. The Groom and his attendants wore black pants, white dress shirts, lavender ties and suspenders with their initials embroidered on them.
The Bride and Groom paid for the two photographers and the flowers, as well as for the custom-made bridal gown designed by the Bride. I found it very interesting that the Bride's gown was very similar to mine of 50 years ago; she had never even seen a picture of mine! It's an English custom that the Bride put sixpence in her shoe (DGD is half-English), but since she didn't wear shoes (on the beach, remember?) and sixpence coins don't exist anymore, the dressmaker made a little pocket in the hem on each side of the dress, and one side had a 1-p coin and the other had a 5-p coin. In place of shoes, the dressmaker cut two pieces of lace (matching the lace of her gown) triangles with a loop to put over her middle toe and two ribbons to tie behind her ankle.
The ceremony was beautiful, exactly fitting the couple's personalities; they wrote their own vows and there wasn't a dry eye on the beach, including theirs. The reception was joyful and rocking - DH even put aside his cane and danced the afternoon away! The speeches by the MOH and Best Man were appropriate and touching. DH was asked to speak and he had us all in (happy) tears. But the most moving of all were the Bride's impromptu remarks before her dance with her grandfather, telling the gathering that he had been the most important person in her life and that if her husband loved her half as much and treated her half as well as DH treated me, she would have a most happy life. It doesn't get much better than that.
Queen Colleen
