Today is my Wedding Anniversary.

Like so many other folks might say, the whole wedding planning thing is a bit crazy and stressful. To add to the madness, I had just re-opened a restaurant, closed down my tiny little gift shop and needed to plan this event in under 6 months. Oh and still do all the mom of two kid things you have to do. Yikes!

The goal was to keep details as simple as possible and that was achieved. However, my one regret was not going over my guest list better as there were names forgotten that should never have been. But… what’s done is done. As for the day, aside from the fact that my 5 year old daughter had come down with a virus which caused her to hallucinate several times from a high fever just days before…it was a
most beautiful day.

The special morning started with the ladies of my family and some close friends helping me paint my face and fix my hair. My dress was a simple ivory, lace sundress bought off the rack at Dillards, finished off with some rhinestone flip flops. The favorite part of my ensemble was my head piece. It was created by a dear friend and carefully detailed for the occasion.

The ceremony was held at 10am on the Topaz pool deck. Initially we had wanted to get married on the beach, but the walkway was too dangerous for our guests to scale. We were married by one of my servers and serenaded by a musician friend. Afterwards I danced with my son, Barry danced with our daughter and then we had our first dance together as husband and wife. It was a lovely moment finished off with some great food! We served a brunch buffet which had two of my favorites, chicken and waffles and shrimp and grits. I wish I could have eaten!

Once the formalities were over and all the guests were hugged and thanked there was a small break in the day. I have lived in Flagler Beach most of my life and wanted to be able to invite everyone to the wedding. That was not affordable nor could I find a venue to manage the occasion. So for the “reception” part of the day it was decided to have an Island Cruise, commonly known as a pub crawl. This is where the real festivities began and might I say, “A great way to celebrate a wedding in Flagler Beach!” 

We gathered at The Island Grille for a toast and began our walk down the beach to other side of town. I had changed into a white tutu that my mom made, drawing a good deal of attention from curios onlookers. That was the idea of course. We made our way to Johnny D’s where the cruise would formally start. Kicking off the celebration my new husband and mom had a formal “mother and son” dance. Barry’s mom lives in SA and unfortunately could not attend. The crowd had a couple drinks and then we moved like a parade on to the next stop at Breakawayz. It was there that I tossed my bouquet and said my hello’s to the new guests that joined us. After that we danced down the sidewalk to the Golden Lion. Another special moment as we had the “father daughter dance” in their sand pit. I remember twirling around in my tutu, laughing and smiling surrounded by all the folks I love. The next stop Fuego, now Tortuga’s, where the garter was tossed. The sun was going down and our party had reached it’s max in guests in attendance. It was some good fun. The last leg of our cruise was back to The Island Grille where we had a bit of rope and literally tied the knot, finishing off the night by cutting the cake and jumping in to the pool. What a fabulous way to end the perfect day. 

• Thanks so much to my mom, sisters and cousin for helping with the all the small details.
• Suzie Johnston for putting my face and hair together.
• AJ Neste for taking the coolest and most beautiful photos.
• Chris Camp for most special headpiece gift.
• Casey Keefer for a wonderful ceremony.
• Jimmy Mason for a beautiful serenade.
• The Island Grille Staff for a delicious and stress free event.
• To all our family and friends who came an celebrated with us on our special day.
• And to my husband… for loving me everyday.