Real Wedding: Ryan and Jess in Key Largo

I have to confess that my presence online will be scarce which I am bummed about. The good news is that I do have a new home and we have our tv up and running. Bad news is we are still waiting on the movers to arrive with our stuff and we won't have internet for 2 weeks. So I went to the nearest hot spot I can find, eating apple dippers at Mcdonalds, lol. I still have a couple guest posters going to be filling in this week for me with great stuff for you! And today I have a real wedding from the Florida Keys that just hits the spot for all of us craving some beach time. :-) Many thanks to Churchill's Photography for submitting this gem of a wedding to gawk at. It really is beautiful. Also, thanks to the bride, Jessica, for providing her story which I know you will love! Enjoy! Many blessings to Jessica and Ryan!

We actually met on Match.com after many other attempts at relationships that didn't work out.  We spent our first date at an Ethiopian restaurant where we ate with our fingers and talked the whole night long.  I think we both knew it was something special from the start when we could converse for hours over messy finger foods!

Ryan's proposal was super sweet.  I feel like it could have been featured on the Perfect Proposal!  Our first date was on a full moon, and he would often plan little surprises on the full moons of each month.  On this one, he planned a date on the beach to watch the sunset and moonrise with a bottle of wine and, my favorite, stone crabs.  After a while, he gave me a big box.  When I opened it, I was suprised to find... a new pair of scrubs for work.  Really surprised, actually, that he would go through all that trouble to wrap up a new work outfit.  When I pulled out the scrubs and when I picked up the top, I felt something inside the pocket.  Turns out, it was a beautiful diamond ring!  Afterwards, he surprised me with a hotel party with my friends and family and a pre-arranged day off work the next day!

Our wedding went off pretty smoothly.  My sister is an event planner, her friend is a DJ, one of our groomsmen's wife's is a florist, and my husband's family friend is an officiant.  So I had a lot of people on my side helping out!  I think my biggest issue was putting things off until the last minute.  Procrastination is so bad for weddings because by the time the wedding is rolling around, the last thing you want to do is work on it.  You want to hang out with all your out of town guests and relax.  

Unfortunately, we were taking breaks from our beach BBQ the night before to finalize the seating arrangement and placecards.  Another issue I had was with paying the vendors.  I forgot to bring my checkbook so was scrounging around trying to get enough cash to pay the vendors.  I guess one piece of advice for brides would be to write out all your checks ahead of time or pay in advance before the actual wedding day!  So there's nothing to worry about but having the best time of your life!

Photography by Churchill's Photography

Find more photos from this wedding on their blog!