Well, the wedding is over and it was wonderful. I appreciate all of the advice given on this forum. Just wanted to let everyone know how the wedding went. We flew into Jacksonville Thursday night, rented the cars and drove to the beach house we had reserved for Thursday and Friday night. We had a problem renting one of the cars because my best friend wasn't 25 and we didn't have a reservation. Then, when we got to the beach house, we couldn't find the key.

However, my fiance and I walked to the ocean for a midnight stroll. We were a 3 minute walk from the beach. The house was nice. Not directly on the ocean like I thought, but it was nice.

The next day, friends and family were arriving and spending time on the beach. I went with my fiance and we went to the courthouse to get the license. They were extremely nice and the building was beautiful. It took us maybe 15 minutes. Although, when we were there, I couldn't remember the last digit of my SSN. I didn't get much sleep the night before and was pretty wired. After a frantic call to my mom and a relieving confirmation of my SSN, we left with the marriage license in hand.

More to come later...

Thanks so much for posting, katybug. I was wondering about you...and if there was glass in the sand. Let us know!

where's the rest, katybug?

Oh this is great! more more!!

So, after we had the license, my fiance and I went out to lunch at this BBQ place. It was really good. They had 4 kinds of BBQ sauce on the table, HUGE cups for your drinks and great food. They even asked if we wanted a refill to go. I was so thirsty, so I said yes and the waitress came back with a HUGE cup of lemonade to go.

So, then it was back to the beach house. Everyone else was on the beach hanging out. We walked with a few friends of ours looking for a good spot for the wedding. Nothing really jumped out at us, but we enjoyed the sun and the relaxing walk on the beach.

His parents called and asked if we wanted to look at the beach by their hotel. It was definitely more private. There was even a wooden boardwalk about 10 feet in length with stairs on both sides. So, my dad and I would be able to make an "entrance" onto the beach. People would see me on the boardwalk thing, then down the steps and onto the beach. It looked perfect.

So then, we just spent time talking with family and friends. My aunt who lives in Lakeland, FL had taken care of the entire reception after the wedding. It was just in the beach house. She did a wonderful job decorating and getting all of the food ready. The cake was a simple but classic 2 tiered cake with shells on the top.

I went up to the huge bedroom and started getting ready with the help of some of my friends. Then, the requisit mass of pictures. And, then we car pooled over to the beach.

The actual ceremony was perfect. Still warm, a slight breeze, the sun was just starting to set so we had a nice warm light on us, the sound of the waves. No glass on the beach! There were probably 25 people there and they just stood in a semicircle around us. It was starting to get to be high tide, so the waves were coming closer and closer to my fiance's dad. I was a little worried he would be soaked, but the waves just barely kissed his feet. Perfect.

More to come later...

Sounds lovely katybug and congrats!

Topping for the rest of the story!!!

tttt

Wonderful report. Ok and wheres the rest???

When my fiance went up to random people who were on the beach, he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, we are having a wedding here in about 5 minutes. You're welcome to watch if you want." One of the ladies exclaimed, "Oh, I've always heard of this happening, but I never actually saw one." It was unusual to have random people watching our wedding and taking pictures, but I'm sure I would have done the same thing.

There were so many people in St. Augustine getting married or on their honeymoon. But I completely understand why. It's such a quaint town.

After the reception, which was more like having some dinner guests over for the evening, I left with my new husband. We went to a bed and breakfast about 15 minutes away. It was called House of Sea and Sun. This was my first experience with a bed and breakfast and it was a very good first experience.

The lady who owned the house was very gracious. We had to call from the road on my cell phone because we were a little confused. There is an A1A road and an A1A Beach road. When we arrived around 11p, we walked upstairs and the owner was sitting on the screened-in back porch having a glass of wine. It seemed very informal. I felt like an old friend. We settled in the room, Molly's Yellow Room. Everything was very comfortable and warm. A great way to end the day.

More to come...

How wonderful!
I've been wondering how you made out.
Congratulations!

Katybug, congratulations on your wedding. Reading your report, I was reminded of a beach wedding we watched on Kanaapali Beach on Maui. While the bridal couple were getting their pics taken a huge wave came in and soaked them both!

Congrats katybug! Sounds like exactly what I would want - if only I could convince my BF to do something small. Hell... if only I could convince him to give me the ring!

My BF & I watched a wedding from our hotel balcony in Orange Beach one summer. We could see the black cloud coming in off the water. I was SURE they would make it before the rain, but my off-shore fishing BF knows better than me how far away it actually is. They squeezed in some quick vows & everyone ran back to the hotel in the rain. The wind was HOWLING and the veil flew across the courtyard. Everyone on the balconies clapped as they came off the beach and the bride took a graceful 'whatcha-gonna-do?' bow. It was a very sweet moment.