The couple had their reception at the family’s private beach club in Long Island and danced the night away!

The Creative Team Behind the Scenes: Floral Designer:  Opalia Flowers / Invitation Designer:  The Pantery / Dress Designer:  Amsale / Band:  The Sultans of Swing / Event Venue:  Lawrence Beach Club / Other:  Grace Church

On this beautiful Saturday, Jessica and Chris wedding comes from Kingdom Wedding Photography.  The couple celebrated their nuptials in beautiful Cape Neddick, Maine at the Greystone Manor. And ladies please note, the groom, Chris, planned and designed this wedding from beginning to end and also served as the Day of Coordinator. Jessica is one lucky lady to have a hubby who took the reigns on this one!

I love the lighting and sunset captured in this one!

Submitted via Two Bright Lights!

The Northwest Maritime Center where they married has been very much a part of their lives. With the truest love for the ocean, Mike is a professional fisherman and Amanda, a writer and blogger details the lives of fisherman’s wives and families.

And of course I’m loving every detail from this wedding…

Is it only Tuesday?? Well that’s okay I guess because I have a TON of inspiration for you this week for you! Today it’s all about Heather and Aaron’s sweet romance. Kim J Martin Photography was there to capture the laid-back beach wedding day and is here to share a little of it with us. The teal and yellow color theme seems to be a popular one for spring time (and beachy) weddings, and I’m loving the pop of colors against the waters of the beautiful Bodega Harbor. And doesn’t the bride just look like a princess? I’m absolutely loving her one shoulder wedding dress!

More from Kim: Heather and Aaron both grew up in Santa Cruz and have known each other since elementary school.  They never really clicked and went their separate ways after high school.  They reconnected at a friend’s wedding, and something was different that night.  Aaron said it was the best wedding he had ever been to because it was an open bar and he spent the whole night talking to Heather.  Heather said she felt a spark that she still feels to this day every time she’s around Aaron.  After that, they did the long distance thing but it wasn’t long before Heather ended up moving to Roseville.  Aaron says he still doesn’t know how he convinced her to move, but I think it’s pretty obvious that she digs him. 

Since they are both from Santa Cruz, they wanted a beach themed wedding to reflect their hometown.  They handmade the sand dollar favors and used teal blue in all the elements.  They had towels at the beach so guests could sit on the sand during the ceremony, and the reception was held right over the water with a gorgeous view.
I loved their wedding because it perfectly showed their personalities; laid back and fun.

The Creative Team Behind the Scenes: Venue: Bodega Bay Yacht Club / Florist: Vanda Floral Designs / DJ: Pure Energy Productions / Cake: Your Sweet Expectations

Image and Art by ProjectType

It’s been a while since I last gave a “Mel’s Monday” update so as I go into what may seem like a spring/summer hibernation, I’d just like to give everyone notice that I’m still alive and well. I know you were worried. Haha. ;)

Some major things are happening over here in Oceanside Bride land…for starters, I gave my full time job notice a few weeks ago!

Yup- I’m officially counting down to being self-employed, working beside my husband to help make our other baby, a start up e-commerce business, grow.  He’s been trying to manage things for almost three years alone (and has seriously done a marvelous job!), but what can I say, he needs his girl’s help. Hehe…no (although I’d like to think that), we both decided it was time for the both of us to dive in and get business moving again. We knew this day would come one day, we just didn’t know it would be now. With our time dedicated to our shared business, I’m also excited I’ll have time to re-brand my Etsy shop,  Oceanside Designs, and put more effort into making this blog even better!

Ying and Yang.

Should be a piece of cake right? Well…let’s just say I’ve always been more the “conservative” worker. You know- the one who thought I’d work for one company all my life through retirement. Oh but then I went and fell in love with an entrepreneur…a man who is so far opposite on the work spectrum from me. We laugh (I somewhat nervously) about the fact that when it comes to past employment, my husband can’t count anymore using both his hands and feet, how many jobs or businesses he’s started in the past 10 years. I, on the other hand, can still count on one hand…and really like using only 3 fingers. He’s the type who, at age 16, would rent out a skating rink, post and hand out flyers, sell tickets to his entire high school, and then go on to profit big time from his events. I would have been the girl who bought a ticket and went to the party.

When it comes to work we’re ying and yang. He comes up with the grand ideas, I bring him down to earth when I think they’re a little “out there.” I admit over the past few weeks there have been times I’ve thought, “Can we really do this?” It’s been scary to think about breaking out of my little bubble and taking the risk. But I’ve come to realize that with faith and God directing my steps, I (we) can do anything. My husband and I will celebrate being together for 5 years this May, and I can also thank him for his encouragement, for sharing his big crazy dreams with me, and for motiviating me and inspiring me to live out my own.

Fo Shizzle.

Lately I’ve heard a lot about having audacious faith- praying big bold prayers.  Since we’re making some seriously bold moves right now, the saying in the image above was perfect for this post. I’d like to say I’ve always been a dreamer, but I can see now that my dreams weren’t always quite big enough. They didn’t scare me. Most were attainable – based on my own direction, taking my own steps. Just for the record- this one scares the shizzle out of me. Haha!

I’m a worry wart. My mother has told me that for as long as I can remember, even as a little girl. So things like this can really frazzle my brain! But worrying will only kill my faith. So last week I decided to quit thinking and worrying about leaving my great salary, benefits, relocating, when to start a family, blah, blah, blah and reminded myself to just rely on God to guide us through the plans my hubs and I are making right now.

Quiet.

I mentioned relocating.  I’ll share more details on the who, what, when, and where in the coming weeks. But for now, I apologize ahead of time that things may occasionally go “quiet” around here, likewise with my Twitter and Facebook pages. I do have real wedding features planned twice a week with the occasional Mel’s Monday through the month of May. But as wonderful as real wedding features are, I know general inspiration is important for all you bride-to-be’s. It’s been lacking around here, so I’ll do my best to sprinkle some of it in here and there when I can.

Overall, I will have to prioritize. With our move, we’ll actually be in limbo and on the road for almost 2 months before actually settling into our new place.  So because of this, I’ve also decided to not take any new orders from Oceanside Designs (Etsy shop) until June 1st. *Sigh* It’s all for the better though right?!

Thanks to everyone for sticking this out with me! Your never ending support always means so much.

xo,

Mel

Anywho- for now, I can at least end the long week with a sweet beach engagement session. McFadden Studios did an amazing job capturing the coziness and lovey-dovey Mandy and Sean off of Pudding Creek Beach in Fort Bragg, California.

Aren’t they cute!?

The lighting in that last one?? LOVE it.

This engagement session was submitted via Two Bright Lights!

Okay yeah, yeah so I’m still on a “green” kick although St. Patty’s day is now behind us. I just love the kelly green used in this wedding though! And eh-hem…you know I’m loving the baby’s breath bouquets right? Well Caroline & Evan Photography were there to capture all the fun our super adorable couple, Kelly & Ben, had on their big day. They actually married on Friday the 13th (of January) in Tierra Verde, Florida. But oh so lucky in love- the superstitious date of course didn’t worry them one bit. ;)

More details from Caroline Smith, Photographer: Kelly & Ben had a beautiful and earthy wedding. The organic inspired decor was perfect for this venue, which sits on the edge of Tampa Bay. From the burlap table runners to the mason jar centerpieces, it had a very warm feel that was welcoming to all the guests. And being the fun couple that they are, there was also an underlying theme- mustaches! Each guest was given their own stick on mustache and all the bridal party had their own as well. It was a ton of fun watching everyone in the reception play with their new accessories. One of my other favorite personal touches Kelly & Ben included was their officiant, Judge Stoddard, who is one of Ben’s law professors at Stetson. I love when a bride and groom have someone they know marry them. I think it makes the experience so much more meaningful.

First up, we have Krista & Chris who married last fall at a beautiful plantation home, The Island House, in Johns Island, South Carolina right outside of Charleston. The house sits on a private island on the banks of the Stono River so couples and guests still get a little piece of the LowCountry. So excited Chi Photography of Charleston was there to capture all the gorgeousness of the day!

How you met: According to the best man’s speech, Chris walked up to me in a bar and said “Ay, girl! You vibin me?!”….. true story, but there’s a little more to it than that! We met through mutual friends, he made me laugh, added me on facebook (because isn’t that how it works these days?!)the rest is history!

Unforgettable wedding moment: It was SO windy and my veil flew off twice as I was walking down the aisle to Chris. Once they pronounced us husband and wife and we started to walk back down together it flew off again and I just yelled “Ah, screw it!” and kept walking!

Most valuable piece of advice: On the day of the wedding just relax, take it all in, and enjoy yourself. I promised myself that I wouldn’t stress about everything being perfect, get upset if something went wrong, etc. because those weren’t the memories that I wanted to have. Iit will be perfect just for the simple fact that you’re marrying your best friend!

Quirkiest detail: Our reception entrance – we’re huge Carolina fans and our wedding was on game day, so we had our wedding party enter to Sandstorm then it faded into 2001 when Chris and I entered.

Thriftiest trick: We did a lot of the “little details” ourselves, but the one that I’m most proud of was the cake box. My step-dad built a box out of wood that he already had. Then, my mom and I wrapped it in a table cloth (that coordinated with the cake and our runners) wrapped a ribbon around it, and hot glued a pendant to it. I saw these boxes online for we spent about $15!

Something old: My grandmother’s handkerchief

Something new: Dress & accessories

Something borrowed: The lace on my garter

Something blue: My garter had a blue flower on it

Wedding details: It was an evening wedding at a plantation house on the water in the fall. Everything from the location and food to the sweetgrass boutonnieres reflected the theme “southern elegance.” Our colors were chocolate brown and apple green and we had about 150 guests in attendance.