Who: Mia & David
What: Rehearsal Dinner
When: February 16, 2007
Where: Sandestin Marina
AND Marina Cafe in Destin, FL

Is it just me or are rehearsal dinners and post-wedding brunches beginning to rival the wedding reception for most spectacular event? Don’t me wrong - I’m not complaining! (Not one bit!) Actually, I think it’s really fantastic. Think of it this way - why, when all of your family and friends are in town for the wedding day activities, would you ever try to limit your together/celebration time to a mere 4 to 6 hours on one day?

I think Mia & David were thinking the same thing when they planned their fabulous rehearsal dinner at the Marina Cafe in Destin, Florida. It wouldn’t be right to post all of these gorgeous detail shots and not mention their awesome coordinators over at It’s A Shore Thing that helped it all come together so beautifully!

Charles and I started that afternoon at the Sandestin Marina where the bridal party was about to board their boat to take them around the coast and over to their final destination at the Marina Cafe in Destin. Yep, they were arriving in style to their rehearsal dinner - but just scroll down to see what happened next!

The yatch:

The boys showed up first - this shot taken by Charles kind of reminds me of the Rat Pack!

A lovely sunset departure:

We raced over (by car) to Marina Cafe so we would be setup in time for their arrival. This is the view that greeted us onto the deck:

They’re heeeeere:

And then it was magic. Mia and David were greeted by a big crowd of family and friends on the back deck, who had been anxiously awaiting their arrival. David took the microphone and gave a nice welcome speech and at the end he said “and now for a little surprise!” It really was awesome because just then you heard a pop and fizzle and saw the light - FIREWORKS!!!

A guest standing nearby said to his date “And can you believe - this is only the REHEARSAL!?” LOL Amen, brother.

They even had heart-shaped fireworks!

Nice ambience:

Maybe my favorite detail - these were hanging from the rafters throughout the space! This is exactly why I *heart* It’s A Shore Thing! Visit their site It’s A Shore Thing.

Soon-to-be-weds:

Mia - from what I gather - was rehearsing a dance, as taught by David’s mother (in the ladies bathroom!!) - that had been performed by brides for their grooms for generations within his family:

A nervous Mia - about to dance for her groom in front of everyone:

Mia is a trained dancer - she had nothing to worry about:

Mom and Dad looking on in the background:

We ended the night with my favorite - speeches! I always love hearing the funny little stories and touching moments from family and friends:

Who: Jessica & John
What: Rehearsal & Rehearsal Dinner
When: December 29, 2006
Where: Saint Paul’s United Methodist Church in Tallahassee, FL
AND Monticello Opera House in Monticello, FL

I know we’ve talked about this before, but you’re about to hear it again

We really do enjoy spending “extra” time with you guys - with your families - around the wedding day. It’s hard to write about without turning into a big cheeseball - so I’ll keep it simple. Photographing the pre and post-wedding events - ‘being there’ for that time with you and your loved ones - seeing (and photographing) the relationships, those funny moments, the tears and laughter (sometimes at the same time!) … it’s good for the soul and one of the best and most rewarding parts of our job.

We are constantly surprised and humbled that you continue to invite us into the most intimate and sacred times in your lives… thank you for allowing us to be there with you, for you.

Jessica + her dad:

John offering his guys a little instruction:

And a shout-out to Sharia Riley of Your Fantasy Affair - Sharia is a former Meg Baisden bride turned awesome wedding coordinator!! You can check out her services at YourFantasyAffair.com

Sharia hard at work:

A lovely dinner (that could’ve easily passed for the reception - it was that good!) at the historic Monticello Opera House:

Good eats. Add a little info to the comments here, Jessica - I know there was “game” served and whatnot - but share the info on the food spread. It’s too unique to go unmentioned.

Possibly one of the funniest toasts ever was delivered by Jessica’s dad. This is where I picked up my favorite phrase of late - “that’s how we roll” - delivered totally deadpan. I’m still laughing.

And a genius rendition of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’ - rewritten as ‘Twas the Night Before the Wedding’. Adorable!

During the last week of November, Meg & I had an amazing opportunity to travel to the island nation of Saint Lucia. For those of you that are completely clueless about world geography like me (or clueless about geography in general like Meg!), St. Lucia is located just off the coast of South Amercia (near Brazil). April & Michael (you’ll meet them in the next post) asked us to travel with them to St. Lucia to photograph their destination wedding experience! And what an amazing experience it was!

We arrived in St. Lucia on Monday afternoon, and after a 2.5 hour white-knuckle cab ride to Rodney Bay (on the north end of the island), we finally arrived at our hotel called the Coco Palm: Coco Palm Resort. Although Saint Lucia is an incredibly small island (something like 25 miles long, and only 4 miles wide), the cab ride still took well over 2 hours due to the mountains, and the fact that a very small percentage of the roads are paved.

Below are some of the images from our day trip around Saint Lucia!

This is a shot of the world-famous Marigot Bay in Saint Lucia. Marigot Bay was made famous by the movie Dr. Doolittle, which was filmed in Saint Lucia.

This image shows the Piton Mountains in the background…the country produces a local beer named “Piton Beer”!

The next few images were taken in a tiny fishing village called Anse Le Raye. The people depend on the ocean for food, and the local economy is driven by the conch trade.

Being the gullible tourists that we are, we also decided to visit all of the landmarks on the island. One such opportunity was the Botanical Garden in Soufriere (along the western coast of Saint Lucia). The next three images were taken in the Botanical Garden!

Another surreal experience was meeting the “Boa Man”! A common profession in Saint Lucia is for the local people to wander into the rainforests that cover the island, and collect boa constrictors from the wild. They carry them back to the major roads traveled by tourists, and stand along the side of the highway working for tips. This guy was nice enough to allow us to photograph him! Meg wanted absolutely no part of this one, and waited in the car!!! I am deathly afraid of snakes, but I decided to brave it. After all, you can’t photograph snakes by the side of the road everyday!

April & Michael were staying at the Grand Saint Lucian Resort, part of the Sandals family, in Saint Lucia. This image was taken from a small rock jetty just down the beach from the resort. You can just make out the resort (the flag poles) in the background.

Stay tuned for the images from April & Michael’s wedding!
~ Charles

We were in St Augustine for such a short time for Jen + Zack’s wedding - but I wanted to get in some of the sights - so to appease my sight-seeing needs - Charles took me on a car tour around the city. We’ve shot there before - but we never seem to have much personal time to enjoy the sights - so here’s just a taste of what I was able to see from my passenger-side window.

DISCLAIMER: All images shot out the window of a moving vehicle!

Fun at Johanna + Matt’s Rehearsal and DinDin at Chez Pierre in Tallahassee

Meet Johanna

With her Daddy

Cute decor - Johanna is so good with the details!

It’s 5 o’clock somewhere

Friends

And Family

Chez Pierre

Fun with the Fisheye

My preferred drink - sweet tea

Hang Ten, dude

Toasts (which were more like Roasts!)

It really was a very classy dinner - thanks for letting us in on the fun and a special thanks for the French Onion Soup!