where to begin? i first met melanie when she found our site on google back in october. we quickly struck up a friendship over email and telephone. what her sister said about her at the wedding during the toast was right… melanie is one of the sweetest people and she doesn’t know a stranger.. she makes friends with everyone she meets! i am lucky to have become one of her friends. over the months, melanie did not let the stress of planning a destination wedding turn her into a “bridezilla”. even though she did have a few bumps in the road securing a venue and planner, etc., she always was calm, cool and gracious when i talked to her. she also shared with me the awesome engagement story of how philip proposed (a scavenger hunt of sorts on HIS birthday), which was one of the greatest i have ever heard! i finally got to meet melanie in person the morning of her wedding, which let me add was a “morning wedding”. we were really excited about this, as it was the 1st morning wedding we have shot and doing something different is always a treat for us. melanie was giddy with excitement, and was completely joyful. not stressed out, not panicky… just radiant! i am sure a lot of that is owed to her awesome sister and bridesmaid, jenni, who had everything 100% together and in herself has a very calming presence. (well, except for when she squirted melanie in the eye with breath spray right before we headed down for the ceremony which melanie didn’t even freak out about!) the ceremony, which was held on the captain’s deck of the emerald grande , was very special and emotional. melanie and jenni’s beautiful mother, elsa lucila , passed away a little over 6 years ago. you could definitely feel her presence there, but i can only image how much she was missed that day. melanie added some really special touches to incorporate elsa lucila and her memory into the day. she had the florist secure a little locket with her mother’s beautiful picture inside it to the top of the ribbon that held the bouquet together. there was also a special table set up at the reception that had a tree that hung with many photos of melanie with her mother at various stages in life, and there was also a beautiful framed portrait of elsa lucila on her own wedding day. melanie was escorted down the aisle by her father and her sister jenni, which was beautiful and emotional. the chairs around where the ceremony took place were arranged in a symbolic circle. melanie’s pastor of 10 years officiated the beautiful nuptials, making them even more special. after the ceremony, a *delicious*fabulous*amazing* brunch was served. the couple danced their first dance to “brown eyed girl”, which philip is learning to play for melanie on the guitar. onlookers blew bubbles during the dance which was such a neat touch. one of the most fun parts of the day is how the guests would randomly break out into singing “all you need is love” by the beatles. every time i hear that song again in the future i will definitely think of this awesome day! thank you SO much, melanie & philip, for choosing us to be your wedding photographers. we can’t wait to see what God does in your future!
p.s. the significance of the post title and last image is that the groom, philip, has the initials “p.s.”, so melanie always signs notes to him that way = cute!
photography: pure 7 studios
venue: the emerald grande
florist: florals by the sea
cake: confections on the coast
