Two Less Fish in the Sea

October 25th we attended our friend Caitlin McGee's wedding in Cocoa Beach.

I know I've said this before...but I love going to weddings and seeing how each bride makes her celebration unique

 The McGees found this venue in Cocoa Beach, FL. The family and wedding party all stayed on site.
The tables were set up in the courtyard area. Caitlin wanted a beach wedding and this site was set up perfectly. Behind the rooms was a grassy area and then steps away was the beach.... So her idea of a wedding on the beach with her toes in the sand was no problem.

favors

everything was in the beach theme. Caitlin was lucky...she was able to borrow a variety of items from friends and then just added

her own special touches and ideas to make it "hers"

the weather was a little iffy on Friday evening...chilly and windy...but the skies cleared up and the wind died down and it was a nice day at the beach (except the humidity made keeping your hair nice...IMPOSSIBLE! hahah)

a friend had volunteered to set up the tables; when she got a little behind, good friends Sean and Nancy gave her a hand and saved the day...and everything looked nice

table for the bride and groom (she was able to borrow the signs from a good friend)

because of the breeze...they switched sides for the bridal party...that way the wind blew the girl's hair away from their faces

Charlie and Caitlin

Aaron and Caitlin

 The ceremony was short and sweet. They had written their own vows. They said their vows, exchanged rings and that was it. While the wedding party posed for photos...guests had hors d'oeuvres, drinks and enjoyed the afternoon. There was enough room for corn hole...and enough daylight to get in a match or two.

Gayle-the Mother of the bride

John and Charlie....Charlie was John's best man...John was Charlie's

after the photos the bridal party was introduced

the happy bride

happy mom and daughter

Then the dinner and dancing began. On the invitation, the bride had asked all the guests to request a favorite song for the reception. It was hard to narrow it down to one song...but I behaved and just put one...hahah I did however make a request during the dancing....and the DJ played it. He played a good variety of music. He would get going with some "new: rap/???" music and I have to say  after about 3 of those in a row and it was good to have a break and hear something else. All in all...not bad...it was fun and the DJ kept them dancing all night.

I tried not to think about my hair...it was a lost cause

One thing that was nice about the wedding...because Caitlin has been to a lot of weddings in the last few years- fiends, sorority sisters, etc...she was able to get ideas from each celebration and incorporate them into hers. As I said, she was able to borrow decorations her friends had used, she had at least one song (for recessional)because she had liked it when Megan and Marcus used it in their wedding. She had been to enough weddings to know how she wanted the ceremony and reception to be...simple, relaxed and and not too structured. She opted out of a few of the usual things like garter, bouquet toss, too many organized dances, etc. She danced with her dad and Aaron danced with his mother...but that was it as far as "special" dances went. They had a small cake and then bite sized treats...so they just kind of quietly cut the cake at one point. They did have speeches/toasts from the best man, maid of honor and the brides father. All of them did a great job. Charlie was nervous...but he did just fine.
 It was nice.