Kellie and Steve’s wedding on Pensacola Beach shows the unpredictability of getting married on the beach. They had a forecast of stormy weather and high winds and while the rain held off, the wind was there in full force and wind is almost worse than rain on a wedding day. It can be intense! Kellie and Steve, along with their incredible planner, Maddie of Southern Frills, made the decision to move the ceremony and the reception indoors instead of having their ceremony on the beach with their reception on the ground level of their beach house. Luckily they had rented two large homes next door to each other, so it was a no brainer to have the ceremony in the living room of one with the reception in the living room of the other. Their change of plans went perfectly and we still got some gorgeous photos on the beach. We did their first look, some bride and groom photos, wedding party photos, and family portraits in an area that was slightly shielded from the wind, making for an easier time dealing with wind blown hair.
When asked about the change of plans, Kellie said “The wind! We were expecting a 90% chance of rain but instead got no rain just lots of wind! We planned for the ceremony and reception to be outside and they both got moved inside the morning of the wedding! We tried to combat the wind with tarps and using trailers/cars as barriers but when that still was not putting a dent in the wind, we moved it indoors. We did not expect an indoor wedding but it turned out absolutely wonderful! It was cozy and felt relaxed and comfortable. It was perfect for what we wanted.“

“One downside of the military is the distance from our family. This led to the idea of having not just a wedding ceremony, but a place we could go with our families and friends to spend an entire weekend with. This of course meant our families would have to travel to a destination wedding. We wanted a beach with a beautiful location for a spring wedding. We chose Pensacola after searching many places because of its beauty and distance being in the middle of DC, SC, and Texas. Having two large beach homes right next to each other was the perfect choice for us. Everyone was close by and really got to enjoy the time together in a relaxed and homey environment.” – Kelly

“We were looking for something different then white or khaki on the beach. Pensacola has white sand and we didn’t want to blend in. Instead we found the light blue suits which complimented the green bridesmaids nicely.” – Steve

“I absolutely loved my dress! It was different, unique, light, and exactly what I wanted. I loved the high neck of the front and intricate details of the bodice. I picked statement earrings as I wasn’t going to be wearing a necklace with my high neck dress. We had touches of gold throughout the wedding decor so I chose glittery gold heels to add some fun.” – Kelly

When asked about their ceremony: “Our ceremony was perfect for us! One of the most special things about the ceremony was having Daran as our officiant. She is a family friends that I (Kellie) have known my entire life. We got her ordained and she began writing a script that we wanted to be a surprise. We love how personalized the script was for us and hearing it for the first time with everyone else was a very special moment.”

The song we chose was “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You”. It was pretty tough picking out our first dance song. First we went with “You Make it Easy” as that is the song we consider to be our song. Then we listened to the song “Amazed” and fell in love with the lyrics of that song and switched to that. Then we were talking one night about how we liked the song but we’re more upbeat and lively people and wanted something that reflected that. Something a little different and fun. That is when we made the switch to “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” and we are so happy we did!

Kellie’s advice:
“Soak in all of the details of the wedding day! Take a moment to look around, take everything in. Even when things change and adjustments have to be made, roll with the punches and go with it- everything will work out and I’m sure you’ll look back and laugh at all of the good times!”

Steve’s advice:
“Remember your job is to help your fiancé with what they want. Don’t worry about the details just enjoy the day or weekend.”

Thanks from Kellie and Steve:

-All of our family and friends who made the trip out to the wedding. We know it was a far trip for pretty much all who came, so we can’t thank all of our guests enough.
-All of the vendors who made everything look and go so well! Everyone was so accommodating and made our dreams turn into reality. Food was amazing, flowers were gorgeous, and decor was beautiful.
-Maddie with Southern Frills. Maddie was absolutely amazing. She handled everything extremely well. She would not let either of us pick up a finger to help with anything wedding related on our day. She made sure our drinks never got empty, we had everything we could’ve needed, and that we had an overall wonderful wedding.

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