Weddingbee Blog

Natascha and Thomas had a sunny, East Coast beach wedding with bright pops of aqua blue!

Venue(s): The Sealord Hotel in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
Wedding Date: 4/8/2011
Bridal Gown Designer: BCBG
Florist: unknown
Photographer: Kristen Wynn Photography
Cake: Publix
Bridesmaids’ Dresses: no bridesmaids
Honeymoon: Fort Lauderdale

Thomas and I are from Germany,  and we grew up and met in a small town by the sea. Needless to say, we both love the ocean and always knew we wanted to get married at the beach, just the two of us. We didn’t know where exactly, but since the summers here are usually quite short and the rest of the year is cold and rainy, we often talked about how one day we would elope to Hawaii or a tropical island in the Caribbean Sea.

After spending our first vacation as a couple in Miami we totally fell in love with South Florida. We decided to get married in Fort Lauderdale during our next vacation. However, the trip was already planned and booked as a family trip with my parents before we made that decision, so technically it was not an elopement, yet it was nice to have my parents as our guests.

Planning from a distance was extremely difficult because all I had was the internet. I spent weeks walking up and down on Google Earth trying to find the perfect spot. We did not want a public beach because of the crowds of people there during spring break, and it was frustrating that a lot of venues simply did not answer my emails. And those who did refused to accommodate us because we could not meet their minimum requirements. But in the end everything turned out well, and I found a great photographer and a gorgeous beachfront hotel in cute little Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.

The Story

We got ready in the hotel where we stayed during our vacation. After a small breakfast and exchanging gifts, we also had our “first look” there. I loved Thomas’s reaction when he turned around and said “WOW.” We were both so nervous and happy at the same time, and it was nice to have those few minutes alone as bride and groom. This was one of the sweetest and most memorable moments of my life.

After taking some photos we headed to our beach hotel, enjoyed the amazing ocean view from the suite where would spend the wedding night, and then went down to the beach to have our short but lovely ceremony,  including a unity sand ceremony. We spent the rest of day under a  pavillion at the hotel’s pool deck where we cut our wedding cake, drank coffee and champagne, and had a relaxing and joyful afternoon before we went out for dinner. The cake did not match our color theme at all, but the taste of our favorite flavor (chocolate) was more important to us than having stylish eye candy. It was delicious.

Another very memorable moment happened after the ceremony. Our nuptials were watched by two elderly people, and it turned out that this couple was celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on our wedding day!

I have never met anyone who has been married for such a long time, and I am still very touched and honored to share the same date with these two special people. I am sure this is a blessing and a good omen for our own marriage.

Although some things went wrong (I got the wrong flowers and Thomas did not get his boutonniere at all), we had a wonderful day and our wedding was perfect because we made our dreams come true and got married at the beach. And that is all we ever wanted!

Is there anything you would have done differently?

I should have taken care of the flowers and boutonniere myself instead of trusting another person to do so. And I should have listened to my husband who offered to pay for my hairstylist several times, but I wanted to save some money and decided to do my own hair. Stupid idea—I really hated the way it looked and still do.

Do you have any advice for future brides?

Doing things last minute is stressful, so make sure you have everything done a few days before the wedding. Enjoy the last day before you get married; relax and rest instead of running around like a crazy chicken trying to fix the things you haven’t finished yet. Don’t scream at people only because you are stressed. It’s not their fault when things go wrong, and they are probably just trying to be helpful.