Destination Wedding

Last weekend, Michael and I took our first child-free getaway to attend a wedding in Florida. Our friends John and Whitney got married in Sarasota and we decided to join them beach-side a few days early to soak up some sun and catch up before their big day.

It was such a fun trip, reuniting with so many friends that we knew from our days in St. Louis. While it would have been nice for them to see Gray so grown up, I must admit it felt decadent to socialize on our own schedule...I even got halfway through a real book, not just a magazine!

The wedding was in a gorgeous church where the bride's parents and sister were married and then we drove over to a breathtaking oak grove for the reception. It was like stepping into the pages of a movie or a magazine or something. So beautiful and perfect, just what our friends deserved.

Of course, I realized a few days in to the trip that we hadn't taken a single picture. Being beach bums kept us very busy. Here are a few shots we managed to capture:

The view from our room

The view from Michael's beach-side lounge chair

Our cute Fiat rental car...gotta love an unexpected upgrade!

This was the path you walk down to get to the wedding reception. Such a cool place.

Me with my long-lost friend Mandy. She now lives in Atlanta but once upon a time we were interns together at a PR firm in St. Louis. Hard to believe that was nine and a half years ago! About 10 seconds before we took this picture I was laughing uncontrollably and tears were streaming down my face. Mandy seems to have that effect on me. 

All dressed up and ready for dinner under the canopy

I love that they set it up with long farm tables. Here's the pre-dinner shot. 

Once the sun went down it was even more beautiful with twinkle lights draped from tree-to-tree and candles everywhere. 

Mandy and I with the beautiful bride Whitney. 

The newlyweds (aka our partners in crime during our STL days...we were inseparable! Oh how I miss these two!)

You can only imagine the laughs that John and Michael have shared over the years. They wanted their picture taken with John and Whitney's dog Lotus. She's practically as big as they are. 

And last, but not least, I should give a big shout out to my dad and Susan for keeping Gray while we were gone. He was so busy having fun with them that I don't think he realized we were even gone for four days. It was easy for Michael and I to relax and enjoy ourselves knowing our boy was having fun too. Thanks, Pappa & Susu!