Beachy Stuff

When it came time to nail down a theme to our wedding, JEGs and I first thought about doing a beach-themed wedding. However, we when we fell in love with our venue, we realized a beach theme would be a little strange in a barn... right?

The beach is very vital to our relationship. Our first kiss was on the beach at 4th Street in Surf City, NJ and we got engaged at the lighthouse in Barnegat, NJ. Even though we weren't having a full on beach-themed wedding, we wanted to give homage to our fair shore line.

The first beachy element is our use of hydrangeas in the floral arrangements.

Not only are hydrangeas one of my favorite flowers, but they always remind me of being down the shore. We spent many summers staying at my Great Aunt Ola shore house when I was younger. Even after my parents bought their own house, we were only a mere four blocks from her house. Ola has a plethora of hydrangea bushes surrounding her summertime home, and they seem to be very common in the general area. In fact, the picture above is one of her blooms!

Another way we plan to incorporate the shore is through our table numbers. We plan on naming each table after a town on Long Beach Island!

the sign that greets vacationers to the island will greet our guest to their escort cards

a mock up of one of our table numbers

Finally, in lieu of a Unity Candle, we have opted for a Sand Ceremony. Like the Unity Candle, the Sand Ceremony represents the unification of two distinct families, and the separate individuals of the bride and groom, into a new, single, whole.

Unlike the Unity Candle, the sands are used to symbolize an indivisible union; once merged the individual grains of sand can never be separated.

After stalking Michael's for weeks, I finally purchased two vases to hold the separate sands and an apothecary jar for the union of the sands.

During this ceremony, we will be using sand from two locations near and dear to our hearts: the beach of 4th Street in Surf City where we shared our first kiss and the beach of the Barnegate Lighthouse, where we were engaged.

During our last trip to LBI, we collected little baggies of sand from each location.

They are just little touches that may not mean a lot to other people, but they are super special to us.

Always & Forever,

ME