Our team thought it would be fun to share some memories from our own weddings as we kick off 2021. We hope you enjoy this series.

Heather and Chad - Beaches Museum

Chad and I were married at the Beaches Museum Chapel in Jacksonville Beach, with a casual reception inside the Museum after the ceremony. I had always loved the Chapel - before it became a part of the Museum, I used to drive by it frequently at its home on Florida Blvd. in Neptune Beach. Chad and I both love historic buildings, so getting married in a chapel that was originally built in 1887 made perfect sense! Plus most of our guests were traveling from out of town for the wedding, so Jacksonville Beach offered lots of hotel options and fun things to do.

Our wedding was full of special touches. We had two pastors from different churches (and different denominations) officiate the ceremony - one pastor was close to us when we met, and the other attended seminary with Chad and was a pastor at the church he attended. Having both of these wonderful men incorporate traditions from each denomination was very special to us! We also asked our guests to highlight a special Bible verse in our new family Bible and add a note in the margin instead of having a traditional guest book. We love the Pixar movie “Up,” so our cake topper included cutouts of Carl and Ellie’s chairs. Chad’s boutonniere and my bouquet included grape soda pins from the movie too. And our cake bakers knew we love going to Walt Disney World, so they added a hidden Mickey on our wedding cake.

Our wedding and reception were great, but one of my favorite parts of the day was after the wedding. Because we had a lot of family traveling for the wedding and our reception was in the afternoon, we wanted a way to spend more time with our family. We planned a very casual get-together in a private room behind a local microbrewery where we could dress comfortably, play games, eat tacos, and have fun! It was a great way to end our wedding day.

My only regret was that the weekend went by so quickly, and I wish we had more time to spend with our family. And I wish I had worn more comfortable shoes! 😊 But overall, I wouldn’t change a thing.