Here is some text from their website:

“Brides Across America was born on a realization that our country needs to do more to support our troops and their families. Bringing bridal and military together is a marriage made in heaven!  Bridal salons are uniting across America by giving away wedding gowns to military brides to honor our troops and say thank you for serving.

The wedding industry is making a difference and giving brides to be the opportunity to find the wedding gown of their dreams as well as alleviating  financial stress of purchasing a wedding gown.  Brides Across America is a national 5013c charitable organization.”

Here is the link to their website:  Brides Across America

Source – People Magazine, June, 2013

Groom Rehearsal Day Apparel

The Best Man shows off his Tuxedo Shirt at the wedding rehearsal at the Jacksonville Zoo in FL.

Looking good in his tuxedo shirt, the groom models his wedding rehearsal tuxedo shirt the day before the wedding ceremony at the Jacksonville Zoo in Jacksonville, Florida.

]]> http://weddingofficiantjacksonvillefl.com/and-the-groom-wore/feed/ 0 http://weddingofficiantjacksonvillefl.com/wedding-day-stephanie-and-drew/ http://weddingofficiantjacksonvillefl.com/wedding-day-stephanie-and-drew/#comments Fri, 24 May 2013 20:28:12 +0000 That Wedding Lady http://weddingofficiantjacksonvillefl.com/?p=868 The wedding ceremony for Stephanie and Drew in Vilano Beach, FL.
Congratulations!

Wedding Cake White and Blue

That Wedding Lady and Groom, Chris

The Groom and His Merry Men

That Wedding Lady, the gorgeous bride, Lindsay and her hero, Chris.

Getting married high up in the clouds

Romance on the River – the Bride Kids Around with her Maids

Groom on the St. Johns with his Best Mates Goofing Around.

Wedding party photos

Bride and Groom on the St. Johns River

wedding rings

Wedding contemplation on the shores of the St. Johns river

Wedding day in downtown Jacksonville Florida.

University Club Wedding – Sweetheart Table

Bride and Groom, a Wedding Kiss

Bride and Groom, a Wedding Kiss

The Bridal Couple at the University Club

Champagne Toasts – A Wedding Dream Come True

Bride and Groom share a toast.

Wedding Cake Fun

It’s called Revenge!

]]> http://weddingofficiantjacksonvillefl.com/lindsay-and-chris-university-club/feed/ 0 http://weddingofficiantjacksonvillefl.com/that-wedding-lady-and-twitter/ http://weddingofficiantjacksonvillefl.com/that-wedding-lady-and-twitter/#comments Wed, 08 May 2013 21:16:41 +0000 admin http://weddingofficiantjacksonvillefl.com/?p=803 Now directly linked to twitter to keep you updated with all the latest from That Wedding Lady

Imagining the perfect wedding set along the romantic shores of a beach?
What we see in our minds can be very different than the reality of the day.

Weather – You absolutely, positively must have a rain backup. It might not be a rainy day but bad wind can be just as miserable. Do you really want to take your vows with a mouthful of hair and Auntie Matilda’s best Sunday bonnet carried off on the wind? It is essential to have a backup plan that you can execute quickly and cleanly if you decide to change the location at the last moment. The day of the ceremony don’t just check the weather for rain; make sure the wind is within your acceptable range. If it’s a 15 MPH wind with gusts up to 19 MPH, that is incredibly windy down at the beach. Everything (and I mean everything) will fly away.

1. Sound – this is a big issue for beach weddings. Between the wind (even on regular, not especially windy days) and the constant thrumming of the waves breaking on the shore usually means spoken words are darn near impossible to hear. Tiny weddings of 10 folks or less are fine. Everyone can gather around. Anything more than that, get a sound guy to come “mike” the ceremony. Usually DJs can provide this as a part of their service to you but there are also providers who will come take care of this as a standalone service.
2. Flower girls – it is a big no-no here in Florida to throw things down on the beach including paper or fabric flowers (too non-biodegradable), real flowers or flower petals (covered in pesticides) or other items that don’t biodegrade rapidly. Here’s a novel concept…you’re at the beach….have her throw seashells. It will establish you as an eco-friendly bride and a cool trendsetter. DON’T THROW BIRDSEED, RICE OR OTHER TYPES OF FOOD….unless you are particularly fond of bird poo as you will attract every shore bird within a mile of the ceremony.
3. Decorations – If you put them up, secure them super duper well. It’s windy. Everything wants to blow away. It’s a real bummer when shore patrol interrupts your ceremony to give you a ticket because all your purple and teal streamers are now littered along the beach. NEVER EVER PERFORM A BALLOON RELEASE! It is totally verboten now in Florida because it’s incredibly damaging to the ocean and its creatures when they burst and fall into the water.
4. The permit issue – okay here’s the deal. I’ve done weddings of up to 60 people (with chairs, arches, decorations…the whole shebang) and I’ve never had a problem with shore patrol coming to see if we had a permit. That doesn’t mean it can’t happen but with dozens of beach weddings under my belt, it hasn’t happened yet. However, I have had clients tell me that when they mentioned getting married on the beach while at the courthouse getting the license, the courthouse people sternly tell you to get the license.  My take on the subject is this. If I were having a small(ish) wedding on the beach, personally I wouldn’t sweat it. If I thought 50 people were going to show up and I wanted all the bells and whistles (chairs, decorations, arch, etc.,) I’d paid the $50 or whatever to get the permit. After all the hard work, why risk having your ceremony interrupted by Baywatch on his ATV stopping by in the middle of your ceremony to write you a ticket?

Hopefully this information proves helpful for you in planning your beach wedding. If you have any great tips on this subject to share, please email them to me so I can update this entry.

-That Wedding Lady, April 25, 2013