06/17/2025
June 16, 2015
Sanibel Island, FL
It’s crazy to think we’ve been married for 10 years already! Thinking about our wedding day feels like a fever dream.
We started it off with our first look at sunrise—our favorite part of the day. When I stepped onto the beach, I could just make out Michael’s silhouette next to the ocean. Everything was a deep blue aside from the strip of orange along the horizon line. When I tapped him on the shoulder, he turned and instantly face planted into my shoulder for a hug. He was already crying and once those floodgates opened, the tears didn’t stop! To both of our surprise, he cried through our entire ceremony!
Our day was filled with so much love, light and laughter! It didn’t matter that my curls fell (gotta love that beach humidity), it didn’t matter that we forgot to put the veil in that my mother, great aunt and I worked so hard on. Nothing that went wrong mattered because we were in our favorite place, surrounded by our nearest and dearest, vowing to spend the rest of our days laughing together. And laugh we have!
Our tradition each year has been that we wake up early and walk down to the Sanibel Lighthouse at sunrise to reread our vows in the same spot we had exchanged them on the morning of our wedding. Michael always surprises me with the song I walked down the beach to and then after grabbing Sanibel Bean, we return to the beach to soak in the sun and wade in the Gulf. Later on, we get gussied up for dinner at our rehearsal dinner location (our favorite) and then share a celebratory dessert with our family! It’s the perfect day every year.
Unfortunately, with the destruction caused by Ian in Sept 2022, things have looked different. We were hopeful this year would be our return but at the last minute were informed our condo complex still was not ready. We cannot wait to be back on Sanibel with our loved ones, even though we know we will shed a lot of tears for what was lost.
Feeling extra grateful that God blessed me with Michael because he truly is my best friend and always laughs at my jokes, among so many other reasons.
Here’s to our next decade! 🥂