Notes from Chesapeake's Cottage: Weddings

Back home from Florida where my son was married on St. Pete Beach. This was our second wedding in less than four months! Our youngest daughter was married in Manhattan over July 4^th weekend. We have been keeping family and friends very busy these last few months. From now on they get to choose their vacation destinations. It has been an interesting six months; finishing our cottage in Aiken, moving in, and two weddings.

Wedding favors, specialty items, and wedding ideas abound on the web today. One word of caution; you may become sleep deprived in a short span of time once you begin the search. I found myself checking out website after website then glancing at the time..oh dear 2am…well just a few more pages…oh dear 3am…well one more page. If only I could have convinced my husband and dog to sleep just a bit longer on those mornings. They are both early risers and showed me no mercy.

My daughter introduced me to Etsy and Pinterest when she was planning her wedding. Yes, I am quite behind the times, most everyone has heard of the two sites. So I thought I would share some items I came across while planning the rehearsal dinner for my son and his fiancée which was held at the Don Cesar in St. Pete. The dinner was in an outdoor pavilion and the wedding was on the beach at sunset. The Don is quite pink and known to locals as the “Pink Palace” so we went with all white linens accented with sand colored burlap runners. We ordered gallons of sea shells and starfish which were bleached wedding white. Piles of shells, starfish, and dozen of glass votives decorated all the tables. Before saying goodnight to our guests we passed out favor bags and encouraged everyone to fill them with shells and starfish. If yo u decide on a beach wedding; happy shelling on the web!