Shared with Christina Block’s kind permission, the pictures featured in this blog post were taken by the incredibly talented team behind Christina Block Photography.
Ross and Leslie’s wedding weekend began on a Friday afternoon in early March. Their wedding party, family and friends gathered in St. Augustine to celebrate the happy couple and watch them exchange vows at The White Room.
After a rehearsal dinner at The Columbia and drinks at the Tini Martini Bar, I fell asleep with a feeling that the following day – my sister’s wedding day – would be absolutely filled with love!
Ross and Leslie’s Wedding: Part One
All of my sister’s bridesmaids arrived at the bridal suite on Saturday morning to find Leslie bustling about and excitedly stuffing gifts into bags to hand out to her very best friends in the world.
A framed bible verse for each of us, a monogramed button-down shirt to wear to the salon, lip gloss and other odds and ends had everyone in tears before coffee could even be consumed!
We then gave Leslie a surprise gift – a scrapbook made by her bridesmaids. We each were in charge of making one page for the scrapbook on our own and then Leslie’s bridesmaid Lauren assembled everything that morning to present to Leslie. She was so touched and tears flowed yet again.
After presents were exchanged, a quick glance at the clock told us it was time to move along to the salon to get our hair done! My mom and I packed our cars with as many people as we safely could and everyone arrived with pictures or screen shots on their phones of the hairstyle they wanted for the day ahead.
We rotated through the chairs and chatted over coffee, mimosas, sandwiches and a platter of fresh fruit. Once it was Leslie’s turn to get her hair done, I noticed something seemed a little off. Her bubbly excitement that was contagious earlier that day seemed to have faded and she waved me over. “Does this look right?”
From the moment I realized Leslie didn’t feel comfortable, I felt incredibly protective. As a bride who also felt like something was off on her wedding day (I had a horrible experience with my wedding day makeup), I wanted to make sure everything was perfect for Leslie before we left the salon. I knew right away she didn’t like her hair and assured her we wouldn’t leave until she loved it.
Leslie adores the look of whimsical braids and had a braid in the front of her up-do that kept her bangs out of her face. I thought it looked pretty, but it didn’t look like Leslie. When I reminded her of previous pictures from her bachelorette party that she didn’t like of herself, they were the photos where she had her hair twisted back in a similar fashion. The moment the woman who was doing Leslie’s hair took the braid out and swooped her hair back in a more romantic and un-done way, Leslie exhaled and smiled again. Phew! In under 10 minutes, she was laughing and assuring us that she felt 10,000 times better.
Her hair looked gorgeous and looked like her.
Once everyone’s hair was done, we piled into our cars and drove back to the bridal suite. I let everyone out and had a bit of a hiccup with parking. I wasn’t allowed to park in the lot and since there was a St. Patrick’s Day parade in the area that day, I ended up parking a mile away and walking back. I felt incredibly thankful that the weather was so gorgeous that day! No rain and no intense heat! Thank goodness!
By the time I made it back to the bridal suite, bridesmaids were putting the final touches on their makeup and slipping into their long peach dresses.
We also broke into some of the mini champagne bottles I brought to the bridal suite!
And then Leslie gasped.
“My vows! I can’t find my vows!”
As everyone scrambled to find the small piece of paper, it became increasingly clear the vows were missing.
“Do you have them saved on your computer?” I asked.
Leslie nodded and we quickly emailed them to her contact at The White Room who printed them out for us to pick up next door.
With her vows back in her hands, Leslie breathed a sigh of relief!
I sadly missed the moment Leslie stepped into her wedding dress because I was picking up her vows and organizing things at the wedding venue next door with two other bridesmaids. Time started passing by a little too quickly! Though I missed the big reveal, my little sister absolutely took my breath away when she stepped out of the bedroom and I saw her in her beautiful lace dress for the first time.
With Leslie in her dress and all of the other bridesmaids ready to go, I scrambled to put on my dress and rush out the door. It was time for pictures!
Leslie’s sweet wedding photographer, Christina, led all of us down a cobblestone path until we reached an old building that she thought would make a beautiful backdrop for pictures.
Everyone was in a fantastic mood as Christina snapped away and told us to huddle close.
Leslie and her best friends from high school:
Leslie and her best friends from college (all ADPis from UF):
Leslie and her sisters – me and her sister-in-law:
As we began walking to the venue, we ran into my dad who was beaming from ear-to-ear. He hugged his youngest daughter and escorted us to The White Room where we were joined by Leslie’s niece and adorable flower girl.
She helped me get Leslie’s veil in order.
Up until this point, Leslie kept her vows a secret, so when she asked me to come over and read them, I was both honored and nervous. I made it through two paragraphs before I started crying (and not the soft, cute kind of crying). This naturally made us laugh and we both knew I couldn’t continue reading without breaking down.
I stopped reading, told her that her vows were perfect and gave my little sister a hug. I couldn’t wait to see her marry the man she loves so very much.
To be continued…
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We’ve all been waiting for the recap! Gorgeous day. You and your sister look beautiful.
Your sister looked stunning! I love her dress ! I’m so nervous about writing my vows for my wedding, I want to make it through them without ugly crying lol
Leslie looks gorgeous and your dresses were beautiful! Can’t wait to read more, congrats Leslie and Ross!
Thank you Sister!! You did an amazing recap, and I can’t wait to see more! Thank you for all you did to make that day so special for us. We truly appreciate it and love you! It’s an honor to call you my sister!
what a gorgeous wedding!
I absolutely love the back of her dress and her shoes!!!
What a beautiful wedding! Can’t wait to see more pictures!
Loved hearing about part 1. I think it is so wonderful you were able to pick up on your sisters discomfort and get her hair done the way she wanted.
Love your sisters dress, it is so pretty! Looking forward to reading part 2.
Leslie’s dress is GORGEOUS and this post is amazing! It makes me wish that I had a sister. Your parents are going to have some really good looking grandchildren in a few years! Can’t wait for part 2!
So beautiful! I can’t wait to see more 🙂
Aww what a sweet post! Your sister looked beautiful and I love her dress!
Juju!! You are just incredible!! I am so touched reading every word you wrote. You truly have a gift of capturing moments so vividly…feelings, facials, thoughts, everything! I am so blessed to be able to have this recap to look back at and remember how truly special every moment was! It brought tears to my eyes reading how well you know me and exactly what I was thinking with the hair, and your protective sister side 😉 haha…you’re such a great sister and MOH, most definitely!! Love you tons and am so thankful for you!! Sorry it took so long to get you the pictures :). Thank you for taking time to write such an amazing recap!! Love you!! Xoxo
Congrats Leslie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I didn’t know Leslie was an ADPi! I am, too!
More importantly, she (and all the girls) looked stunning!
Beautiful pictures! Love her dress!
So gorgeous! We decided to not write our own vows for that exact reason-neither of us thought we could get through them without crying!
SOOO gorgeous! Love how protective you are of her. Her hair (and everything else) looked just perfect!
Lovely recap so far! I have been looking forward to this. I love love love the bridesmaids dresses, would you mind telling me who the designer is? I have 7 bridesmaids and I know they’d love to have different styles! 🙂
They’re from Tulleandchantilly.com 🙂
Hi Julie! I love these dresses too. Do you remember what the color of the bridesmaid dress was called on the website? Thanks much!
I think I teared up more over your sisters comment. What an amazing recap and can’t wait to read more. Everyone look gorgeous and I especially loved the scrapbook idea!
Gorgeous pics! You’re so lucky to have a sister and to be close with her. Thanks for sharing!
Stunning!!!
Aww you all looked gorgeous! I had the same problem with my hair on my wedding day. Even with the trial it didn’t end up looking like I wanted it too so I had the lady loosen it up a bit and it turned out PERFECT!
I’m so glad you were able to share the photos, Leslie looked absolutely beautiful! My sister in law also hated her hair on her wedding day and I wish I would have done more to make sure she was happy, you’re such a good sister!
She is stunning!!!
Yay! I love so much about this…especially the bridesmaids dresses and Leslie’s bouquet! Can’t wait to read more.
Beautiful recap, your sister looks stunning. My favorite picture is definitely the one where your mother is closing the back of her dress. I don’t know why but I find it so touching.
STUNNING…..no other word describes your sister,
(well, maybe understanding given how Sadie likes to interrupt her naps!(
Oh Julie, you just put everything SO perfectly. Here I am in tears over here reading this BEAUTIFUL love story <3 Can't wait to finish reading.
i love your writing! I always feel like i am reading a story : ) amazing, love the recap and pictures! <3
That means a lot. Thank you!
What an amazing part 1 recap!! Everyone looked so amazing!
Your sister’s dress is stunning! Along with everything else. Can I ask who the designer is of her dress??
He designer is Watters and the dress is called Greta. 🙂