Cocoa Beach Hilton Holiday Inspired Wedding | Carly & Taylor

posted in: Weddings

December 23, 2021

When I think of the brides I love to work with, I think of someone who radiates pure happiness and joy and goes with the flow. When I think of the grooms I love to work with, I think of someone who is just so damn proud of his soon to be spouse and wears his love and affection on his sleeve… And this is, to a tee, who Carly & Taylor are.

Carly is full of life. The pure joyfulness she has she shares with those around her, and her sisters touch on those attributes in their MOH toast. Just don’t get caught with food in your teeth, because she won’t hesitate to bring out the floss and get all Dentist on ya lol! And Taylor, my goodness. I think I saw him tell Carly he loved her at the altar about a dozen times. During their first look, he didn’t hesitate to whip out his letter he wrote to her just so he could read it out loud. Throughout the entire day, he made sure he showed his love and appreciation for her, and I would imagine that will continue forever. These two may be young, but don’t let that fool you. They are well beyond their years, including their love of ‘cheesy 80s music’ 😛 They incorporated a lot of family heirlooms and traditions to celebrate where they came from and where they’re headed.

The day started off with an amazing sunrise. Carly’s suite was right on the oceanside facing east, so she had the perfect view while she and the girls started their hair and makeup. The first main event of the day was their first look, or so Taylor thought. Instead of Carly, one of his friends came out in a wedding dress, as his groomsmen watched from the window above lol! Once that was over, we were able to show him his actual bride, and how stunning she looked. Carly wore a form fitted gown and pearl studded veil.

They had a catholic church service, and both Carly’s Mom and Dad walked her down the aisle. Even though Taylor had just seen her a few minutes before this, he had tears streaming down his face. I know a lot of people are so against first looks because they feel like this ‘aisle moment’ will be overlooked, but this is just another example of how emotional an aisle moment can be, even if you’ve already seen each other! They got to share two emotional moments like this, one private and one for family and friends to share. They said their vows, took communion and were serenaded by both family and friends. It was a beautiful ceremony for a beautiful couple!

During their bridal party photos, Carly’s sister picked her up and they both went for a little tumble… they are both okay thankfully, but my goodness, I had to take a moment to think about helping them or photographing it haha! My knee jerk reaction was to help, but once on the floor they were both hysterical, and Carly gave me a thumbs up, so I think I didn’t feel as guilty when I kept taking photos lol!

Their reception wasn’t short of energy either, and the sisterly tumble wasn’t the only injury of the day. One of the groomsmen literally flew in the air and went face first into the dance floor for the reception entrance. Nothing a bandaid couldn’t fix, but only a small example of the wild and crazy party that was about to unfold. Yes, there are photos of this below 😛

Carly & Taylor impressed everyone with their first dance, as Taylor swung Carly around as the room filled with fog. Then Carly’s Dad and his siblings got up and sang a toast to them. It was so much fun to watch and so unexpected! Their Best Man and Maid of Honor toasts were great too! Her sisters talked about how perfect Carly is, and I can vouch for her being the perfect bride because she had her details and extra flowers set aside for me, AND reads my blog posts lol! She looked over at me mid-speech to giggle when something happened that we mentioned in a recent blog post lol! *proud moment*

To top it all off, they had a Murga performance (a Panamanian tradition with dancing and music) and people took turns dancing with Carly. I’ve never witnessed a murga before, so this was really cool to see! The dance floor was wild for the rest of the night, which is always a sign of a good crowd. I don’t think the dance floor cleared for even a second, they were all having way too much fun!

To go along with the beautiful sunrise, was a beautiful sunset. We ended up taking a few minutes of portraits on the beach before dinner and the sunset did not disappoint! I mean seriously, you cannot miss these sunset photos!!!

There’s no doubt 2021 has been crazy for brides, grooms and especially wedding vendors with all the reschedules and postponements of 2020, but I can’t imagine a more perfect day or couple to end on such a high note! It was one of the longest days for us in a while, but it was such an amazing way to end our 2021 wedding season.

Carly & Taylor, we are so grateful to have been a part of your special day. I hope you have the best time on your honeymoon! I hope you enjoy this trailer and some more photos before the holidays!

Congratulations to The Rachids!!!!