My Brother’s Emerald Coast, Florida Wedding

I’m so glad to finally share images from my brother’s beach house wedding on the Emerald Coast in Florida! My brother was born in the summer so his birthday has coincided with a family vacation more than once, and if we’re not on a family trip for his birthday, he has a pool party for sure back home. I won’t hide my jealousy. It’s usually cold and/or drizzly on my birthday, but whatever. He’s the lucky one that gets to spend birthdays on the beach, so why not spend his wedding there too? We’re a beach-loving family, despite our Dallas addresses. I’m in for a full family move over to Hawaii but they won’t budge. So anyway, one day a couple of years ago when we were talking about wedding ideas (I’m a wedding-obsessed photographer, weddings come up a lot) my brother mentioned that he’d like to have a beach wedding. His girlfriend agreed and said she liked the idea too. I went from 0 to 100 real quick. I immediately got out my laptop to show them pictures from a wedding I second shot in Destin, Florida with my friend Celina and began my mission. They thought it was a cool idea and also talked about having a destination wedding in the Caribbean or Mexico and we went about our day. Lo and behold, last year when they got engaged, they announced that they’d be having a destination wedding in Florida! They began their plans looking for the perfect beach house on the Emerald Coast (Pensacola Beach, Destin, Fort Walton, Panama City Beach) and booked a date. I came up with the crafty idea of photographing the first half of the day and hiring a skilled associate to photograph the ceremony with me, and the cocktail hour and reception alone. They were cool with it and I was SOOOO excited!

Shooting the first half of their day alone meant arriving way earlier than I usually would on a wedding day, but it was for family, so I would be there anyway. :) My husband has been dipping his toe in the wedding industry with me by shooting video at weddings sometimes, so he was excited to shoot a beach wedding too. When the wedding weekend arrived, we packed our gear and headed off to Florida! They hosted us for a pre-wedding get together the night before, and the next morning, my husband sent me on my way armed with cameras and Chick-Fil-A chicken minis to start my day off with my future sister in law. He went back to our hotel to prepare for filming my brothers.

My sister in law asked her grandmother to be her matron of honor, had her brother officiate, and had her son as ring bearer. My oldest brother was best man so it was a full family affair. My personal favorite part about the day was hearing from aunts and uncles how hard my job looked. Some saw me shooting the reception details minutes before the ceremony and then hauling butt through sand while wearing a floor-length dress and carrying two cameras with heavy lenses on them. It’s a sheer miracle I didn’t fall on my face. I have to shout out to Erika with Indie Pearl Photography in Gulf Breeze, Florida for taking over at cocktail hour and shooting the full reception alone. We didn’t get to meet in person before that day, so I put a lot of trust in her to show up and do a great job and she delivered! She was nice and helpful and did a beautiful job.

My brother is the kind of person who has had the same best friends since childhood. He’s funny, loud and fun, forgiving, generous and kind. If you met him, you’d like him. Everyone does. He’s 8 years older than I am, so he already had a car when I was in elementary school. He picked me up from drill team practice and gave me rides to middle school. I specifically remember Pop Tarts in the morning listening to the Edge’s morning show on our drive. When I got a job in high school and needed a car, he bought a new one and gave me his old one. When I was 19 and brought my boyfriend home to meet the family, he made Chris feel welcomed and reassured me of my decision. Throughout the years, he did pick on me relentlessly and get on my nerves, but he was always, always there. At 6 a.m. in the pouring rain on the side of the highway, jumpstarting my car. In the Texas heat, moving me from apartment to apartment. On my wedding day, nervous as hell, officiating my ceremony. Without making me feel like a burden, and without complaint, my brother has been there. That’s the man he is and I’m very, very thankful to be his little sister.

And that’s how you get 80+ people to drive from Texas to Florida for your wedding. My brother got married and celebrated with his favorite people in a beautiful place. Sand at our feet and the ocean in front of us, I think I speak for all of us in attendance when I say that what we wished for the two of them is all of the joy life has to offer.

Pensacola Beach wedding by Destin Florida wedding photographer Cristy Angulo | www.cristyangulo.com