Arkins Wedding // Jade + Dan // Highlands House // Santa Rosa Beach, FL
(As seen on Ruffled Blog!)
It's official. We're ready to move to the beach. Our entire lives, we've lived only four hours from the Gulf. But asap, we're packing our bags and hitting the road to live seaside.
The most flattering thing a bride can ever do is book Sweet Julep without ever meeting us. It seriously is the highest form of a compliment you can give us. When Jade originally contacted us about her Santa Rosa Beach wedding, we were like, "Oh heck yes!" But then we learned that she and Dan didn't even live near Florida. Or Alabama. They lived in Ft Worth, TX! Destination weddings are our absolute favorite, and we were in love with Jade from the very beginning. So with only email and Facebook as a means to get to know each other, we anxiously waited for the day to come when we could finally talk face to face with this girl!
Highlands House was the most quaint little bed & breakfast nestled back in the trees only a couple blocks away from Gulf Place (where we had shot our very first 30A wedding with Abbie and John last year.) HH had a beautiful bridal suite with the most gorgeous, soft light. The white aesthetic of the house made the perfect backdrop for all of Jade's colorful details. We were obsessed with Jade's personal style and loved the color palette that she chose for her day. Our favorite feature of the property had to be the boardwalk through the natural area to the beach! We loved that you could go from a modern b&b to a lush, green lawn to an overgrown boardwalk to the sandy Gulf coast. It wasn't your every day, average beach rental!
The guys chose to get ready at a condo about a block down the road. We had the most amazing weather on this day, so we really enjoyed that we were able to walk back and forth between the two locations! Per usual, the guys were relaxed and watching baseball until about 30 minutes before the ceremony. We tried to make friends with Dan's little nephew who was so cute, but he just wasn't having us... Poor thing hated when we made him model. (But you can't tell us he isn't freaking adorable in those pictures!)
Jade and Dan chose to not see each other before the ceremony, so we had to do most all of the photos after the ceremony, which made for some gorgeous images. Everyone was so light-hearted and happy that getting beautiful pictures was effortless. As we headed back to the house for the reception, we loved that you could stand on the porch and watch the whole setting on the lawn while still seeing the bright blue colors of the ocean. The sun dipped below the horizon pretty quickly, making the most perfect atmosphere for dancing under the string lights. Jade and Danny, you had one amazing wedding. We are so thankful that you chose us to help in sharing your story with everyone.
(PS. We've also officially decided that Waffle House is our new post-wedding tradition.)
Photography: Sweet Julep Photography // Venue: Highlands House // Bride's Dress: Essense of Australia // Bridal Boutique: De Ma Fille // Bridesmaids Dresses: Show Me Your Mumu // Hair and Makeup: The Grove Salon // Bride's Bracelet: Kendra Scott // Bride's Earrings: Nadri // Bride's Shoes: Tory Burch // Groom's Attire: J. Crew // Floral Designer: Stems // Invitations: Wedding Paper Divas // Catering: Highlands House // Cake: Bonne Vie Speciality // DJ: B-Boy Productions // Film Scans: Indie Film Lab
