Florida Beach Wedding: Kendrick + David – Part 1

bride and groom wearing sombreros

Kendrick + David are both amazing photographers (they are a part GWS fave Our Labor of Love) and were married in Florida last May. Since they are wedding photographers, they have seen a lot of weddings over the years and knew what they really liked + wanted for their day – a small, personal, laid-back, creative, very colorful multi-day event. Everything about their wedding was personal from the food (vegetarian Mexican food since they love traveling in Mexico), to the ceremony, to the handmade decorations, to the small guest list, to the date (Cinco de Mayo weekend, their six-year anniversary), to the dancing (Kendrick surprised her mom with a mother-daughter dance)!

A bit more about their wedding weekend from Kendrick: We arrived in Florida a few days before our wedding in a car loaded up with all the decorations we’d collected over the months. We had a family dinner with both our families two days before, then a dinner/dance party/sunset/super moon cruise on The Calypso Queen (which was as kitschy as it sounds) with all our guests the night before our wedding. The morning of our wedding we had a group yoga class. It was important to us that not only would our dearest friends and family get to know each other and have fun together before our wedding, but also that we wouldn’t spend our whole wedding reception shaking hands and making introductions – we wanted to dance!

Big thanks to Matt + Meghan of Our Labor of Love for all the gorgeous photos!

yellow flats

bride getting ready

first look

first look

Our Favorite Memory From The Wedding

Can I sneak in a couple memories? I had two dresses. One that I originally planned to be my wedding dress and that David saw the moment it arrived and the other (the pink Vera Wang). The pink gown I tried on as a whim to entertain my mom, step-mom, sis and I. I ended up buying that gown after witnessing my moms cry, and had to hide it from David for 5 months so I could surprise him on our wedding day. I am so bad at keeping surprises a secret so I can't believe I managed it, but it was so worth it to see his face. He thought he knew exactly what I'd look like in a white, short dress and I tapped his shoulder in a huge, blush pink gown. His jaw dropped.

Because I have photographed weddings, I've heard so many toast speeches over the years. Sometimes I cry at the strangers' toasts or laugh at the roasts, but it was such a treat for us to be the recipient of this extreme outpouring of love and emotion from all our friends and family who did speeches. My brother's speech during toasts was epic, everyone kept asking where he does stand-up (seriously), but he's a graphic designer and realtor, who just happens to be hilarious. My sister started crying during hers and I'm pretty sure every guest wanted to run up and hug her. David's mother, father, brother, and sister all stood in a line and delivered speeches and it was so fun to see each other their personality's shine as they spoke about how much they loved my new husband. I wish I could bottle up that overwhelming moment forever.

After the reception, we lit several wish lanterns on the beach and guests were running up and down the beach trying to get them to float. It was a magic night – the famed, rare supermoon shone above as the lanterns floated up into the sky, and then several of us stripped off our clothes and went swimming in the Gulf under the moonlight. It was an epic ending to our unforgettable wedding.

first look

teal chunky necklace

giant pink rose

beach wedding bride and groom

beach wedding bride and groom

beach wedding bride and groom


LOVE her pink Vera Wang wedding dress! And the sombreros – so fun for portraits! :)

beach wedding bride and groom

beach wedding bride and groom

beach wedding bride and groom

beach wedding bride and groom

beach wedding bride and groom

beach wedding bride and groom

beach wedding bride and groom


From Kendrick: Everyone tells you to just go with the flow on your wedding day, that not everything will go as planned, but to enjoy it. Well, I got that out of the way two days before the wedding when I woke up at our beach hotel with a 102 degree fever. I went straight to a walk-in clinic and told the doctor I absolutely couldn’t be sick on Sunday and he prescribed me a double antibiotic and steroids. Then, I went back to the hotel and cried and told David our whole weekend would be ruined. Luckily, the drugs kicked in fast and that got all of our bad luck out of the way. Everything at our wedding went better than I had planned and imagined the months before. Really.

Now check out their fun and intimate ceremony + reception!


photography: Matt + Meghan of Our Labor of Love // venue name: The Postcard Inn // wedding dress: White by Vera Wang // hairpiece: Paper peonies by Flower Bazaar // bride's shoes: Melissa (bride), Hawkings McGill (groom) // hair stylist: London Hair & Spa // groom attire: Banana Republic // catering: The Postcard Inn // cake: Donut Connection // music: DJ Dave Ochoa // floral design: My mom went all over St. Pete Beach and St. Pete and bought flowers from multiple florists, then she and friends and family assembled them // invitations: Invitation artwork done by amazing artist Carne Griffiths, my brother Josh Brinson who is a part-time graphic designer did the design of the invites and the goodie bag wedding schedule brochures // paper goods: Invitation artwork done by amazing artist Carne Griffiths, my brother Josh Brinson who is a part-time graphic designer did the design of the invites and the goodie bag wedding schedule brochures // Ceremony arch decor: Kathleen Warren

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