Mel & Craig tie the knot!

Welcome to my blog! Since I named this blog "The Adventures of Mel & Craiggers," it only seems appropriate to begin with our biggest adventure of all - getting married!

We tied the knot just over a month ago on Saturday, June 6 at the beautiful Serenata Beach Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. We chose this area because I have grown up coming to the beach there and it's my favorite place in the world. We are fortunate enough to have a family beach house in St. Augustine and my grandmother graciously let us host our rehearsal dinner there. My mom's friends, Janet Ridley and Sharla Padgett, deserve a huge thank you for the amazing transformation they gave the house (inside and out) to make it look absolutely gorgeous and beachy! They also put their magic to work on all of the flowers and decorations for our wedding.

I would definitely recommend considering the Serenata for anyone interested in getting married in the St. Augustine area. The event coordinator, Cordel Crowley, was amazing. He took care of everything on-site and we didn't have to worry about a single detail going untouched. The entire staff was very helpful and friendly. And the food... we got so many compliments on the food! I was a little nervous about it because we didn't get to do a tasting, but everything was phenomenal! Our DJ, Ed Kinney, was great too. The dancing was my favorite part of the night! :) I'd also highly recommend our photographer, Kate Gardiner, to anyone in the area. We had an engagement session with her a few months before the wedding and I knew we'd picked a great photograper when we saw the results of that shoot. She was easy to work with and the finished products from the wedding day were breathtaking! She got all of the standard, formal photos that we requested and still made time for lots of fun and artistic shots (like boys in fake furry mustaches).

It was a dream wedding and the most perfect way to marry my best friend. I'm so thankful that we have such amazing families and friends who made all of our ideas and plans a reality. We are so blessed by having each of you in our lives and can't thank you enough for being a part of our most special day!


The head table for us and our families


Rehearsal dinner - the inside of our beach house transformed into a great space for an event


The wedding program - I designed it and put it together myself!


Now announcing Mr. and Mrs. Hayes!


Dancing with my dad to "My Girl"



Our beautiful wedding cake with handmade white chocolate shells. Can't wait to have more than a tiny bite come our one year anniversary! :)