Miami Wedding weekend

We have been preparing all summer for the wedding of 2 of our close friends from Auburn Nic and Stephanie. Part of the reason for taking the Gainesville assignment was so we could be close for their big day in Coral Gables, FL. It was still a 5+ hour drive!

Austin's ready

Austin was asked to be one of Nic's groomsman for this black tie affair. We met Nic and Stephanie during our time at the Auburn Wesley Foundation, the methodist campus ministry at Auburn. We are so thankful for their friendship and we were also thankful for a weekend where we could relive the good times with so many of our friends we met at Wesley. These are good people.

We attempted to do Miami two ways: cheap and with a dog. This was a tall task and not easily accomplished. We found a place to stay on airbnb.com and gained a new friend in Jim, the Miami local whose (cozy but cheap!) backyard apartment was ours for the next three nights. Austin and I can now say we shared a twin bed.

I didn't really know anything about Miami going into this, but I now realize This city is probably the opposite of a place that we like to vacation. Expensive, overcrowded, dreadfully hot, arrogant, and difficult to understand.

I did enjoy this afternoon at the pool, let's focus on the positives 

I'm pretty sure that I am one of the few people that has driven around South Beach for a hour ugly crying because there is no place to park and no dog friendly beaches to be found any where. When we did find the dog friendly "beach" the next day, it was smelly, full of trash, bugs and on the bay. Not for human swimming.

On to the wedding!

Our campus minister David who performed our wedding, he did a great job at this one too!

The wedding was beautiful, and Austin and I had a great time attending our first black tie event celebrating our friends. It was held at the Westin Colonnade in the heart of Coral Gables, very swanky. One of my favorite parts of the day was getting to wear this dress I rented on renttherunway.com (what a genius idea!) It is one of my favorite things I have ever worn, second to my wedding dress. We had fun looking fancy! 

I had to return this dress today and it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do 

We are so blessed to have friends like these. We may not see each other but once or twice a year, but you can always count on their support and love. Wedding after wedding I have seen how our Wesley friends are the last ones to leave, keeping the party going until the very end, and cheering the bride and groom out the door. This weekend was no exception. They were all there to support and love the bride and groom, who have shown that same support and love countless times to their friends as well. These are some amazing, talented, loving people and I thank God for their friendship.

The Groom and Austin

So congratulations Nic and Stephanie, we are so happy for you and thankful we could be a part of your big day!

But I probably will never go back to Miami.