“I think everybody
was charmed by
Manzanita, it was
a beautiful setting.”
“I think everybody was charmed by
Manzanita,” Derek said. “It was a beautiful
setting.”
There was a momentary panic,
however, when a rainstorm broke out 45
minutes before the wedding. But it quickly
passed, and the 6 p.m. beach ceremony
went on as planned. Meghan’s sister
officiated; her niece was the flower girl
and her nephew, the ring bearer.
Meghan wore a strapless dress, with a
soft, English-lace bodice. Derek wore a
tailored vest, rolled up gray pants, an ivory
shirt and bow tie. Both were barefoot.
“Our strategy was as if we had been to
a formal event and decided to go to the
beach afterwards,” Derek said.
“Derek had a vision of a deconstructed
ceremony,” Meghan added.
Following the wedding, everyone
walked from the beach to Bread and Ocean
for the reception.
“I loved it,” Meghan said of the day. “It
was very mellow.”
Their wedding photos feature Meghan
spinning around, her dress flaring out and
the ocean in the background.
“It felt decadent,” Meghan said.
The couple went on two honeymoons:
They drove down the coast and visited
some wineries on a leisurely drive back to
Colorado, and, later, they spent time in
Italy.
Derek has one suggestion for couples
who may be considering a wedding at the
beach, even in the summer: “Plan for the
weather.”
“Our Plan A was to wait out the rain,”
he said. “Our Plan B was to go inside one
of the houses we had rented.”
Despite that one small concern,
however, Meghan and Derek said their
wedding day, which can be tense, was
relaxed. Meghan attributes that to the
beach-town ambience. They have become
fans of Manzanita.
“We’re going back next summer,” she
said.
RIVER & SEA WEDDINGS 2017
29