Maria & Opal's Wedding!

I thought I would post three different blogs covering our trip last week (so come back soon for parts 2 & 3) and I'll start with the entire reason we went to St. Lucia...THE WEDDING!! Maria & Opal were married on Sunday, June 8th at the Anse Chastanet Resort. They started the festivities the evening before at a Welcome Dinner they hosted at La Haut Plantation (this is where David and I stayed the first two nights). It was fun to get to know a few of Maria's childhood and college friends...most hadn't seen David since his early teen years!! Despite the clouds and a little rain on Saturday, Sunday was a beautiful sunny day...just perfect for an outdoor wedding. I was Maria's attendant so I spent some time in the morning with her and her mom helping her get ready. The wedding was scheduled for 10:30am (which ended up being 11am...we were on Caribbean time!) I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story ;)


David and his mom wait for the wedding to begin:

Opal waiting for his bride:


Me & the best man, Shawn, making our entrance:

The father of the bride walking her down the isle:

The ceremony:

David reading a passage of scripture:

Floyd (the pastor) and his wife were their marriage mentors...he made the ceremony so personal for them...not to mention funny!:


AAHHH, the kiss:


Mr. & Mrs. Sullen:

Me & David:

The happy parents:

After the ceremony we took a boat ride to a seculed beach for pictures..David & Dan on the boat:

The Leiffers & The Sullens:

After many pictures, Maria & Opal stayed behind on the beach while the rest of the group got a tour of some sites by water...this is the bride and groom trying to get on the boat when we went back to pick them up!:

After the pictures and boat ride we had a delicious meal and wedding cake:


The happy couple:


Once all of the festivities were finished and Maria and Opal were off on their own ;) most of the guests quickly changed and made a mad dash for the beach. It had been a hot, sweaty day so the cool water felt GREAT! Several of us ended the day by snorkeling the reserve off of Anse Chastanet beach.


We are so happy for Maria & Opal and were honored to be a part of their special day! Right now I'm sure they are thoroughly enjoying their honeymoon in Switzerland and Italy!!!!!! Love you guys!