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John Reardon of  My Custom Wedding Ceremony has been officiating wedding ceremonies for years. When John creates your custom wedding ceremony and wedding vows, and officiates your ceremony you can feel confident that you and your ceremony are  in the hands of a reliable professional who truly understands how important this day is to you. You can count on John to bring your dreams of a beautiful stress-free wedding to life.

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If you head down Cordova St. in front of (side of?) the Casa Monica Hotel, Old City House Inn & Restaurant is about a block down at 115 Cordova. It is a wonderful little B & B right in the heart of downtown. I have photographed several weddings there and the setting is beautiful. They are a member of St. Augustine Historic Inns. We have a  lot of  B & Bs in town and many of them offer wedding services. It is a great alternative to being in a bigger venue if you are having a small, private wedding. 

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The Casa Monica Hotel is the granddaddy of weddings and receptions in St. Augustine. I think more weddings and receptions happen here than just about anywhere else.  In 1888 the original Casa Monica Hotel was built.  It was named after St. Augustine’s mother, Monica. In 1932 it closed its doors and 30 years later was purchased by St. Johns County and served as the county courthouse until 1997. The Kessler Collection bought the property, renovated it, and opened the new Casa Monica Hotel in 1999.

It is beautiful. One of my favorite places for weddings and receptions is out by the pool deck. There are also areas in the restaurant, 95 Cordova, that they can section off for small weddings and receptions and of course they do have several large banquet rooms as well.

 

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I was at a meeting for members of the St. Johns County Visitors & Convention Bureau a few weeks ago and ran into Jan Miller, owner of Butterfield Garage. She was sharing with me that she was considering  offering her art gallery as a possible venue for wedding receptions and events. The space is awesome, high ceilings and a lot of different artists represented on the walls. It is located at 137 King St., a few blocks east of the San Sebastian Winery. I’m not sure where she is at right now with the offering but if you are looking for a unique space to have a reception, give it a go-see.

Speaking of art. St. Augustine is an artist’s dream city. We have oodles of artists (including me!) and art galleries. The St. Augustine Art Association is in a beautiful building downtown and also rents out their space for weddings. They are kind of back behind A1A Aleworks (more about them another day) at 22 Marine St.

And one more thing on art! The first Friday of every month is First Friday Art Walk and not to be missed if you are in the area. All the galleries are open and serving wine and goodies from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. Here is a map with just a partial listing of all the galleries. The next one is next Friday, November 6. Be there or be square.

What art offers is space – a certain breathing room for the spirit. ~ John Updike

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This has nothing to do with weddings but everything to do with St. Augustine. I was coming up off of Vilano Bch. last Saturday with my twin g-kids, Emma and Sebastian, to play at splash park for a bit, you know, rinse off the sand and all.

We had been watching and photographing my son and his buddies (fellow surfers, skimmers and bodyboarders) perform in some “epic surf conditions”. There was a man with a camera standing on the side of the road right before you drive onto the sand, talking with a couple. I was eavesdropping, (couldn’t help myself) and thought I heard him say his wife was just arriving on a cross country bike ride from Washington state. What??!! Awesome. So I butted in to clarify what I thought I was hearing and, sure enough, she was arriving any minute! Of course I had to be part of the cheering section/greeting party. Linda was indeed just completing an almost 4,000 mile “epic journey”. Wow. Love it. What an inspiration. We got to be part of her “final arrival” pictures. That’s me to the left of Linda (click on the image to go to her site).  This is the second time I have run into someone just completing a cross country bike ride to St. Augustine. Evidently it is a common thing to arrive in St. Augustine from a gazillion mile bike ride! I must admit it is something I have contemplated more than once. Linda assures me it is doable and that I would never regret it. My son says he would do it with me. Maybe it’s a sign….. stay posted.

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If you cross the street at the San Sebastian Winery and head east toward the bayfront you will come across two adorable storefronts sitting side by side, 57 Treasury and Sweet Weddings. 57 Treasury is a florist shop (and I use that word loosely, go by, you will see what I mean) that was originally located at 57 Treasury St., hence the name, and Sweet Weddings is a bakery that makes amazing, yummy wedding cakes. They are located at 144 King St., suite 1 and 2, respectively. You can’t plan a wedding here without at least checking them out!

Stay Sweet!

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There are a lot of venues for weddings and receptions in downtown St. Augustine. I think I have probably photographed weddings and receptions in pretty much all of them. I’ve decided to just start at the far west end of King St., at the San Sebastian Winery, and head east toward the bay front from there, blogging about all the venues along the way.  The winery is at 157 King St. and is a really pretty place. One great feature is a large deck that faces west over the little San Sebastian River, right off the main reception room. You can actually get married right out on the deck. One downside is it can get brutally hot from July through September since it is a western exposure. A tent can be put up to help shield from the sun or rain, so that helps. Speaking of brutally hot (and humid), I have always said the two best months to get married outdoors in St. Augustine are April and October. Usually it is not very rainy, perfect temperatures in the 70’s and low humidity. September is probably the worst month for an outdoor wedding due to the threat of hurricanes and extreme heat and humidity. I always advise brides and grooms to avoid that month if at all possible! I photographed a wedding at the beautiful Club at Hammock Beach  (more about Hammock Beach in a future blog) last month that was planned out on the green by the pool deck, overlooking the ocean, with pictures on the beach to follow and the reception on the yacht. It rained cats and dogs! I was totally soaked just getting inside from the parking lot. Needless to say the entire wedding and pictures had to be done inside. This can be very disappointing for the bride and groom, which leads me to one more point. If you plan an outdoor or beach wedding, you really want to have a backup plan in case of  rain. That’s all for now, have a romantic day!

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This is my first post on my new site! Over the coming weeks and months I’ll be writing on all things “wedding” in St. Augustine, Florida. I’m Beth Hayes, a local St. Augustine photographer. I have photographed weddings in pretty much every venue in town and have learned a lot along the way about what seems to work and what doesn’t when planning a wedding. Please feel free to email me about any questions. If I don’t have the answer I can find someone who does. I have two other sites, www.bethhayes.com and www.staugustinebeachweddings.com where you will find galleries of my work and additional info and of course there are galleries here. So, let the fun begin!

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