by:
First and foremost ... Happy Veterans' Day! We thank all veterans, past and present, for their service and sacrifice to our great country. We have a fantastic military beach wedding for you to marvel at ... and it's perfectly timed for today's national holiday. Brittney just won one of our giveaways of Christmas Cards and Canvas Print {and we can't wait to see what she picks out!}. Her handsome groom, Rob, is in the U.S. Marine Corps and donned his uniform for their photos and ceremony. 
The Details
Couple: Brittney & Rob Location: Ceremony on a beach in Oak Island, NC | Reception at beach houses near ceremony site Theme: Beach casual, USMC & nautilus shells 
The happy couple ordered their save the dates, rehearsal dinner invites, and wedding invites from MagnetStreet—so naturally we asked to feature their stunning military beach wedding on the oceanside beaches of North Carolina. 
And we are so glad we did. Their photos from Craig at Branches Wedding Co., ocean scenery, nod to the U.S. Marine Corps, toes in the sand, gorgeous couple, awesome bridal party ... the list goes on. You can totally see the love Brittney and Rob share. Check out their big military beach wedding day and sweet story! 
How Rob and Brittney met "We met through mutual friends on our college campus at Western Carolina University. His fraternity brothers and my sorority sisters knew we had our eyes on each other for quite some time. We were in the same place at the same time and just clicked from there." 
Their proposal "It was Labor Day weekend and Rob was away in Quantico, Virginia attending the USMC Basic School. I headed down to Charleston, SC for a girls weekend with my twin sister and another girlfriend of ours. Rob had endured a long week and I thought he was sleeping all day so I did not think anything of it when I didn't hear from him for a while. We enjoyed the beach at Sullivan's Island during the day and headed out to explore the city on Saturday evening. My sister had never been to Charleston before and kept saying how much she wanted to visit the Waterfront Park and see the Gazebo overlooking the Battery. After we stopped for photos at the Pineapple Fountain (my must-see Charleston attraction), we trekked on to the park. Once we turned down Meeting Street I saw a familiar face but she was so out of place I did not recognize her a first. It was Rob's younger sister, Heather. I was so shocked to see her that I almost walked right past her. She said hi and I asked her what in the world she was doing there. She told me that there was someone there to see me and instantly I knew what was about to happen! I walked through the courtyard of Two Meeting Street Inn and there sat my future husband. He had driven all day from Quantico to Charleston to surprise me with a proposal. He got down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him, I am pretty sure I stopped breathing at one point! After I said yes and accepted the ring, we celebrated with friends and champagne! It was the best surprise weekend of my life!" 
Highlight of the day = The "first look" "We decided to do a first look because we wanted to take photos before the ceremony rather than after. We were both so glad we did that, because it most definitely calmed both of our nerves before the ceremony" 
Something borrowed: "Silver bracelet from my twin sister." Something blue: "I had a heart from a blue shirt of my Dad's sewn into the heart of my gown." Something old: "I carried a handkerchief from my great-grandmother during our first look and down the aisle. A close friend of mine embroidered our wedding date on it." Something new: "My new last name! I had Rob's Marine Corps name tape sewn into the back of my dress symbolizing my new last name." 
Finding her wedding dress "Finding my dress was such a breeze! I visited three bridal boutiques in one day with my mom, sister, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law. Since we were having a beach wedding, I had been looking at loose, flowing dresses. Trying on gowns was such a fun experience! I tried on around 20 dresses of all shapes and styles and ended up falling in love with a fitted Maggie Sottero gown. I purchased my dress through a small, family-run bridal shop and received a free veil with it! The selling point of the dress was the nautilus shell pattern in the lace overlay--that sparked my theme for the entire wedding." 
What they are most looking forward to about married life "Spending every day together! A lot of our relationship was long distance so it is nice to finally be spending A LOT of time together in one place." 
The first dance song "'Beast of Burden by the Rolling Stones,'" one of our songs throughout college." 
How their Ocean Breeze wedding stationery matched their theme "As I mentioned earlier, once I found my dress with the nautilus shell pattern, I knew I wanted to incorporate that into the invitation suite. I used a single navy nautilus shell on the top of our wedding invite. Though it was a small symbol, I felt that it tied the guests to me on our wedding day. My vision was that guests had seen the shell before on the invitation and then would see the same shell on the pattern of my dress on the big day. I am probably the only one who actually thought that ... but, a girl can dream! It was special to me regardless if anyone else noticed or not! :)" 
Their MagnetStreet experience "A close friend of mine used MagnetStreet for her wedding stationary and recommended the site to me. After browsing the site, I found the perfect stationery to fit with our beach theme. I loved that I was able to customize each piece of the invitation suite to exactly what I wanted. The Customer Service is OUTSTANDING! Regardless of the question I had, there was always someone a click or phone call away to assist me."
Special thanks to their wedding day vendors! Photography: Branches Wedding Co. | Wedding Planners: Seaside Wedding Connection | Wedding Dress: Hope's Bridal Boutique | Bridesmaid Dresses: Show Me Your Mumu (clothing brand) | Hair and Makeup: Jordon Mull and Taylor Sigmon (friends) | Cake and Cupcakes: The Confectionary | Groomsmen Shirts: Tommy Bahama
