Caitlin and Brandon have the most adorable love story. She is an adorable, Florida Bride!

She has her own blog called Beary Excited Bride! as well that has her whole wedding planning journey!

They are getting married in October and we can not wait to share all the details of their big day!!!

This is their love story and how it all began…

In March 2003, Brandon and I went on a Carnival Cruise for our senior year spring break trips. While Brandon is from Tennessee and I am from Connecticut, it is not too often that a northern and southern high school has the same spring break week. On the first night of the cruise my sister, her best friend, I were trying to make new friends. I spotted a tall, cute, brown haired guy waiting for the elevator and decided I had to talk to him. I was surprised when he spoke with a southern accent! Sadly our conversation ended there – I thought I scared him off because I had ambushed him while he was trying to go to his room!

The next night I searched the boat until I found Mr. Tennessee again. We ended up talking until almost 4am! We spent the whole week together, holding hands and arguing with one another like an old married couple. At the end of the cruise, we had a heartfelt goodbye and planned to keep in touch. I’ll never forget at dinner the last night the crew sang, “I’m leaving on a jet plane” and I had to hide my tears. After going our separate ways, we realized we missed each other way too much to call each other “friend” - but our distance was an issue, and we knew we couldn’t be anything more living 900 miles apart from one another.

A year later, fate brought us back together. We were reunited on spring break once again – this time as freshmen in college and on the beach in Fort Lauderdale. Over five and a half years later, we are more in love than we have ever been and thankful we found one another on that big boat. =0)

Their proposal story in Caitlins words…

If you ask Brandon when he decided he was going to marry me he’d tell you it was right after Christmas in 2007. He had just left my family and I in CT and as he sat on the plane ride home, he could not help but think how he wanted us to be one big family. He waited until August 16, 2008 to pop the question though. We were going to Cape Cod for a week with my family. He had secretly purchased the ring a month beforehand and hid it at his father’s house. The day we left for CT I was so mad at him for being late for our trip to the airport together – he had been picking up the ring!! He was carrying this silly work briefcase with him “in case there was an emergency at work” and insisted on going through security separately - little did I know it was because he had the ring hidden in his folder pocket!

The following morning we left my parents house at 4am to beat the traffic to Cape Cod. Brandon started the day off by telling me he had some really upsetting news, but could not tell me until we were away from my parents. Being the impatient person I am, I bugged him all day long, but he would not speak a word. That evening we headed to the Beachcomber on Cahoon Hollow Beach in Wellfleet with my parents and their best friends. Brandon told me to tell everyone we were going to take pictures on the beach. I figured that I had waited long enough to hear his so very important information and I could wait until after dinner, so I told him to forget it. He insisted that we walk on the beach so he could tell me the news and took off towards the steep sand dune that led to the ocean.

I put up a fit, not wanting to get my feet dirty in the wet sand and not wanting to fall down the hill. He took off down the sand dune knowing that I had no choice but to follow. This is when he started acting weird. He started rambling about me being far away from my parents and him feeling guilty and blah blah blah. Naturally, I got emotional, so he gave me a big bear hug from behind and kissed me on top of my head. As we stood looking out at the ocean, I realized I felt something digging into my back, and started to squirm of out his hug. As I tried to escape he whispered in my ear, “I want you to know I made everything up that I just told you… so I could do this…”

In one swift motion he spun me around, got down on one knee, and said, “Will you marry me?” I was so excited I didn’t even notice he was holding an open box with a ring inside. I was crying and jumping up and down for a good couple of minutes before he asked, “Don’t you even want to see the ring??”

Of course I said, “YES!!” and with shaking hands he put the most gorgeous and shiny diamond ring EVER on my left finger…

One part of the story that I rarely get to tell (because after I reveal how he did it, people move straight onto wedding details) is that when we announced our engagement to my family waiting inside of the restaurant, we soon discovered there was an hour and a half wait until dinner! We all headed to the outdoor patio to have some celebratory drinks. However, we were stopped by thunder, lightening, and quarter sized hail!! Hail in August in Massachusetts on the BEACH is definitely not an ordinary occurrence…

Here are a some adorable Engagement sessions of Caitlin and her fiance by Addilay Photography!

Check out our Real Florida Bride Erin’s Engagement Story and some of her cute engagement photos!

Erin’s Engagement Story:

My fiance, Andrew, and I met when we were in 5th grade when I was in a musical theater production with his little sister. We went to separate schools and even though we liked each other in 6th and 7th grade, we waited and made it official in 8th grade. We have been together ever since! We spent all four years of high school together, and we both attended the University of Florida where we will be graduating this year. Andrew and I have spent the summers traveling to different places and are finally getting married in December 2010.

About two years ago Andrew asked me what my perfect day would be. My whole family is spread out over the United States. I told him if he could somehow get both of my sisters with their families here in Florida, get me a puppy I was begging him to get for over two years, and propose to me my life would be complete. He some how managed to pull it off. For four months he planned (along with his entire family and all of his closest friends) my perfect day. This past June he surprised me at the beach where I was with my entire family for the week. My family had not been together for two years, so when Andrew pulled up the drive way and an adorable puppy came running out of the car and into my arms, my whole family became very suspicious. We ate dinner to celebrate Andrew’s birthday (yes, he was giving ME presents on HIS birthday) and then Andrew asked me to take our new puppy for a walk on the beach.

It was perfect: blue skies and no one in sight. He hugged me real tight and whispered that he had another present for me. He reached into his pocket and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I was so shocked that this moment was finally happening that it was hard for me to focus. We cried, we laughed, I screamed and jumped up and down. We ran back to our families to announce our engagement and the rest is history.

Next up is Erin’s wedding planning journey. She has started her own blog Behind the Knot, and it is so adorable!

Finding Our Venue: http://www.behindtheknot.com/2009/08/our-beautiful-fairy-tale-most-perfect_02.html
Picking a Color Scheme: http://www.behindtheknot.com/2009/07/back-to-basics_21.html
Engagement Pictures: http://www.behindtheknot.com/2009/07/engagement-week-pictures.html
Finding My Dress: http://www.behindtheknot.com/search/label/solutions%20bridal 

She’s also shared with us her adorable inspiration board that she created with all of her details and decor ideas!

{moss letter}{shoes}{couple}{venue}{bouquet}{invitation}{cake}{table}

Her Vendors So Far:

Venue: Cypress Grove Estate House
Caterer: Puff n Stuff Catering
Coordinator: MasterPiece Weddings & Events
Dress: Marisa Gown via Solutions Bridal

Erin is an adorable bride and we are thrilled to be featuring her on The Florida Brides Blog! Stay tuned for more of her wedding details in the coming months.

Be sure to welcome her, say hello, and introduce yourself!