I love Phil and Jill, so when they announced that they were planning a beach wedding at the Ritz Carlton in Naples, Florida I was super excited.

Jill is a friend of mine, so one day we were discussing her plans for the wedding and I asked her who she had found in Florida to do her wedding photography.

“Yeah,” she said shrugging her shoulders, “we aren’t really planning to hire anyone.”

Que that awful screeching, record stopping noise.

So, as any good friend would do, I pretty much hired myself to be her wedding photographer.
As someone who made that very mistake when I got married and now thoroughly regrets it, I wasn’t about to let my friend make the same mistake.

You might not think that having professional wedding photos is a big deal when you get married, but trust me you will reconsider after you have been married for over a decade and do not have a single picture that you would be proud to hang on your wall or show your children someday.
Phil and Jill were married at Saint Leo the Great Catholic Church in Naples.  The church itself is amazing.  I love how bright and airy it is. After the ceremony, the cocktail hour and reception were held at the Ritz Carlton Beach House.

The beach house was the perfect venue for Phil and Jill’s intimate cocktail hour and reception.  Cocktails were held on the lower level of the beach house.  After the guests found ther seats (check out the adorable escort card desplay!) we headed upsatirs for dinner.

One nice thing about having the reception at the beach house was that it made it so easy to slip away for a few sunset portraits on the beach.  The beach looks so romantic, even if it was crazy windy and cold Jill’s wedding and engagement rings from Van Clef and Arples were so unique and simple.  I love when a bride goes outside the norm and chooses a ring other than the traditional diamond.  Jill also wore a simple diamond band that had been her grandmother’s.  Most of the details – like the decor, cak and bouquet – were all included in the wedding package from the Ritz which made wedding planning for Jill a breeze. Jills dress was from BHLDN.  I have to say, I am honestly a little over the strapless trend in bridal gowns and I was so excited to see a dress with sleeves!  Another bonus, the dress is made of stretch lace so Jill could look amazing and be comfortable the whole night. One thing that I did not know about the groom is that he is a huge Lego fan.  They incorporated the Lego cake topper (though Phil maintains that he shouldn’t have had the Lego groom wear a hat because Phil would never be caught dead in a top hat). Phil and Jill’s wedding had so many effortlessly chic details.  The whole wedding was a dream.