Alex’s brother Grant officiated the wedding. “He has been so instrumental throughout my life, and he and Matt have built such a great bond,” Alex says. “My brother did such an incredible job speaking so beautifully about our relationship.” The couple also chose not share their vows with one another until the ceremony itself. “Although my life is pretty public, the true intimate bond and connection Matt and I have we actually keep pretty private,” she says. “So for our families and closest friends to hear us verbalize our feelings towards one another in the most intimate setting felt electric—as you will see in almost every photo, there were no dry eyes in sight. We will never forget that moment.”
Instead of going directly into taking portraits, the bride and groom thought it would be more fun to have all of their guests process out with them, follow them down the aisle, and go directly into cocktail hour. “It was the perfect way to start the evening, have a couple of drinks, and if I’m real, let my guests see my dress up close and get some pictures before we moved on to my next outfit. Priorities!” Because with a location change, came the bride’s next outfit change. Guests were shepherded from cocktail hour down to the beach where there was an open-air tent. “You could hear the waves in the background as we sat and ate dinner,” Alex says. “Since Matt and I both have two left feet, we opted out of a first dance and once again did things our way…we instead had a first shot with all of our guests.”
After speeches were given by family members and friends, everyone made their way to the dance floor. “And I know what you’re thinking: A small intimate wedding sounds like a potential recipe for an extremely awkward dance floor—but that couldn’t have been further from reality,” Alex says. “The vibes were immaculate. There were dance-offs, bottles being passed around, crowd surfing…and once again, I’m not a dancer, but there wasn’t a care in the world from anyone that night. Everyone was on cloud nine.” For the finale, Alex’s dad got on the microphone and announced to everyone that everyone would run into the ocean—dresses, suits, and all. “I was expecting maybe just my close friends to join in, but to my complete shock almost the entire wedding took charge to the ocean,” Alex recalls. “Parents, grandparents, family, and friends.”
Many brides post-wedding talk about their wedding day being a blur, but Alex wouldn’t describe it that way at all. “Matt and I were both so intentional about making the weekend about being present with each other and our friends and family, and that’s exactly what we did,” she says. “There’s no detail or moment I won’t remember—and I will cherish this celebration of our love forever.”