A Beach Wedding at the Hilton Melbourne Beach Oceanfront in Melbourne, Florida

Jennifer (Jen) Crist (33 and a chief informations technician for the U.S. Coast Guard) and Benji Rosen (33 and yeoman first class for the U.S. Coast Guard) met through a mutual friend and became engaged in 2013. Benji was visiting Jen in D.C. when they picked up dessert at Georgetown Cupcakes and went for a walk along a bridge. “I finally said, can we please try these out and once I started opening the bag, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him,” says Jen. Over the next year, the couple planned a beach-themed wedding. As Jen and Benji both grew up in Florida, they decided the Hilton Melbourne Beach Oceanfront in Melbourne would be the best spot to house their wedding. A bright spa blue and white color palette decorated the space to complement their theme. The tented wedding was decorated with two arrangements of white hydrangeas and white and pink roses on either side of their wedding arch. Small accents with pink roses, straw, starfish and white fabric lined the aisle. Jen’s 15-year-old cousin played the violin as each of the couple’s 80 guests took their seats in white folding chairs. After the couple said "I do," the celebration continued into the cocktail hour as each guest was served a a blue tropical cocktail or a Captain and Coke signature drink. Jen and Benji served a plated meal and three flavors cupcakes to complement their engagement. ?Jen, Benji and their guests enjoyed a night of dancing to DJ Shane. “The cherry on top was seeing my uncle do the moonwalk!” says Jen. Each guest left the reception with a custom matchbook wedding favor made by Jen and a sand dollar.