Pink + Orange=Paradise

Last month I had the opportunity to attend the wedding of a close girlfriend in beautiful San Diego, CA. And while I've blogged about it at work (how fun is my job!), I didn't want to overwhelm our readers with a lot of pictures - even if they are pretty cool if I do say so myself!

So since I've already told the story, I'm just going to post a series of pictures from the impossibly magical wedding of Mrs. Ann Nixon Merrill. (BTW, Ann is a seriously gifted interior designer, so if you're in the market or just want to look at some amazing designs, check out Nixon Interiors.)

So our three-day stay in paradise began with our introduction to the "beach house". Loaned to Ann's family for the weekend, it's backyard was literally the Pacific Ocean. The girls (left to right: me, Sarah, Jeana, Ann, and Jocelyn) really want to go back to that reality!

Yep, those are the stairs from the house leading down to the actual OCEAN! Here Jeana and Jocelyn are flexing their muscles as they get ready to catch some waves. Both girls actually stood up for a bit! (I attempted to surf, but never really got the hang of it. But, "A" for effort!)

After a long morning of surfing (probably 45 minutes tops!), we decided to do something that required zero athletic ability or stamina - laying out!

After soaking up the sun, we all "got pretty" and posed for this picture before the sun went down.

And what a gorgeous sunset it was!

And then the real fun began! This is the "establishment" where we held Ann's "Girls Go Wild" Bachelorette party. We went to Wal-Mart that morning and bought glow-in-the-dark butterfly tiaras, heart-shaped sunglasses and plenty of Mardi Gras beads!

From the moment we arrived, Ann had quite the fan club of adoring men. (I actually spent awhile talking to the guy on the right. Nice guy, but my heart sank a little when he told me he was 22. What's ten years? Let's see... When I was getting my driver's license, he was six!)

One guy was so taken with Ann, he even took off his shirt! ( I swear we didn't even have to pay him to do this! I just really hope Ann's new husband doesn't see this! Oops! Too late!)

And while we were at Wal-Mart, we just happened to pick Ann up some essentials for her honeymoon! You're welcome, Ann!

Aren't we dang cute in our butterfly tiaras! We raised our glasses for a final toast and then hopped in our carriages before the clock struck twelve. The next day was the "big" day!

And here's the gorgeous LDS temple in San Diego where Ann became Mrs. Merrill!

Fresh from their "I Do's"! (BTW, Ann's mother made her gorgeous wedding dress!)

Here the girls and I pose for a picture on the temple grounds. If you're wondering how the pink and orange fit in, those were Ann's wedding colors. Very appropriate for a summer wedding!

And then came the wedding cake... I consider myself a pretty adventurous person, but when Ann's mother asked us 15 minutes before the reception started if we would decorate "the cake", I seriously thought the woman had lost her mind. But, luckily the cake decorating gods were with us that evening and our masterpiece was unveiled to many "oohs" and "aahs"!

Jeana and I were so impressed with our mad cake decorating skills, we considered posing for autographs, but didn't want to steal the spotlight from our dear bride.

And this beautiful destination wedding was capped off with a beautiful dance between husband and wife. Ann, thanks so much for including me in your magical wedding! I think we've found our next location for Girls Retreat 2009!

Love you!
PK