Sarah Rinker knew long before he dropped to one knee at the gates to the Magic Kingdom that she had found her prince.

“I saw him with my daughter, Isabella,” she says. “Most guys I dated ran the other way at the thought of being a dad, but he really took to her and she took to him–they would laugh all the time together. She probably took to him before I did!”

Sarah and Phill first met through mutual friends in 2002 and reconnected through Facebook, which prompted them to begin dating. Phill proposed 18 months later on February 28, 2010. “We had talked about marriage, but I wasn’t expecting an engagement for another eight or nine months until we were more financially ready,” says Sarah. “That day was already magical and special as it was, starting with the drive down to Orlando because it was Isabella’s, who’s 6, first time to Disney World.”

The couple’s fairy tale continued with a November wedding outside the majestic Grande Dunes Ocean Club, a sort of castle in itself rising along the north end of Myrtle Beach. An intimate group of 90, including family from Phill and Sarah’s native Pennsylvania, gathered on the veranda amidst the long shadows of late afternoon to witness bride and groom reciting their touching vows–very personal letters they each wrote to one another expressing how he/she felt when they first met, what they have learned from each other and what they each hoped for their future.

“My pastor had suggested we write the letters after we told him we wanted to add something different to the ceremony,” says Sarah. “Phill had told me up front that he couldn’t write and I could tell he was really nervous, so I didn’t think I had anything to worry about, but his letter blew mine out of the water. I hadn’t expected that!”

Proving that his true love wasn’t make-believe, Phill had poured out his heart to Sarah, telling her how lucky he was not only to have her as his wife, but to have Isabella as well.

The wedding was a color palette of pastels. “We wanted to give our out-of-town guests the beach, but not the sand in November,” says Sarah.

She walked down the aisle in a soft, simple ivory gown, given some va-voom with its elegant, dramatic back. Sarah’s bridesmaids wore seafoam tea-length dresses by J Crew and pearls, which complemented the groomsmen’s khaki suits. Bouquets were bursting with white hydrangeas, buttercream roses and lilies.

Inside, surrounded by the Ocean Club’s luxe appointments, the reception was both posh and personal–from Phill’s musical medley of John Mayer, Jack Johnson and David Gray during cocktail hour to filet tips with gorgonzola cheese served with dinner to a slide show Sarah’s dad put together that didn’t leave a dry eye in the room. “After going through a series of bad relationships and then seeing that slide show, it captured just how much Phill and I needed each other,” says Sarah. “Then my dad and I had our dance, and Phill and Bella had a father-daughter dance. … But then it was time to celebrate!”

And celebrate they did–dancing to everything from Sinatra to Usher spun by their hired DJ. “I tried to soak in the whole day and make a point to actually enjoy each moment,” says Sarah. “I loved Phill’s dance with Bella and there was a special moment by the fireplace when Phill gave me a cross necklace, which really showed me he got me in wanting to put God first throughout our relationship.”

Sarah advises other Grand Strand brides to do the same–to take in every moment of your special day, “because it all does fall into place,” she says. “It’s really about the two of you and rest of your lives.”

Sarah, a manager at Polo Ralph Lauren at Tanger Outlets, and Phill, a site manager at Under Armour at Tanger Outlets, live in Myrtle Beach.