Despite living in Florida, Jen and Will knew from the beginning of their wedding planning that they were not interested in having a beach wedding, and focused on “glam, not sand” as a fun motto while deciding the details of their St. Pete wedding day. Well, what they created was a glamorous, black tie optional (party pants mandatory) celebration with their favorite people.
With powerful punches of hot pink, they chose a color palette that was not only attention grabbing, but was sure to wow. Jen’s bridesmaids wore raspberry gowns with a jeweled belt, while Will’s groomsmen wore traditional black tuxes with trendy Brackish bowties.
We absolutely love the stunning colors and immense joy that Andi Diamond Photography captured throughout this couple’s colorful wedding day, and we are thrilled to share their side of the details from the day!
Tell us a little a bit about your wedding.
Even though we live in Florida, we knew I didn’t want a beach-themed wedding. We told our coordinator at the Vinoy “we want Glam, not Sand” and that seemed to stick! Our venue already had a lot of character and fun colors to work with both in the Garden Tea Room, which is where our ceremony was held, and in the Grand Ballroom which features a fabulous Chihuly chandelier in the center. We loved the idea of our guests being in one place for the entire day and not having to travel from location to location. The Vinoy in St Pete not only offered a beautiful venue for our wedding, but great guests rooms, and a convenient location with lots of shops and restaurants in walking distance. We really just wanted to throw a party for our friends and family – that we happened to be getting married at.
What was the most important to the two of you while planning? Was there anything that you chose to splurge on or skip?
The most important part of planning for us, was to actually enjoy being engaged and enjoy the process! We had a longer engagement (~18 months) that let us really enjoy being engaged and plan little by little. There were some months we didn’t do anything and other months we would just focus on checking one item off at a time. Fortunately, we agreed on everything that was important to us versus the items we could live without. We chose to splurge on our honeymoon – a two week trip to the French Riviera, Milan, Lake Como, Vienna and Prague!
What were your favorite parts of the day?
It is impossible to pick one moment in such an incredible day! One of the best decisions we made was to do our “first look” prior to our ceremony so that we could get a lot of our photos out of the way and enjoy our cocktail hour. Having been together for over 7 years before walking down the aisle, it wasn’t as important for us to “wait” to see one another. There was still plenty of anticipation of seeing one another and it made us less nervous for the ceremony and truly believe we were able to enjoy it more. We were also able to sneak a few photos with our fur-baby Maverick which we wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise! Another favorite memory is our first dance. We secretly took a handful of dancing lessons and had a routine prepared for our first dance! I’m not sure if our guests were more surprised that we had learned how to dance, or that we chose such an nontraditional song: Bob Marley’s “Is This Love”.
What did you do for favors?
We chose to have two different favors so our guests could chose: Jen’s favorite: ferrero rocher chocolates and Will’s favorite: woodford reserve bourbon balls and to represent Kentucky. We also had “doggy favors” in honor of our dog Maverick – we wanted our guests who left their dogs at home for the evening to have something to bring back to them as well!
What (or who) helped you most in your planning process and/or on your wedding day?
Alexandra Landry, our event coordinator at The Vinoy was a ton of help in making the big day run smoothly. As we are both type-A personalities, it was helpful to have someone on top of everything and stay calm admits the chaos! Our photographer Andi Diamond also helped by giving a lot of vendor recommendations and introductions (which we ended up using for our big day)! Aside from that, our families were a tremendous help throughout the entire process and we are so thankful for them.
Do you have any advice for couples planning their weddings now?
Start with your venue and work your way through one vendor at a time. Also, once you find your first vendor ask for their opinions or suggestions of other vendors they’ve worked with and have good reputations. The wedding circuit is a relatively small community and its a quick way to shorten the search process! To the Brides: something will inevitably go wrong. You can’t prepare for it and you can’t control it. Just know that none of your guests will even be aware of it and so to not let it distract you from the most important day with your new husband!
Such a fun-filled day of celebration! One of our favorite details were in the favors–his and her favorites, and a special puppy treat in honor of their fur friend.
Are you looking to do anything unique for your favors?
VENDORS WHO MADE IT ALL HAPPEN…
Photography: Andi Diamond Photography // Venue + Wedding Cake: The Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort & Golf Club // Floral: Belle Fleur Studios // Rentals + Linens: Kate Ryan Linens // Hair + Makeup: Michele Renee The Studio // Photo Booth: Be Glam Photo Booth // DJ: Grant Hemond & Associates // Officiant: DeArruda Weddings // Wedding Dress: CC’s Boutique // Desserts: Mini Doughnut Factory // Invitations: Minted // Decor Items: Etsy // Wedding Dress: Eve of Milady // Bride’s Shoes: Badgley Mischka // Bridesmaid Dresses: Belsoie | Earrings + Bracelet: Swarovski // Groom’s Bow Tie: Brackish // Groomsmen Attire: Men’s Wearhouse // Groom’s Attire: Brooks Brothers // Engagement Ring: LaurenB // Favors: Ferrero Rocher // Watch: Omega Watches + Rolex
Lauren
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