I had an intimate wedding (49 guests plus a MOH and a BM) in St. Augustine Florida on June 5th.....haven't posted in some time since we went on our honeymoon, then ran into trouble with the home we were buying and were delayed on closing for 1 week. We were homeless during that time, finally closed on Friday and am now writing to you from our new house!
Ceremony Venue: Amore Wedding Chapel located inside The Lightner Musuem. This chapel is run by The Wedding Authority--a husband and wife team. They also do wedding coordinating for weddings anywhere in the St. Augustine area. The husband, Bill, is an ordained minister and will work with you on however you would like your ceremony to be. The wife, Carla, coordinates everything for the ceremony so I didn't have to worry about anything at all. Everything went perfectly! These guys were extremely attentive and personalized everything just the way I wanted it. The location was absolutely stunning! The chapel only fits 50 guests, but for larger parties, they have a beautiful courtyard where most people get married.
Flowers: I went with Flowers by Shirley. After looking at several websites (I was planning my wedding from a few hours away), I wasn't too impressed with Flowers by Shirley, but after I called a couple places and then came into town to meet with florists in town, I realized that some were difficult to get a hold of or were ridiculously expensive. Flowers by Shirley was willing to work with my budget and give me something beautiful for the money I had. The flowers were perfect and probably my favorite thing about my wedding (besides actually marrying the man of my dreams!). I worked with Brad.....he is who I would recommend.
Reception Venue: I initially wanted the Colombia restaurant, but they were already booked for the exact date and time I needed. I was sooooo bummed
( But then, I got on the telephone and called several venues. I found The Tasting Room, a small tapas and wine restaurant. Not only was the food way cheaper than Colombia's, but they were willing to completely close down the little restuaraunt (fits up to 60 people inside and more on their beautiful patio) for our private party. Wow! I felt so special. The food was soooooo good! Michael Lugo (the co-owner) bent over backwards to create and recreate a menu that would appeal to both my Hispanic family and my new Southern in-laws. They provided white and red sangria and a small wine bar for our guests. I requested iced sweet tea (which they usually don't carry) and he provided this....basically, whatever I requested, he made it happen! Everyone raved about the steak, the encrusted pork, the calamari....the food was a hit! And....they did not charge a cake cutting fee AT ALL. Definitely would go there again to for dinner when I'm in town and I definitely recommend them.
Linens: The Tasting Room took care of this for me. They rented the linens for me in the color I requested and were able to get these for me at a cheaper rate than anywhere I contacted. They just added the rental cost to my bill.
Photographers: I went with Bludsworth Studios out of Jacksonville. They provided two photographers from start to finish (getting ready until the end of the reception). They were awesome to work with; hardly noticed them at all. They include an engagement session in their package, but my engagement was so short and we lived so far away that I declined the session. They also offered a day after session, but I had to leave town quickly to catch my honeymoon cruise, so I declined again
( I have only seen the sneak peak photos on their website and they look gorgeous! Can't wait to get the rest!! The photos were ready really quickly, but as I said earlier, I was homeless so didn't have a place to get mail
( Their prices are extremely reasonable and I would recommend them for sure
)
I did my own
hair and make-up...sorry, can't help there. On the day of, I was wishing I had someone else do it b/c I was nervous it wouldn't look good, even though I had practiced at home.....luckily it came out really nice....so now, I'm glad I didn't spend the money
)