Saturday our event happened and it perfect!
My In laws live near charlotte harbor so we suggested that people stay at the Wyvern hotel. Stunning hotel we stayed there Friday night. Once they found out why we where there they upgraded us to a even nicer room. A+
Friday night dinner for everyone was at Sharky's on the Pier in Venice Beach, FL. This night was amazing, the drinks were great, and the food was good. One thing to note was that they don't take reservations before mothers day. The front desk was really unhelpful after I had called and discussed this with them. BUT they have self serve tables on the right beach side. My in laws had gotten there early and camped out at one of those tables so we just grabbed more tables as everyone got their. Since all of the people but them where out of towners my dinner the night before included everyone but two people. But we ended up having a great time and seeing the sunset. A- (only because of the front desk)
I did my own hair and make up at the hotel. My SIL came from her room to help me straiten the back of my hair. I had gotten a bunch of cystral hair twists for my hair. I also had found great bridal sandals
shoes I got from DSW but they were great. My dress was Jcrew Sophia. I love my dress full length silk ivory gown. Jcrew sells them for $250 and you can return them. They also have other styles. You can also find them on ebay often. So many people talked to me about my dress. I really wanted a simple elegant silk dress that flowed since we were on the beach A+
Our event was at lovers Key state park. They have a gazebo right on the beach that is perfect for events. It is 40 feet SQ. We had our ceremony on the beach and the reception in the gazebo. Even though they are a stunning state park they have a firm that runs all the services. I was able to get tables, linens, chairs, even ice directly from them. Everything was all set up when I got there by them. They even had the owner drive me from my car to the gazebo in his golf cart so I didn't have to walk. Everyone all day keep telling me how amazing it was. The weather was also perfect. At the end of our reception we walked the beach which was fun. All the people on the beach kept saying congrats. Info on lovers key weddings
here A+
Flowers COSTCO. I also reviewed this in Budget weddings but they were so great. for 350 I got a 20 piece rose collection. They even swapped out the maids for centerpieces for me. They can't switch too much since they have a special designed box that allows them to send the flowers already done strait from the growers in Columbia. I think they worked amazing. All of my guests commented on how great they were. A+
I loved mine so much that I am having them preserved by a place that does that.
Photographer I lucked out and found atruely amazing photographer on craigslist of all places. It is happily ever after portraits. The photographer is E.B. and her second is Tag her FI. They are a great team. EXTREMELY affordable but also an amazing person with a ton of talent. She already has my sneak peak up. AND I love them ! You can see them
here and also see her website if you are still looking. A++
Cake not a fl place. I am vegan but most of my guests were not so I needed an amazing cake. I had sticky fingers bakery in DC make my cake. They just won cupcake wars last month. A friend of mine flew with the cake to FL on a flight. Turned out perfect. And yes you can fly a cake :-). Now it probably only works for a small event like mine since we made sure that it would fit in an overhead. I had her make the top tier in yellow cake with a raspberry crème fondant and the bottom in chocolate with hazelnut crème. I also had some piping and swirls on it.
If you visit DC sticky fingers is great if you are vegan or if not. See
here A+
Caterer. So great. I found them on craigslist late in the game. I had planned on picking up food in Tampa from whole foods but once I found the caterer I canceled. Finding someone who can cook for some very traditional relatives (including our dads) all the way to vegan for me and a guest. Sophisticated caterer did the job. Toby is trained at Johnson and wails and Joy is trained at Culinary Institute of America. They are a team and they are lovely. The food was great and everyone loved it. They also went out of the way to be super helpful. They went above and beyond on all fronts. 239.288.38.41 -toby.
toby2012@comcast.net
A+
Honestly all was perfect. I could not have asked for more.
The first pic is from our sneak peak the rest is from hubby camera. Including the one of me walking down the
(he wanted a pic of me)
