Florida-North Florida — The Knot Community

Beach house wedding ban in Walton County?

Pennsyl — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 01:53:32 +0000

I heard -- I forget where -- that there was a motion to ban weddings that take place at private homes in Walton County. The proposed ban would essentially eliminate renting a beach house in order to have a small, private wedding on the beach.The only option for a beach wedding would be to pay thousands of $ to wedding companies with "exclusive" rights.

Does anyone have any recent info on whether the ban was passed?

Thanks in advance!

10pm?!?!

princsheather — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 19:42:20 +0000

I want a destination wedding, and sweetie wants a destination wedding.

The dream location is Hawaii, but being completely honest it isn't affordable. The only place I can kind that is close to Hawaii that we like are places in Northern Florida or the Keys.

We want a beach ceremony, but our undecided on how we want to have our reception (preferrably somewhat close to the beach).

Everywhere I have checked says the party has to end at 10pm! Is that true everywhere or am I just not looking at the right places!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Same color, same dress just a little bit different...

princessbridesgb — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 05:06:56 +0000

Okay girls I need your help. My cousin who is in my bridal party just told me today that she has a long purple dress that she wore to a Wedding. She said it was a Vera Wang. Now we know that is going to cost a lot so I figured, since I am having so much trouble finding a bridesmaid dress that I really want to use, what if I had the girls wear a long halter dress in dark purple just like my cousins but if the others a wee bit different. I took a picture of my cousin in the dress and put it in paint and pasted a couple of the similar dresses next to her (same dress a few times) and it looks okay to me. I'm trying to picture it.

destin wedding help

dietzcm — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 19:00:07 +0000

Hey ladies,

I was wondering if you guys have any recommendations on beach houses to get married at/rent for the week. I really dont want a "reception" more just a party for my family with bbq food catered and just hanging out. Thanks!

KGMT! You Should Read Me!

rmc353stl — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 17:23:44 +0000

I replied back to your post, we are pretty much doing the exact same thing! My fiance and I are going to do Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort NEXT June, with a ceremony on the beach and the reception at Finz! I'm super excited to find someone doing what we are doing. Are you working with Erin Story from the resort? Did you hire a wedding coordinator? Is your wedding taking place over the weekend? We're doing the military wedding package and think we're going to go down on Fri to hang with the wedding party and guests, do the rehearal on Sat and the ceremony on Sun, then hubby and I will jet off to our honeymoon on Mon, and the guests will more than likely head back too. I can't wait to hear how your event goes and see pics!!!

NWR - Apartment Help? (Pensacola)

peekaboo2011 — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 03:40:10 +0000

Hey Ladies,

I am going to be moving to Pensacola to start my Masters this fall. I'm having some trouble looking for an apartment, as apartmentratings.com is giving me a lot of negative reviews. Do any of you have suggestions? I need something relatively close to UWF.

Thanks in advance!

intimate weddings..

Kimberlylicious — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:14:39 +0000

Hi Ladies..

I was interested in a intimate wedding package in St. Augustine .. I don't want to have to worry about details. Anyone know of any good places? We live in VA so I'm doing this all online..

Thanks!!
Kimberly....

Videographer in Panama City Beach, FL area?????

erinleekeefe — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 15:55:38 +0000

Hi
I am getting married in Panama City Beach, FL and am looking for a "reasonably" priced Videographer....anyone have any suggestions for me? They all seem so expensive and just want to capture the moments of the day and do not need anything over the top. This is a destination wedding so any help would be Greatly appreciated!
Thank You

Cigar roller

dat1313 — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 08:30:22 +0000

I live in North Florida ( Tallahassee) and I am looking to hire a cigar roller as a surprise for my fiance at the wedding. I can't find anyone close enough for that provides this service. Any help would be appreiciated.

Married?

princessbridesgb — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 04:33:37 +0000

If you have a married bio can you please post the link so we brides to be can check out your vendor reviews and what not?

Thank you

"New" venue site - Beach Plaza Ballroom

happe2gether — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 21:45:44 +0000

Hi Ladies!

Has anyone heard of or received any emails from Beach Plaza Ballroom? It's supposed to be a new reception site in Jacksonville Beach but I don't know much about it. From what I could find out it is the old Pisco's Restaurant - which I don't know about either. Any info anyone?

Thank you,
Lela

FINALLY going to check my DJ out tomorrow...

princessbridesgb — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:02:30 +0000

I wrote my DJ a not so nice email last Monday. Gave him the week to respond and heard nothing. Monday I gave him a call and we were playing phone tag until Wednesday. I finally spoke with him and he invited me to come tomorrow to see him at a Wedding right by my house. He totally tried to bypass when I asked him what happened with the last bride he was supposed to talk to for me and I never heard back. But, wish us luck tomorrow. We both feel really weird going to someone elses Wedding but we will be standing in the back as much as possible.

Engagement pictures!

LouWho19 — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:56:34 +0000

We had our engagement photo session yesterday in the Atlantic/Neptune Beach Town Center area (near Jacksonville). Tonya from Tonya Beaver Photography is our photographer. She's awesome! We were nervous at first but she made us feel very comfortable.

AND she's already editing the pictures, send us an online gallery and posted some on Facebook! Check them out: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=641725&id=149562435496&fbid=10150449629135497

Reception in Panama City Beach

gagirlinpc — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 20:16:52 +0000

My fiance and I are getting married on the beach. My family (like 5-6 people) will be attending. This is meant to be intimate, not in any way grand. We told his family that they were more than welcome to come if they wanted to. Long story short approx 15 people from his side are now coming. We do not have it in our budget to pay for a formal reception. We have however found a place on the beach which is a nice restaurant who will allow us private space and bring a cake in. They have a live band and it seems great. The problem is.. it will pretty much be a buy your own dinner type reception. 1. Is this HORRIBLE? I think it is really tacky, however, we never told anyone that we were having a real "wedding". 2. If we go with this, how in the world would I address the invitations (I feel like I now have to send them out) 3. What alternatives, if any, can anyone suggest? Thanks!

Officiant : Sorry to post something AGAIN..

princessbridesgb — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 22:50:02 +0000

I think someone already asked about an Officiant .. please give recomendations. The girl where I am getting married recomended someone but, I'm using the DJ she recommended and you know what trouble I am having with him already ... (lol)

String Quartet-- St. Augustine area

rhend88 — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 16:06:40 +0000

Does anyone know of a good, in expensive sting quartet in the St. Augustine area? My fiance really wants one for the ceremony. Also how much would this usually run.. for like an hour tops? Any thoughts would be appreciated! Thanks!

Need wedding venue-help!

cbshalty — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 20:47:10 +0000

Brides and brides-to-be, I need your help! I'm looking for a venue to host both the ceremony and the reception but I'm on a pretty tight budget. However, the difficult aspect is that I need for the venue to allow outside catering. If anyone has any ideas or knows of any place like this that's not outrageously expensive please let me know your ideas! Thanks so much!

Panhandle Bridal Shows

ThyNguyen529 — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 20:46:07 +0000

Does anyone know of any bridal shows or Trunk shows that are happening in the Panhandle area (Mobile, Panama City, Pensacola, Tallahassee, etc)

Thanks

Recommendations for Destin Hair and Make Up?

cbaber — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:00:16 +0000

Does anybody have any suggestions? These are the 2 things I havent booked yet and am most stressed over!
Thanks in advance.

Still running into difficulties when picking out Bridesmaid dresses

princessbridesgb — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 22:36:47 +0000

Ugh. Is/Did anyone run or running into trouble when picking them out? There are so many to choose from. I was going to do long dresses but I think I am going to do shorter ones and MOH to wear a different one. (She and my mom convinced me and I saw a few pictures from other Weddings like that) Should I pick a few and send them to my girls and say what do you like and have them order what they want (As long as its the color I want?)

Eagle Landing BRIDE/GROOM getting married this weekend...

princessbridesgb — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 21:12:47 +0000

Not really sure if you are on The Knot or if you will even see this but if you are the bride/groom getting married at Eagle Landing in Orange Park this weekend can you please message me or write me on this post please?

Help!

CherylK00 — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 17:47:50 +0000

Getting married June 4 in Orange Park :)... I still haven't found a florist or bakery for the cake..Any suggestions?? I am also looking for maybe a wedding coordinator. Just someone to put my reception decor together..Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

Alterations in St. Augustine

rhend88 — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 01:38:27 +0000

I am MOH at my sister's wedding and my dress is like two sizes too big, being that its A-line I think its still fixable, anyone know reliable but inexpensive alterations in St. Augustine area?

Only 9 weeks!

LouWho19 — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 16:17:10 +0000

We're just 9 weeks from walking down the aisle :) We have boxes of DIY projects and wedding gifts taking up our study, we're going shopping for engagement picture outfits today, taking the pictures on Monday and we picked up my wedding band yesterday. Soooo exciting :)

What's everyone else up to in terms of planning??

Spray Tanning

liland01 — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 19:00:38 +0000

Has any one had a spray tan done before?? I dont want to be so pale for my wedding but i dont really have the time for the tanning bed anymore and getting to the beach is a little difficult since my weekends are full finishing the last of our wedding plans. If so can you tell me a good place to go? and the pro's and con's of getting it done? Thank you

Jax Vendor Reviews

juicy318 — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:35:23 +0000

Casa Marina- A+- Loved every minute of working with Bev. She found the colored napkins that I want, a week before the wedding, she kept everything running smoothly, and was just a dream to work with. Sterling ran the dining room, and brought us a tray of our hor d'oeuvres once we sat down (and man were they good.) Everything was delicious, even things I didn't know they handled they handled, and I can't say enough good things.

Elite Hair Salon (Jacksonville Beach)- A It's an A, because when I walked out I wasn't really feeling my hair, because the back wasn't close to the picture I brought (although the front was dead on), but I didn't want to take any more time on it . BUT my bridal party and the moms looked GORGEOUS. Like, WOW. When I saw the pictures of my hair, I realised that it was absolutely perfect with my dress, and my hair looked better than the picture.

I also got my makeup done here, and it was exactly what I asked for, looked perfect, and stayed the whole night long. The whole time I was planning on doing it myself, but last minute I decided just to have it done while everyone else was getting their hair done. A+ Awesomeness.

Blossoms and Accents- B Most of my flowers looked stunning, they price was awesome, and they give a military discount. The only major problem was, I didn't like my bouquet. More specifically, I asked for a JUST irises bouquet. And that part looked perfect. But there were some wilted stems of something added (crocuses?) that looked awful by the time I saw them. You can't they are there in the pictures, but how sad that I didn't like my bouquet. But, Rachel was great, everything else was really nice, and I would recommend her, but just be VERY firm with what you want.

Engagment Photographers- Wedding and Portrait Photographers of Jacksonville- C Tammy is sweet. The session was "free." (Read: The disc for our pictures was stupid expensive. We could have had a session with Ginger and Jon for $100 less, had the session we wanted, and gotten more out of it. Damn.) We did our session in St. Augustine, and they just sort of know their way around, and know what pictures to take where. It was not personalized at all. It was a far cry from what I had wanted. The only good thing was that we did get some beautiful pictures. Not enough for the price. They give these out like candy, so be warned. Don't do it, unless you want them for your wedding. They'd probably be more flexible in that case.

Ceremony Photographers- Ginger Dupre Photography- A I found their website through another vendor's blog, and I am so happy we went with them. Ginger and Jon are awesome. They were like little wedding ninjas, and I was very comfortable with them. There was a minor hiccup when we weren't sure what was going on, so we didn't get as many photos of the girls and I, but ultimately it was so much fun working with them, and though I haven't seen the pictures yet I saw what they were taking pictures of, and know they'll be great. (For less than a quarter of the price, of the wedding and portrait photographers for 6 hours worth.) Love love love, and can't wait to see the results.

AriaDress (online)- Bridesmaid dresses- A The girls looked beautiful, and the prices were not that much more than David's bridal for dresses made of a lovely stretch cotton that they *cough* dare I say may actually wear again. Maybe.

Unique DJ Entertainment- B- I thought at first the company was sort of sketchy because they are only reviewed on weddingwire, and they only talk about weddingwire. Hmm. But my fi was all about him, so we booked him anyways. During the planning process, DJ Willie was good work with. But it wasn't Willie that came, and I am convinced that if it had been him, the score would be an A+. A family emergency happened to him, so they sent a replacement. So. 1) My song to walk down the aisle was wrong. It was the right song, wrong era (Day by Day by Frank Sinatra.) As it turns out, it was the wrong version, they played the upbeat jazz version that I didn't know existed, and not the slow and beautiful version that I had meant. So. I wished that they maybe would have confirmed the song list with me some time before the ceremony, but hindsight is 20/20. Because of the upbeat jazz, my dad kind of rushed me down the aisle... and we stood at the alter for 2 minutes waiting for the song cut off. 2) The first dance was cut really short. And went right in to the father daugther dance. Granted, And they didn't stop it. They just let it happen later on. I did not approve. 3) I didn't have a problem with anything else, but my grandmother did not approve of the MC's way of phrasing things. And my gram doesn't offend easily. So. There you go. Like I said, I really liked Willie, the owner, but if an emergency comes up, put in the contract that you MUST meet with the replacements before the big day.

Pineapple Post- A+ (Invitations) We went here because it is owned by an alumni from my VA university, and I'm so glad we went here. The selection is massive, and in a range of prices (ours were $150 for 100). The service was out of this world, I've never had more fun going through books and books of paper (and even the fi liked them.) The invitations came in waay early, were perfect, and it was a ton of fun in the process.

Craig Grandstaff, Reverend Clergy Services- B+ It was kind of pricey, but we went for the platinum package because it was the only one that gave us creative license. And boy did I take it. He requests that you only copy and paste from his variety of ceremonies, and I learned why the day of. I had changed the order of the ceremony from the usual readings order, to accomodate for my brother reading the Mawwage passage from the Princess Bride, and my FIL (who doesn't liked to be upstaged) reading a serious passage later on. Rev. was reading from his book, forgot my brother's reading, and put the readings back-to-back, which of course FIL had to upstage... le sigh. It was a minor hiccup on the rev's part, but majorily cringe worthy on my end. I had written it like I did for a reason. Also I'm pretty sure he said he would mail the marriage certificate so we wouldn't have to worry about it. He didn't. And that has caused us mass chaos ever since.

Classic Cakes- A++ I had to end on a good note. And man oh man was this cake a good note. Carol and I sat down, and I ended up saying, "I just want the sleeping beauty cake." No one knows what that looks like, so I described it to her, she drew it up, and it looked gorgeous. And then came the day of. I had missed a few details, but she had sat down and watched the movie, and caught them. It was breathtaking. Loved it. And the taste! We went with Reeses, and white with lemon. We got more compliments on the cake than anything. My mother told me she would have paid twice as much for that cake. 11 days later (yesterday) we were still eating the cake Casa Marina saved us. and it was still DELICIOUS. Yeah.

(Excuse a little rant here... ) As you may have surmised from the reviews... our wedding had a plethora of problems, and I didn't even mention my MIL walking in on our first look and trying to steal that scene. (How romantic?) Or that our pictures will take a while getting back to us, because they'll have to photoshop his aunt out of all our ceremony pictures, because she decided she our photographers weren't doing a good enough job and decided to take matters into her own hands. (My best friend is a wedding photographer as well, if we had wanted backup we would have used him. We told that woman to sit down twice. Interrupting the unity candle ceremony. Twice.)

But at the end of the day, it's all behind us now. We keep getting compliments about how it was the most fun and beautiful wedding anyone has been to, and honestly? Hubby and I are married. Irregardless of everything that went awry that day, and since, we're finally living in a happily ever after. So when whatever goes wrong at your wedding, just keep telling yourself, "I'm marrying the man that I love," and it'll be okay.

OH! And if anyone is doing an outside unity candle ceremony, spencer's has the relighting birthday candles to stick in the candles (it works!). If you need DIY help, let me know.

Hair stylist in Gainesville area?

jagore08 — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 13:25:44 +0000

Does anyone know of a good stylist in the G-ville area?

Had to share some excitment

kgroh85 — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 02:22:18 +0000

My FH and I put together a mock up of our wedding invitiation last night. I put it up on the fridge and I CANNOT stop looking at it! Something about seeing our names on that paper just makes it feel so real! I'm really getting married!!! It seems silly, but I don't get to see the results of all my hard work until the day of the wedding, so having this invite gives me a tangible result. Plus, I totally LOVE our design and am so proud of the work that my hubby-to-be put into it :)

Hope everyone had a good day, the weather is finally nice up here so that put me in a good mood too!

Winterbourne - St. Johns Golf & Country Club - other venues? (long)

RaquelS — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 15:17:03 +0000

Hi ladies,

I am newly engaged, and planning my wedding for April 14, 2012, to be somewhere in North or Central Florida (posted this in Central FL, board as well). At the moment I have 4 scheduled appointments for venues to check out their properties:

1. Dubsdread in Orlando
2. Lakeside Inn in Mt. Dora
3. St. Johns Golf & Country Club in St. Augustine
4. Winterbourne in St. Augustine.

I will have approximately 100 guest, with a small budget of $10k, which does not include my wedding dress, rings, tux, or accessories. I would like to know if anyone has any experience with the above mentioned venues, and if anyone has any suggestions of other venues in the area that are budget friendly, but still very nice.

Thanks so much!

Day-of Coordinators in Jax?

samunnel — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 19:01:34 +0000

I am a budget bride looking for a day-of wedding coordinator for my wedding next year. I just need someone to make sure things run smoothly so my family and I don't have to stress about vendors and such. Any reasonably priced coordinators to recommend?