WITH FULL TRANSPARENCY TO MY AUDIENCE, I HAVE TO EDIT THIS POST TO LET YOU ALL KNOW THAT WE FILED FOR DIVORCE RIGHT AFTER OUR 3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY IN 2019. IT WAS AMICABLE BUT HEARTBREAKING. THERE’S NO NEED TO ERASE THESE MEMORIES. SO, PLEASE KNOW THAT WHEN I WROTE POSTS WITH MY MARRIAGE AT THE CENTER OF IT, I WHOLE-HEARTEDLY FELT EVERY WORD. YOU CAN READ MORE ABOUT THE END OF OUR LOVE STORY OVER ON THIS POST. AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT.
It’s engagement season and wedding season around here, but today is my two year anniversary with my sweet hubby, Marc-André! You all can see him sprinkled throughout my posts and social media. He’s honestly one of my favorite topics and he’s the perfect mix of everything I’m not. Today, I’m taking a walk down memory lane and sharing some of the sweetest details from our wedding day. I wasn’t blogging two years ago so I’ve never shared a ton of photos or details, but I just love weddings and everything that comes with them, so here it is!
Honestly, like most brides, I feel like our entire day was just one perfect detail after another, but I narrowed it down to just a handful to help inspire you or someone you know that’s planning a Florida fall wedding.
A Few of My Favorite Things From Our Florida Fall Wedding ♥️
– Our amazing photographers were Ashley & Greg with Brooke Images –
The Venue & Date
After searching and inquiring all over the country (literally everything from Hawaii to Napa to Martha’s Vineyard), we didn’t find what we were looking for in a venue. The missing piece? A heartfelt connection.
Growing up, my family took us to Amelia Island Plantation almost every summer. Just a couple hours from home, it holds some of the most special memories from my childhood. My parents even honeymooned here over 38 years ago. I wasn’t expecting to feel so many things when we toured Walker’s Landing. But after we did, my only question was, “what weekend is it available?”
We added this arbor to the end of the aisle to greet our guests into the ceremony space.
We chose Sunday, November 13th for our big day. I love lucky number 13 and we wanted a fall wedding, but our first 4 dates of choice (Saturdays) weren’t available. I’m a big fan of numbers and wanted the “perfect” date, but now I can’t imagine our anniversary being any other day! It’s one of those things that made me realize everything isn’t going to be exactly as you imagined, but it’s going to exactly as it was supposed to be. Shout out to our sweet wedding planner, Adair Currie, for spending her wedding anniversary at our wedding! Yep, we share an anniversary date. 😊
Three chandeliers hung from the tree adding a soft glow to the ceremony space.
Gothic-Glam Stationery
I had so much fun collaborating with Siuleth from Eleven Note with our stationery. Our invitation suite was truly one-of-a-kind and we came up with some really fun ideas. The black and white palette claimed its spot in our suite and was surrounded by gold, pops of vibrant colors from flowers, and then we secured it all with a custom black wax seal.
The vellum envelopes featured stamps that said a little something about us – some had a fox on it, many had Walt Disney on them, and others pulled in our Florida fall wedding venue with vintage pink stamps of “Old Florida”. We opted for black menu cards and each one had the guest’s name wrapped around the menu on more vellum paper. I wanted every guest to feel incredibly special and I think having these custom wraps around the menu did just that.
The Color Palette for a Florida Fall Wedding
Adair was like a fairy godmother throughout our entire process. She made all of my scattered visions come to life, starting with our color palette. I wanted to mix so many different sides of our personality and our color choices were the best way to go about it. The days of selecting just two colors for the wedding are gone and now it’s all about creating an entire palette of colors. Marc and I have always loved the classic look of black and white. Our home has a black and white kitchen, black and white furniture, etc. I truly feel like it will never go out of style so that was our “base”. We knew that would be a venue with a lot of organic elements, so mixing in greenery with pops of raspberry, plum, and fuchsia made it feel rich and moody. The gold accents added the extra glam.
Our reception venue had wood beams, wood floors, and windows overlooking the marshes. We brought in a black and white dance floor and it immediately transformed the room. Adair took the time to taper candlesticks in black tape giving that same black and white, but contemporary feel.
Our DJ was set up with amazing boxwood greenery all around him and the bar was green with gold-framed mirrors. We switched out the gold chivari chairs for black chivari chairs and the contrast against our white linens was stunning. Our centerpieces were the most vibrant and jaw-dropping highlights in the reception. They added that pop of color that suddenly made it feel magical.
The First Look
I recommend the first look to every single bride and groom. It was one of the best parts of our entire day. The jitters and nerves all disappeared when we were able to see each other. We chose not to kiss on the lips during our photos because we wanted to save that for the ceremony. We also took a shot of tequila in personalized shot glasses because that’s how we start off every big vacation in life. Why not continue the tradition as we started our biggest adventure yet?! 😉
The Incredible Flowers
Our flowers were everything! From my insanely gorgeous bouquet to the flower blooms overflowing from acrylic boxes, I personally think the flowers stole the show at our Florida fall wedding. The greenery, bold pinks, and warm ruby reds were such a pretty compliment to the black and white theme. Liz Stewart created luxurious garlands to wrap around the tree, seating chart, and arbor but didn’t forget the small details either. She supplied all of the votive candle holders, added dangling flowers to our photobooth, and scattered rose petals all the way down the aisle. To this day, I’m obsessed with the flowers in every single photo.
The Perfect Playlist with DJ Jacob
The music at any wedding is such an important part of the ceremony and reception, but you rarely know any of it unless you were there. We spent a lot of time deciding what to walk down the aisle to all the way to our last dance.
Our music choices:
Groom & Bridal Party Precessional – “All of Me” by John Legend played by a trio from The String Theory
Bride & Dad – “Canon in D” played by The String Theory (My sister also walked down the aisle to this song at her wedding.)
Processional music – “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles played by The String Theory
First Dance – “Tenerife Sea” by Ed Sheeran
Last Dance – “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran
Our DJ, Jacob Towe, and his wife, Courtney, kept the dance floor full and the good vibes flowing all night long. Doesn’t everybody want a dance floor this full on their wedding night?!
Our last dance was just the two of us on the dance floor while all of our guests lined up outside. We both sobbed happy tears and I would suggest every single bride and groom have a “last dance”.
A Private Sweetheart Table
I knew from the beginning that I wanted a bridal party table instead of a sweetheart table. But then Adair suggested a private sweetheart table just outside the reception. The idea of stealing a few moments to ourselves to soak it all in was wonderful. We didn’t spend a lot of time at the table, but I’m so happy it was there for us to be alone together. We also got to peek in at the reception and just watch all of our guests enjoy the night. It was a really special moment.
The Most Romantic Getaway Car
We wrapped up our wedding celebration with a Rolls Royce getaway car, “Sir Gilbert”. There was just something about having this dream car waiting for us at the end of our dream reception. Tommy took us for a little joy ride and gave us the red-carpet service, making us feel like royalty. If it’s in your budget, splurge on a fun getaway car (or horse carriage or limo or whatever!). You deserve it.
See more photos & special details from our wedding in these posts:
What Really Changed During the First Year of Marriage (+ our wedding video!)
5 Easy Ways to Add Your Personality to Your Wedding
Tell me some of your favorite details from your own wedding or ones you’ve been to!
