Enchanted Garden Wedding – St. Petersburg, FL

I got married about 9 months ago, and I could still talk about weddings all day. After spending so much time planning my own wedding, I realized that I really enjoyed it and would possibly love to get into that industry one day. So, I will be dedicating one post on Wednesdays to weddings, whether it’s advice, inspiration, or just random wedding talk. This will be my “Wedding Wednesdays”, very original, I know.

To kick of Wedding Wednesdays here at Simply Otte, I will start with my own wedding and a little about our special day…

My husband, Joseph, and I got married on October 11, 2014 in St. Petersburg, Florida. The weather was a little on the warm side for October, at least the guys thought so in their tuxes. I knew I wanted it to be outdoors, so when deciding on dates, we knew it had to be in April or October, the two best months in Florida for outdoor weddings. These two months have the lowest amount of rain with the best temperatures. This is Florida though, so it can be hot or rainy almost any day of the year. The odds are in your favor for April and October though. We got engaged in March of 2013, so by the time we decided to start planning (around July) we thought April might be too soon. So, October it was. We had a whimsical garden theme, and our colors were mint and light pink. I planned the entire wedding without a designated planner, though I had some assistance from the on-site coordinator provided by our venue. Even though I didn’t need a wedding planner throughout the planning process, I would definitely recommend a day-of coordinator. Our coordinator from the venue was very helpful, but I wasn’t able to actually do any wedding setup on our big day because I was busy getting ready, so a separate coordinator would have prevented a few very minor mishaps from happening… like misplacing/forgetting about the ring bearer pillow, or having two cake toppers (haha). Here are some pictures from our wedding day, and if you’re interested, our wedding video can be found at https://vimeo.com/110503949.

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We had a custom aisle runner made since the Tea Garden aisle was just a brick pathway. Pink, white and peach rose petals and mini lanterns lined the aisle.

I wore mint Converse, they fit the theme and my style, and were incredibly comfortable being on my feet all day. We couldn’t find mint and light pink socks, so Joe went with a pair of dark pink socks from Express.

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Cocktail hour included a puzzle and an Adirondack chair for guests to sign and give their well wishes. Along with the cocktails and hors d’oeuvres to keep guests entertained, we also had a word search that I made and had hidden words that were relevant to our relationship.

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Our wedding cake was made by The Vinoy, and the groom’s cake was made by Elise at Elise’s Pieces, who also made my bridal tea party cake. Both were absolutely delicious!

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Instead of a wedding favor that only our parents would want to keep, we decided on a sweet’s bar with mint to-go boxes for guests to load up and take home. Elise also made the cookies, cupcakes and cake pops that were on our sweets table.

Our entire wedding party (plus an usher, Joe’s nephew). I was getting so tired of smiling for so long that my cheeks were hurting, so I suggested we do a “serious picture” and I love how it came out. It reminds me of a pretty version of the Adam’s family.

Another favor for the guests were mint and gold koozies from Totally Koozies online. We almost weren’t able to get them due to the shipping time (they usually have a rush delivery option, but for some reason it wasn’t available when I went to order) but I checked again a few days later and the rush delivery was available again. The quality was great and they were pretty inexpensive.

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We ended our night with a grand sparkler exit leading to our horse and carriage. We ordered the 20 inch sparklers from www.sparklersonline.com and they worked great. The matches were purchased from www.foryourparty.com, they had more design options than other personalized wedding sites like The Knot. I would recommend checking them out if you’re in the market for any personalized party items.

One last kiss before taking off in our horse and carriage from St. Petersburg Carriages. They were on time, the driver was friendly and patient, and the horse was super sweet. Highly recommended!

I’m more than happy to answer any wedding questions you may have in the comments below, or using the Ask Kirsten section at the top of the page.

Vendor credits, all of which I would recommend:

Venue: The Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort and Golf Club

Photography: Carrie Wildes Photography

Videography: Rad Red Creative

Ceremony and Reception Music: Breezin Entertainment & Productions

Florist: Nettie at Carrollwood Florist

Dress: CC’s Boutique

Tuxes: Black by Vera Wang at Men’s Wearhouse

Groom’s cake and sweets table: Elise’s Pieces

Transportation: St. Petersburg Carriages

Hair: Toni & Guy Salon

Makeup: Makeup by Christy