Mandi and Mike
“Some inspiring themes were modern elegant garden, timeless formal, and opulent elegance. I found a lot of design ideas on Pinterest based on the color palette and the feel I wanted. I love the beach, but I wanted a more formal spring vibe that still felt fun, not a typical beach-themed wedding. Our colors were white, creams, greens, and golds. I wanted a very timeless and sophisticated spring wedding, something I would look back on years from now and still love. The bridesmaids wore long eucalyptus-colored dresses, and the groomsmen wore black tuxedos.” -The Bride
FEATURING
Mandi and Mike’s classic St. Petersburg wedding embodied timeless sophistication, with a refined garden-inspired design, sweeping waterfront views, and a weekend full of meaningful celebration, all set against a backdrop of white and cream florals, lush greenery, and subtle gold accents.
“Some inspiring themes were modern elegant garden, timeless formal, and opulent elegance. I found a lot of design ideas on Pinterest based on the color palette and the feel I wanted. I love the beach, but I wanted a more formal spring vibe that still felt fun, not a typical beach-themed wedding,” the bride explained. “Our colors were white, creams, greens, and golds. I wanted a very timeless and sophisticated spring wedding, something I would look back on years from now and still love. The bridesmaids wore long eucalyptus-colored dresses, and the groomsmen wore black tuxedos.”
While planning their big day, the couple leaned on Marry Me Tampa Bay to research reputable local venues and vendors to ease their minds about choosing a space that would deliver an unforgettable expereience.
“I used Marry Me Tampa Bay when exploring local venues in the area and saw that Isla Del Sol Yacht and Country Club was one of their preferred vendors,” the bride recalled. “It felt reassuring to have a local endorsement for the venue and information about the venues accessible online before spending time contacting them to see if it could be a good fit.”
The St. Petersburg couple searched for a venue that could comfortably host all their guests, accommodate both the ceremony and reception, provide in-house food and beverage, be easy to work with, and remained withinin their budget. They also wanted indoor options to keep guests cool in the June heat and provide a rain backup, without sacrificing beautiful outdoor views. After touring several locations, they knew the Isla Del Sol Yacht and Country Club was the perfect fit.
“We chose Isla Del Sol Yacht and Country Club because we really wanted to get married in the city we lived in, and we felt it offered the best views of the water in the area after touring several venues,” the bride beamed. “A lot of venues are by the water, but their ballrooms don’t maximize that, and we loved that Isla had a private beach for a more intimate ceremony with a walkway so guests didn’t get super sandy. They only host one wedding per day, were cost-effective while still feeling upscale, and were very accommodating to requests like champagne on the beach, custom drinks, a photo slideshow, and serving drinks during the walk to cocktail hour. The food was great, they had someone assigned to our table to take care of us, and Melissa Rowjohn, the Director of Catering, was very easy to work with and worked well with our planner, which made the day run smoothly.”
Before 160 of their nearest and dearest, Mandi walked down the sand in a stunning lace appliqué mermaid gown, her chapel-length train trailing gracefully behind her. Her hair was styled in a classic low bun, with soft, face-framing strands that added an effortless elegance to the coastal setting. The couple exchanged vows beneath a white-draped gazebo accented with lush florals and greenery, with Boca Ciega Bay glistening in the background and palm trees swaying in the breeze.
For the reception, the couple brought their spring-inspired, modern garden vision to life with elegant linens from Kate Ryan Event Rentals that added a polished, refined touch to the decor. To create a fun and interactive atmosphere, they included The Gala Photobooth for guests to capture keepsake moments throughout the night. Mandi and Mike designed a full weekend of celebration, filled with thoughtful details that reflected their love of entertaining. Highlights included a live painter, a choreographed first dance, a magician at the welcome party, and cigars for guests. A favorite feature was the coffee cart from Café A La Carte, serving fresh espresso that paired perfectly with the dessert bar and kept the energy going late into the evening.
To make their celebration more unique and spend meaningful time with loved ones, Mandi and Mike planned a full weekend of events. The festivities began with a welcome party after the rehearsal dinner, giving guests a chance to connect before the big day. After the wedding, they kept the energy high with a lively after-party. The weekend wrapped with a relaxed and intimate post-wedding brunch and poolside gathering, offering a unique way to wind down and enjoy extra time with friends and family.
The couple shared countless unforgettable moments throughout their multi-day wedding celebration, with several highlights from the wedding day itself that perfectly reflected the joyful, high-energy atmosphere they created.
“There were so many throughout the weekend, but here are a few from the wedding day,” the bride reminisced. “Michael popping the champagne bottle after the ceremony on the beach was lighthearted and fun and got our guests in the mood to celebrate. We had cryoblasters that Michael and I shot off onstage during the reception, and those were so fun. We took dance lessons for months and performed a custom first dance to Tennessee Whiskey, which made it really special. Singing with the band for the last song with our guests was a fun way to end the night. I also loved hanging out with the wedding party and some parents before the ceremony, after the photos.”
The Proposal:
We were on a trip to London, and it was my birthday. Michael hired a wedding proposal planner to assist with the set up and rented an old beautiful church. He told me that we were going to a pop up bar before our dinner reservations at the Ritz. There were candles, marquee lights, florals, photos of us everywhere, and a string duo was playing music. It was truly a fairytale proposal. Two of our good friends ended up being in town there that week, so after dinner we all celebrated together. Then we had the rest of the trip that we spent in London and Paris engaged.
What did you look for in a wedding venue?
We chose Isla Del Sol Yacht and Country Club because we really wanted to get married in the city we lived in, and we felt it offered the best views of the water in the area after touring several venues. A lot of venues are by the water, but their ballrooms don’t maximize that, and we loved that Isla had a private beach for a more intimate ceremony with a walkway so guests didn’t get super sandy.
They only host one wedding per day, were cost-effective while still feeling upscale, and were very accommodating to requests like champagne on the beach, custom drinks, a photo slideshow, and serving drinks during the walk to cocktail hour. The food was great, they had someone assigned to our table to take care of us, and Melissa Rowjohn, the Director of Catering, was very easy to work with and worked well with our planner, which made the day run smoothly.
Where did you spend your honeymoon?
We had about a 17-day long honeymoon and went around the Mediterranean. We started in Italy (Almafi coast (stayed in Positano) to Capri to Naples) then to Greece (Mykonos and then to Santorini) and then the South of France (stayed in Nice but explored the coast and Monaco). Michael is Italian and we both love the views, culture, and food of Italy. Neither of us had been to any of those locations in Italy yet so we decided upon those.
Our favorite day there, we got a private yacht to drive us around and ate lunch off the beach and went snorkeling and swimming.. Some of Michael’s family is from Naples so we wanted to stop there for a night too to see the history and Pompeii. Michael had never been to Greece and the views are breathtaking, so we picked two of the more major islands to explore for ease of travel. We probably wouldn’t go back to Greece or at least not during the summer peak. It was a lot more touristy and hard to get around, tons of cruise ships everyday, but Mykonos is fun to party at during the summer but pricey! We rented a four-wheeler to get around, and I would highly recommend this because taxis are near impossible to get and made it really easy to explore the island ourself.
Then we flew to South of France since neither of us had been there, and it was highly recommended. We really enjoyed it there, much more than I expected. I would love to go back and stay longer. The culture is friendlier there than some of our experiences in Paris, so I really liked that, it was pretty clean, and it was a little less over crowded than some areas we went to on the honeymoon. There is a lot to explore there and upscale. It actually ended up being probably the cheaper place between all of the locations we went.
Where did you host your bachelorette party?
I went to Cabo, we stayed at an AirBnB in Pedregal neighborhood. I liked that it was a gated neighborhood, and I like large AirBnBs over hotels when you are with a large group of people. I wanted to go somewhere that I hadn’t been before and I enjoy a fun club night out. I planned it around my 30th birthday too, so I wanted to have a big bang! I had heard good things about Cabo from some other people’s bachelorettes and trips and it seemed safer/more to do for a bachelorette than some other Mexico east coast cities. I also didn’t want people to have to spend a fortune on this, and in comparison they had a lot more reasonably priced stuff to do than a lot of popular USA locations for a party, nice area. We did horse back riding on the beach and tequila tasting, had a private yacht party day, had an in-house chef one night with a fire performer show, went to several nice restaurants, and got reasonably priced tables at clubs. It was a big party!
How would you describe your theme/wedding design inspiration?
Some inspiring themes were modern elegant garden, timeless formal, and opulent elegance. I found a lot of design ideas on Pinterest based on the color palette and the feel I wanted. I love the beach, but I wanted a more formal spring vibe that still felt fun, not a typical beach-themed wedding.
What were your colors?
Our colors were white, creams, greens, and golds. I wanted a very timeless and sophisticated spring wedding, something I would look back on years from now and still love. The bridesmaids wore long eucalyptus-colored dresses, and the groomsmen wore black tuxedos.
Why did you choose to include a coffee cart?
I love a good espresso martini; it’s my favorite alcoholic drink! Having the coffee stand allowed us to have fresh espresso for these as dessert drinks. You could order espresso from the coffee cart and bring it to the bar next to it to get an espresso martini. Michael is Italian and his family loves having after dinner coffees/espressos, so this was a good fit as well for anyone who needed a pick me up to keep the party going. We thought it paired really nicely with the dessert bar from Alessi by it as well.
Café A La Carte was recommended to us by our wedding planner, and we thought they were well priced and liked their set up. We were pleased and we had positive feedback from our guests about how unique it was.
Which vendors really exceeded your expectations?
Our wedding planner, Kimberly Hensley, and her assistant were amazing with how helpful they were and organized. I like for stuff to run smoothly and be well planned, and they made sure everything went perfectly. She gave me tons of ideas and kept me on track throughout the entire process leading up to the wedding. She really turned my vision into reality.
Our florist really wowed with the floral arrangements. This truly transformed the venue into such an elegant event cohesively and made my vision pop. She delivered the arrangements to my house that night so I could use them for our brunch the next day and later picked them up which was awesome to be able to reuse them since flowers can be pricey.
The reception band, Frequency, received so many compliments from our guests they had so much fun, and so did we! They got the crowd going and played/sang very well. The finished product from the live painter got a ton of compliments from our guests and was an amazing keepsake from that day. A lot of the male guests really liked the cigars from the cigar roller to smoke there and as a keepsake. The strolling magician at our welcome party got a ton of compliments from guests; they were shocked how good the tricks were and really entertained.
What advice would you give to other Tampa Bay couples?
I would highly recommend getting a known local, well recommended wedding planner at a minimum for the day of wedding. It really helps to keep you on track for what you need to do and organize the event. You don’t want to be stressing about everything being decorated, vendors, and the timeline running smoothly on your big day. Uber and Lyft codes worked a lot better for us than bus transportation for our guests. With most of the hotels being in downtown St.Petersburg, there isn’t a large area to park at the hotels and that way guests could use the code from anywhere around the area not only to/from one hotel.
I would recommend having some additional events during the weekend if possible. The wedding day goes by really fast, so having the extra events helps you to actually be able to spend time with everyone and feel like you got to have more than a few second conversation with guests. We also added an extra hour to our reception time, which I would recommend. Everything like speeches, dinner, cake cutting, intros, dances, etc takes up more time than you’d think, so it was nice to have some extra free time and dancing.
The first look/photos before the ceremony was a good call. Originally we didn’t want to do this because we thought it would ruin the surprise, but it allowed us to enjoy the cocktail and reception time more because we already got the formal photos out of the way, so I would recommend so you get them out of the way and your hair and make up looks the best.
Use a website and online RSVP. This makes your life 10x easier and in the digital age makes the info very accessible to guests.
