Alyssa and Chris' luxurious waterfront Sarasota wedding featured romantic hues of soft peachy pinks and whites, tropical greenery, and a greenhouse-style tent adorned with climbing vines and Edison bulbs framing the night sky above.
“I'd describe our wedding theme as a mix between classic and tropical. We chose it because we like clean, classic styles, but we also wanted to add some fun tropical touches because of the scenery at our venue,” the bride shared. “We included a lot of whites, neutrals, and greenery and then some pops of color in the table floral arrangements which had pink and peach tropical flowers. I've always loved mixing metals, so we included both gold and silver touches in the decor.”
The local bride relied on Marry Me Tampa Bay to help research potential wedding locations with beautiful outdoor spaces to host their 165 friends and family.
“We both knew we wanted to get married in Florida, so I used Marry Me Tampa Bay to get ideas about possible venues,” the bride revealed. “We chose the Sarasota area for our wedding because of the convenience of it only being an hour from our home, but it still felt like a destination wedding since we had to travel a little to get there. We also chose to do it in Florida so our family and friends from the northeast and mid-west would have a warm place to visit!”
The Tampa Bay couple were referred to Botanica International Design Studio by their wedding planner, knowing that their floral expertise would be the perfect fit for their classic-meets-tropical wedding style.
“I really love flowers in general, and I wanted some components of our wedding to have more classic flowers, like the all-white florals we had for our ceremony. The ceremony was really important to us; we wanted it to feel both peaceful and romantic, so we had it overlooking the water and did all white/cream decor and flowers. For the reception and my bridesmaid bouquets, I wanted something a little bit more fun and cheerful, so I went with pops of peach, pink, and tropical greenery,” Alyssa shared. “We decided to include a good amount of tropical flowers in our décor because the location also had tropical foliage/palm trees, so we felt it fit the venue well. We had a good amount of florals, so we donated some to local nursing homes/hospice after the wedding.”
The foodie couple created a truly unique reception menu for their fall wedding by personalizing their menu selections as a reflection of their heritages, in addition to sending guests home with a custom edible favor.
“We took a little bit of a different approach to the reception meal. We both love food, and we wanted to make sure our guests had plenty of options to choose from. We decided to do food stations inspired by our heritage to add a personal touch to our wedding meal. I'm Persian and Italian, and Chris is Italian and Irish, so we did a station with Middle Eastern cuisine, an Italian station, and an Irish-inspired station. We wanted the dinner to still feel formal, so we did a plated salad course,” Alyssa detailed. “The other unique element was our wedding favors, which was a custom-made hot sauce. We picked the ingredients and made sure the bottles were 3oz so guests could fly with them (and we got great feedback from our guests that they loved the hot sauce)!”
Being surrounded by all of their favorite people from the course of their lifetimes, along with a surprise reception finale, made for two distinctly unforgettable moments.
“Our ceremony was the most memorable part for both of us. It was very emotional, and we just felt so happy to be surrounded by all our closest family and friends. It was surreal walking down the aisle and seeing all the people we love the most from all the different stages of our lives in one place,” the bride reminisced. “The other most memorable moment was the fireworks during the reception. Watching them together was really romantic, and the guests enjoyed them too.”
The Proposal:
We got engaged in March in Boca Grande, Florida, where my parents live. Chris asked me if I wanted to walk to the lighthouse there with our dog Penny and my two cousins. Once we got to the lighthouse, he asked if we wanted to take a picture, and while we were “taking the picture,” he dropped down on one knee. I was completely surprised and very happy we could get engaged at one of our favorite places.
Where did you host your bachelorette party?
We had a joint bachelorette and bachelor party in Miami, Florida. We have a lot of friends in common, and most of our friends know each other so we thought it would be more fun to do one together! We chose Miami because we know the area pretty well, and it was easy to get there for a lot of our friends.
Where did you spend your honeymoon?
We spent our honeymoon in Split and Hvar, Croatia. Chris visited Croatia last September with some friends and as soon as he got back told me he thought I would love it there too. We chose Croatia because it has gorgeous views, great food, history, boating, wineries, isn't overly crowded, and is relatively affordable when it comes to Europe. We had an amazing time there and definitely will go back there again in the future.
“The ceremony was really important to us; we wanted it to feel both peaceful and romantic, so we had it overlooking the water . I really love flowers, and I wanted some components of our wedding to have more classic flowers, like the all-white florals we had for our ceremony.”
-The Bride
How would you describe your theme/wedding design inspiration?
A mix between classic and tropical. We chose it because we like clean, classic styles, but we also wanted to add some fun tropical touches because of the scenery at our venue.
What were your colors?
We included a lot of whites, neutrals, and greenery and then some pops of color in the table floral arrangements, which had pink and peach tropical flowers. I've always loved mixing metals, so we included both gold and silver touches in the decor.
What was your wedding floral inspiration?
I really love flowers in general, and I wanted some components of our wedding to have more classic flowers, like the all-white florals we had for our ceremony. The ceremony was really important to us; we wanted it to feel both peaceful and romantic, so we had it overlooking the water and did all white/cream decor and flowers. For the reception and my bridesmaid bouquets, I wanted something a little bit more fun and cheerful, so I went with pops of peach, pink, and tropical greenery. We decided to include a good amount of tropical flowers in our décor because the location also had tropical foliage/palm trees, so we felt it fit the venue well We had a good amount of florals, so we donated some to local nursing homes/hospice after the wedding.
Botanica International Design Studio came highly recommended by my wedding planner. I told her a little bit of the vision I had in mind, and she suggested they would be a great fit.
Which vendors really exceeded your expectations?
We were honestly happy with all of our vendors. We loved our band, caters, decor/florals, etc. Our planner really exceeded our expectations, especially on our wedding day. They werew very organized and had us on an exact schedule which allowed both Chris and I to be able to relax and enjoy the day since we knew it was going to run smoothly.
We also loved working with our photographers. We had already used them for our engagement shoot, so we felt very comfortable with them on our wedding day.
What advice would you give to other Tampa Bay couples?
When it comes to weddings, there will be moments where little things may go wrong, but at the end of the day, the most important thing is the person you're marrying, so don't let the small stuff stress you out. Also, do your best to at least have a loose plan of seating arrangements in advance. We waited until we got all our RSVPs back, and it was a little stressful having to do the seating chart so close to the wedding. Even though you can't finalize the seating chart until the wedding is closer, just making general groupings and lists of where to sit people can help
