Olivia and Dean
St. John the Baptist Greek Church and Chihuly Collection
“We wanted it to be classic, elegant, and chic, something that never would go out of style. Once we chose Chihuly Collection as our venue, we knew we wanted the glass to speak for itself, but since the glass is modern and bright, we looked to balance it out with the romantic look of lots of white florals. We wanted to create a feel of black-tie elegance, so our colors were mostly black and white, with a few pops of dark green and gold.” -The Bride
FEATURING
Olivia and Dean’s intimate downtown St. Pete wedding combined their mutual love of art with chic white flora, lively music, and a menu that paid homage to their personalities and heritage. The pair hosted their 76 closest friends and family for an unforgettable weekend-long destination celebration.
“Our wedding was also essentially a destination wedding for most guests, so we were able to plan a whole weekend of activities, which made it memorable,” the bride detailed. “We had an informal rehearsal dinner with drinks at Cassis and dinner at Fourth Street Shrimp Store (our favorite). On Friday, we had a beach day set up by the Cabana Club (featuring custom koozies that had a tagline ‘About Damn Time,’ which carried through many posts over the weekend) and a rooftop welcome dinner at The Hurricane. Then we hosted the wedding on Saturday night, followed by an afterparty at the Birchwood Canopy rooftop, which gave us lots of incredible time to spend with all our guests at all our favorite places. We wanted them to experience our favorite parts of the Tampa Bay area.”
The Proposal
“Dean proposed after a day in the North Georgia Vineyards. We went with his sister to the vineyards for a fun day, while both families were secretly following in cars. When his sister disappeared for a few moments, we went for a walk to a gazebo that was clearly set for a proposal. I believed the proposal must be meant for someone else, so I was adamant we shouldn’t linger up there long, until he dropped to one knee, and then the family popped out from their hiding places. We have been together since the early days at The University of Georgia, for a total of 14 years, five of those being engaged.”
The Photography
Lifelong Photography Studio
“When looking at a photographer, we considered editing style, experience, cost, and what we viewed as overall skill.
We liked the way Lifelong Photography Studios’ photos were edited. Some photographers felt overly edited with things being almost washed out, but Lifelong’s photos looked real and crisp.
When talking with them, they had excellent ideas and could answer any question. The getting-ready location we had originally planned ended up being closed due to the hurricanes, but after brainstorming with Lifelong, we came up with The Birchwood, which was an amazing place to get ready, and the photos turned out perfect. We also loved their ability to capture candids. They had the eye. We couldn’t have asked for a better team.”
The Bach Parties and Honeymoon
“We didn’t do a true bachelorette/bachelor party. In St Pete on Thursday, Dean went jet skiing and had lunch with his groomsmen, and I had lunch and a sunset sail with my bridesmaids.
We planned our wedding in such a short amount of time that it didn’t leave a great deal of time for planning a honeymoon. We booked a mini-moon flight to Maui, Hawaii, a few days before we left for Florida for our wedding, and booked our hotel the night before our welcome party. Hawaii was an easy decision, which is what we needed at that point in time. We are now planning a more extended honeymoon in New Zealand.”
The Inspiration
“First and foremost, we wanted the venue itself to highlight things we love, and not just another wedding venue cranking out the same wedding that was done the week before, so it was important to have a team who saw our vision. We love traveling and going to museums. Before we chose to have our wedding at Chihuly Collection we were looking to decorate our house with inspired glass works from the glass blowers associated with Morean, and had been to that museum many times, as well as the one in Seattle.
We wanted it to be classic, elegant, and chic – something that never would go out of style. Once we chose Chihuly Collection as our venue, we knew we wanted the glass to speak for itself, but since the glass is modern and bright, we looked to balance it out with the romantic look of lots of white florals. We wanted to create a feel of black-tie elegance, so our colors were mostly black and white, with a few pops of dark green and gold.
We also love a good time and creating something special and elegant, which we accomplished with a formal yet fun affair. We wanted unique seating so we went with serpentine tables and a lot of flowers to add elegance. We wanted a small intimate wedding that allowed us to spend time with our guest and during the wedding planning process focus on every detail. The fact that guests were free to roam throughout the entire Chihuly Collection was definitely the most unique aspect.”
The Catering
Elite Events Catering
“Our main concern for catering was service. We wanted no one to be waiting on anything, and things to feel seamless. Oddly, we started the conversation with Elite Events Catering saying we’ve never had good wedding food, so the food wasn’t our primary concern; we cared most about service.
They assured us the service would be excellent, but the food would be as well, and it certainly was. Their team was incredibly helpful during the selection, planning, and execution. We chose a basic dinner menu, with more elaborate appetizers for cocktail hour. Everything was delicious; it felt like an incredible dinner at a highly rated restaurant, and they pulled it off in an art museum. They were very helpful and creative when working with us to come up with fun passed apps for cocktail hour that played off our favorite foods.
Elite consistently outperformed expectations across the board. They were there for us from walk-throughs to rentals, and honestly, just to pick their brain for ideas.”
The Most Memorable Moment
“We wanted to get married in a Greek Orthodox church, which by a happy accident ended up being the church Dean’s mom went to when she was young. The most memorable moment was the ceremony, with all the pomp and circumstance of a Greek Orthodox wedding; we were given time to live in the moment and acknowledge its magnitude. It didn’t just fly by in a second. Also, seeing the reception dining room come to life for the first time, just the two of us, was jaw-dropping. It was so special.
We laugh that all the details we poured into the dancing, ice luge, late-night Chick-fil-A (brought by the Chick-fil-A cow) were all amazing. We also made a last-minute decision to add a large “P” ice luge to highlight liquors we were featuring from our two cultures, Ouzo (Greece) and Scotch (Scotland).
We wouldn’t change a moment, but sitting at our own private table hidden away, having a couple of appetizers and a drink (since we missed cocktail hour for pictures), and listening to our guests’ unfiltered excitement seeing Chihuly (many for the first time) and the reception space. At the same time, we could soak it all in by ourselves for those brief moments, which was one of the best.”
The Planning
Coastal Coordinating
“We were looking for a planner who clearly had enough of the right experience, who knew the industry and other vendors well, and who could ensure the day went off like a well-oiled machine. Based on our research and several strong recommendations from venues we considered, Coastal Coordinating fit the bill.
We cannot say enough positive things about Coastal Coordinating. We wanted a wedding planner with whom we meshed well, and who understood our vision, but also one who was willing to tell us if there was a better alternative to what we were thinking.
Coastal Coordinating kept us on track throughout the whole wedding process, and the day could not have been more amazing. We decided to plan our wedding in six months, and somehow they kept us running like a well-oiled machine, even with two unprecedented hurricanes and uncertainty about what would be open even a week before the wedding.”
Which vendors really exceeded your expectations?
All of our vendors were amazing. Our florist, Rose Garden, perfectly understood our vision and had cascading flowers on the bar with beautiful white flowers the whole length of the serpentine tables. At one point, I mentioned I would love to have a few gardenias in my bouquet since my mother did, and they were even able to source that for the wedding.
I’ve already gushed about Coastal Coordinating, Lifelong, and Elite, but I would be remiss not to mention our bakery as well. Alessi Bakery made both a beautiful and scrumptious cake, and they were delightful to work with. They even reproduced a small orange cat (like ours) hiding in the flowers at the bottom of our cake. Providing these vendors fewer than six months and having two hurricanes during our wedding month is a monumental task that they all really overcame and truly made it all a success.
What advice would you give to other Tampa Bay couples?
They should use all of our vendors; they were amazing. But also the cheesy comments, soak up the day, don’t worry, and know everything will turn out perfect.
