Ryan and Christian
Mill Pond Estate
“My husband and I wanted a whimsical outdoor venue that highlighted all of the beautiful parts of nature we love so much. We loved lots of green lush themes and pops of pinks and whites. Many of the trees and flowers at our venue in the spring were so beautiful, we wanted to highlight the natural beauty the venue had but also added a bit of our personality. We wanted to lean into a more modern boho that felt simple but also romantic and cozy. We added a few of our fun, party themes here and there as well.” -The Bride
FEATURING
Ryan and Christian’s intimate Seffner wedding was a sentimental celebration filled with bohemian-inspired details, a neutral color palette, and an homage to family.
“Christian and I are pretty relaxed and easy-going, so we wanted to ensure our wedding felt like a casual party and not a huge over the top affair. We tried to make a 92-person wedding feel intimate with fun bonding moments through polaroids floating around the venue, custom CD mix tapes for our guests to take home, and an outdoor escape to make guests feel at home. We had music as a major theme of our entire wedding through our seating chart, party favors and customized playlists that showed our true interest,” the bride detailed. “We are big on being in the moment, embracing candid fun and making everyone feel all the emotions with us. We wanted a wedding that felt intimate and truly that we were sharing our hearts with everyone that traveled to spend the weekend with us. Our vows were sweet and very goofy just like us.”
Hair and Makeup Inspiration
“My everyday hair/makeup is very simplistic. I wanted to feel like my everyday look was just slightly elevated. I wanted to have a girly makeup feel with a lighter colored lip and lots of highlighter!
Femme Akoi Beauty Studio doesn’t make you fit into their look and style; they are amazing at accomplishing any look and feel someone wants to have on their own wedding day. When I told the team my inspiration, they immediately partnered me with someone who could achieve this look effortlessly. They work hard on organizing exactly how to make sure everyone feels their best on their wedding day and that is why I chose them!”
Researching Wedding Vendors
“Marry Me Tampa Bay was my go-to for inspiration from real weddings. I looked through the recent blog postings to learn more about vendors in the area, find new creative ways to engage and surprise our guests and find the top trending ideas for the weekend.“
Pet Planning
Fairytail Pet Care
“Our dog, Ollie, has been a huge part of our lives since college. My husband and I met and I fell in love with his shaggy haired dog immediately. This dog has nine lives we say as he’s been through the ringer with getting into chocolate and going through numerous surgeries; everyone loves his overall carefree personality through anything he’s been through himself or with us through our various life events. The day wouldn’t have been complete without him there.
FairyTail Pet Care‘s services was recommended by our planner, and we ultimately chose them as they set us up with our sitter and had us meet in person to get to know one another before the big day. After meeting with our sitter we immediately felt at ease knowing Ollie would be in the best hands as they are so thoughtful and kind to our special pup!
The Proposal
“Christian asked me to marry him under the 25 de Abril Bridge in Lisbon, Portugal on a small sailboat where we explored much of the city of Lisbon that evening. It was the trip of a lifetime!”
The Bach Parties and Honeymoon
“The honeymoon was in Japan (Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka) and Thailand (Phuket, Ko Samui, Railay Beach). We wanted each of our number one bucket list places. Christian had always dreamed of trying his luck surfing on the beaches in Thailand, and I wanted to explore the largest city in the world with the best food.
My bachelorette party wasin Austin, TX, as I wanted to go see live comedy, go vintage shopping and have some amazing BBQ. Plus, I also know the music scene is one of the best!
Christian’s bachelor party was Miami, FL, as he always wanted to have all of his friends try some of the best Cuban sandwiches and enjoy South Beach by swimming and playing golf.”
“I loved this wedding because it held deep sentimental value. The bride, having lost her father, honored him through music, with the seating chart and burned CD serving as heartfelt tributes to his memory.”
-Delaney Driver, Wilder Mind Events
The Design
“My husband and I wanted a whimsical outdoor venue that highlighted all of the beautiful parts of nature we love so much. We loved lots of green lush themes and pops of pinks and whites. Many of the trees and flowers at our venue in the spring were so beautiful, we wanted to highlight the natural beauty the venue had but also added a bit of our personality. We wanted to lean into a more modern boho that felt simple but also romantic and cozy. We added a few of our fun, party themes here and there as well.
After we found our venue it became fairly easy to decide on colors. With all of the greenery around the venue we wanted to highlight this as our main color. Plus it helps that olive green is my favorite color! Our accent colors were blush pink and gold. We wanted something that felt like spring with a bold green color.”
The Food
Elite Events Catering
“We loved partnering with Elite Events Catering because Melissa Misgen spent time with us on the phone learning about our favorite dishes and creating a custom menu within our price point. We bounced ideas off each other, and she didn’t miss a single detail. She took so many notes, and she went so above and beyond by our first tasting that we immediately felt relieved and knew our guests would be blown away.
Melissa thought of dishes that spoke to our roots and where we’re from but also used local ingredients native to Florida that our guests would love to try. Our favorite dish was our Spicy Florida Yucatan Shrimp pasta. Everyone at our wedding was passing this dish around so even the guests who didn’t select this item got to try it!
I had heard from numerous sources that Elite Events Catering always overdelivered and had amazing food. It was an easy choice to select them as our vendor, but what absolutely blew us away was the perfectionism, level of detail, and expertise that this team can deliver for a wedding of nearly 100 people, all while having the best attitudes and biggest smiles on their faces.
This is a family business, and I felt the love they put into our menu and couldn’t recommend them more.
The Planning
“We were careful in selecting each vendor but it was incredibly important that our wedding planner would not only need to be organized, but we cared more about finding a planning company that brought the light hearted, fun energy Ryan and I needed in the final stages of wedding planning as it can get stressful!
The entire crew of Wilder Mind Events are some of the most creative, unique, fun, and hilarious people I’ve ever met. I felt like the moment I met them I knew they were going to be my planning choice as nothing felt too serious, and just overall fun, which is truly what wedding planning should be.
They allowed me to have my moments of worrying and stress, but then they always just calmed me and took over anything I needed with their easy-going nature and true loving personalities. I feel like I made some amazing friends with Morgan, Delaney and Demi after the weekend was over.” -The Bride
Most Memorable Moment
“Our private last dance was such a perfect way to end the night. Having an intimate moment to slow down and reminisce on one of the best experiences of your life is something we won’t ever forget. We watched our guests run to the transportation buses with the biggest smiles and looked around the room where many memories were made. We felt so much love for each other and all of our guests at that moment!”
What did you look for in a rehearsal dinner venue?
For our rehearsal dinner, we actually had Hotel Haya as a top choice for a wedding venue contender and ultimately we had thought the experience of Ybor City and Hotel Haya were the perfect way to kick off the wedding weekend. We wanted to show the exciting personality of what Tampa had to offer through it’s food, culture and atmosphere.
The venue was fantastic. We were so impressed by the bartender and catering staff there as well as our planner to ensure the dinner came together perfectly. So many of my bridal party attendees mentioned this dinner was one of the highlights of the weekend. We had a space in the Roosevelt Room where it was a great moody, private dinner party.
Which vendors really exceeded your expectations ?
As cheesy as it sounds, every single one of our vendors absolutely went above and beyond. Truly we were blown away by the amount of care, detail, planning and professionalism that came from everyone and we wouldn’t have changed a thing with any vendor. From the beautiful music our saxophonist Mario played, the curated floral scenery Toni at Mill Pond created, and the stunning custom bar lead by the Bar Artistry team, our guests felt like the flower garden was the perfect way to kick off a romantic party.
What advice would you give to other Tampa Bay couples?
Remember that while you want to make sure your guests have fun, you direct the ship on how they feel on the big day! If you’re stressed, they will feel that and be worried about you! Let your hair down and go have fun. Make sure to give a moment to appreciate every single vendor that has helped you bring the day together as your kindness goes a long way and the day wouldn’t be possible without them.
