Genevieve and Thomas
“We wanted a coastal Nancy Meyers theme, something that would be timeless and that also incorporated the coastal elements that we love about St Pete. We wanted lots of greenery, with white linens, gold accents, and lots of candles. Our main colors were green, white, and gold, with touches of blue. We wanted a timeless color palette that would hold its beauty when we look back.” -The Bride
FEATURING
Genevieve and Thomas’ classic downtown St. Pete wedding combined minimalist decor with tropical greenery for a clean and natural atmosphere filled with hues of green and white. An elegant boutique hotel ballroom served as the backdrop for both the traditional ceremony and the candlelit evening reception.
The Hair and Makeup
Femme Akoi Beauty Studio
“I was looking for a slicked-back bun that would hold its style all day. I did not want to be worried about the humidity and wanted something that I would look back on and think was beautiful. My hair is very curly, so I wanted something that was easy, beautiful, and little fuss. For makeup, I wanted something with pink hues and a smoky eye that would highlight my brown eyes and pink undertones.
We hired Femme Akoi Beauty Studio because they were recommended by The Birchwood and Coastal Coordinating, and I could not have been happier!
Ana Grace did my makeup, and Haleigh did my hair. Both women were perfect from the beginning. It really felt like they were part of the bridal party, and everyone was obsessed with their glam for the day. They understood mine and each of the other girls’ visions for their glam and truly exceeded expectations. I could not recommend them more!
The Proposal
“Thomas proposed on the beach in Pass-a-Grille. It is our favorite beach and was one of our first dates; I had made him a charcuterie board and surprised him with a picnic. For the proposal, he did something similar.
We were planning to meet up with friends later that evening for drinks, so he asked me to dress up. He then told me on the way that we were going to have a little picnic before meeting up with them. We set up the picnic on the beach, and Thomas gave me a ‘message in a bottle,’ which was a beautiful handwritten letter highlighting our relationship and our love.
I then realized he was going to ask, and he did! My best friend, Nikki, and her partner, Tyler, were hiding behind the dune, and she was able to capture all the moments. We took some pictures on the beach, and then headed over to The Dewey for drinks and to celebrate!”
The Planning
Coastal Coordinating
“We looked for a wedding planner who could help us tie it all together and give recommendations for vendors, and someone who was proactive and understood our vision for the day. This was an absolute must for us; we did not want any of our family and friends worried about anything during our wedding weekend. We wanted our guests to come and enjoy, not feel like they were being put to work.
This ended up being the best decision we could have made. We chose Coastal Coordinating based on recommendations from Marry Me Tampa Bay and The Birchwood, and we could not say enough good things about Katy Martin. We hired her shortly after getting engaged and met with her on the phone a few times to discuss our vision for our wedding in November.
Well God had other plans as we ended up finding out we were expecting a baby in July, and due in February. The first person we actually told was Katy, even before our families and friends! We told her we were expecting and wanted to get married ideally on September 14th, and by some miracle, she as well as all our other vendors we booked, were available that day! She kicked the planning into high gear and we were able to execute our wedding with really only six weeks of true planning. We could not have pulled it off without Katy and her team.”
The Venue
The Birchwood
“One of the most important things to us was convenience. The majority of our guests were traveling in from out of town, so we wanted to make sure that everything was convenient for them when they got to the airport to when they left after the wedding. We wanted to make sure that everything was close and walkable, so they would not need a rental car and could enjoy the walkability that we love about downtown St Pete.
We wanted a venue that was timeless and convenient for our guests. We wanted a mixed option of indoors, away from the heat, and outdoors, to enjoy the Florida weather! The Birchwood had that with the ballroom, balcony, and rooftop.
From the beginning, we both agreed that food was a primary focus for us. We wanted our guests to truly enjoy the food and have lots of options throughout the night, from the appetizers all the way to the end of the evening snacks. We loved that The Birchwood had lots of options for food, and everything was delicious!
The Birchwood is a place that we were very familiar with. We love The Canopy and frequent their happy hours for a delicious mango margarita or an espresso martini. We also celebrated Thomas’s birthday dinner there. We loved The Birchwood for our wedding because the majority was included in the price. From our first walkthrough with Claire, we felt like everything would be taken care of, and they had a solution for everything. We loved that the ceremony, reception, food, drinks, staff, etc, were all included in the cost. It did not feel at all like there were any hidden costs, which we felt like at other walkthroughs we had done. We also loved that we could do the after party on the rooftop, which holds a special place in our hearts.”
Researching Wedding Vendors
“We used Marry Me Tampa Bay when researching venues at the beginning, and then started putting together a short list of wedding planners (a must for me, coming from working in the wedding industry, was that we use a wedding coordinator). Once we locked The Birchwood, we worked off their recommended vendors and many of them were ones we were already prospecting, including Coastal Coordinating. After we locked in the venue and the wedding coordinator, we truly trusted Katy with all other vendor choices and putting together options for us to choose from!”
The Bach Parties and Honeymoon
“Since we had such a quick turnaround between finding out we were pregnant and the wedding, we decided to do small things with our friends who came into town for the wedding. The day before the wedding, I went to the Woodhouse Spa with my mom, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law for a morning spa day. We then met up with my friends at The Chattaway and had a wonderful High Tea. Thomas had a little bit of a different vibe with his friends who had traveled in; after the rehearsal dinner at The Hostess, Thomas and his friends and some of our family went out in St. Pete for the night at some of his favorite places, including Mandarin Hyde, Pour Judgement, Welcome to the Farm, and the Landing.
For our honeymoon, we visited Florence, Italy. Since we already live in sunny Florida, a typical beach honeymoon wasn’t something we were looking for. Italy gave us the opportunity to truly slow down from our busy lives while exploring somewhere we’ve never been. We stayed in the Italian countryside, experiencing the life of the locals, and then spent a few days in central Florence, urban-style. Great food, great views, and great people made this a honeymoon we will always remember.”
The Photography
Lifelong Photography Studio
“We wanted two photographers and wanted them to capture the details of the day. We did not want a photographer who used too many filters or different color corrections; we wanted the pictures to be authentic and the special moments to be captured and not posed.
Lifelong Photography Studio came recommended by The Birchwood and Coastal Coordinating. We really enjoyed working with Jorge; he really fit in well with us, and we enjoyed his vision for photographs during the entire day.”
The Design
“We wanted a Coastal Nancy Meyers theme, something that would be timeless that also incorporates the coastal elements that we love about St Pete.
I absolutely love Nancy Meyers’ movies and the aesthetic that she develops within her films. I wanted to embody that look and feel on our wedding day. We wanted lots of greenery, with white linens, gold accents, and lots of candles. Our main colors were green, white, and gold, with touches of blue. We wanted a timeless color palette that would hold its beauty when we look back.”
The Experience
“We really wanted to include personal touches to our wedding that reflected our personalities. Letters and cards are something that have been important to Thomas and me from the start of our relationship. Thomas and I write each other cards for every holiday and have since the start of our relationship. Given the intimate nature of our wedding and the short notice for our guests, we wanted to take a moment to express to each of them what it meant to be there. We handwrote a letter to each of our guests, which was left at their seats when they took their seats for dinner. Our guests still talk about this element and absolutely loved it!
We had a tight-knit group of people, and we wanted every guest to feel the importance of their presence to us. I believe having to plan in such a short amount of time actually helped us enjoy the day more because we were just so excited to share the wedding and our pregnancy with our family and friends.
The most memorable aspect of the wedding was having our guests enjoy the entire weekend with us and experiencing some of the places we love in St Pete. Since we had a smaller wedding, our guests were able to mingle the entire weekend – from our rehearsal dinner, to our wedding at Birchwood, to Sunday afternoon at a sports bar watching the Lions game. By the end of the weekend, many of our guests who had never met before had all exchanged numbers and seemed like long-time friends.”
The Reception
“An important component was the music. We wanted to make sure we incorporated music that we loved, but also music that our guests would enjoy! We curated a playlist that reflected us and had multiple people ask for our playlist for their events.
Something special we did to kick off dancing is a tradition I have with my family known as the ‘cousin dance,’ when the cousins on my moms side all join the bride and groom on the dance floor and dance to a song (with props) welcoming the new cousin to the family.
The song we chose was Dancing Queen, and everyone was excited to be a cousin because all our guests joined in the fun and kicked off the dancing with us!”
Which vendors really exceeded your expectations?
The Birchwood (Claire & Yvonne) were amazing partners from the get-go and steered us in the right direction the entire way. It was sad saying good night to them at the end because they truly had become some of our dear friends.
The same goes for Katy Martin with Coastal Coordinating. She was an absolute rockstar, and we would not have been able to pull off our wedding in six weeks if it were not for her. She was incredible and we appreciate all the support and guidance she gave us along the way.
What advice would you give to other Tampa Bay couples?
If you can afford it, get a full-time wedding coordinator. It makes all the difference to have someone following up with each vendor and making sure you have everything needed to make the day go smoothly. This will make sure both you and your guests have a great day.
