Danielle and Alec’s vibrant downtown Tampa wedding featured colorful flora and decor accented with exotic marine life. Stingrays and sharks made guest appearances during the ceremony nuptials, before guests transitioned to the rooftop for an al fresco reception overlooking Tampa Bay.

“We wanted our wedding to have a design that transitioned from the ceremony to the reception to reflect the mood of both. The ceremony the wedding design inspiration was very romantic, inspired by romance novels or Bridgerton with lots of flowers, dim light, and classical music. Whereas the reception design inspiration was an upscale Miami rooftop club with more of a party vibe and neon colors. The idea was to have a vibrant and lush wedding that happened to be at an aquarium, but not aquarium themed,” the bride detailed. “We wanted to incorporate as much color as possible! We chose to go with jewel tones with accents of gold in order to make as much of a color splash while still fitting with the darker lighting setting of our ceremony space.”

Having chosen an unconventional venue, the local Tampa couple utilized Marry Me Tampa Bay’s vast portfolio of real weddings to envision the ceremony and reception spaces for their 115-guest October celebration.

“We used Marry Me Tampa Bay to look at previous weddings that were held at the aquarium in order to visualize the spaces better,” the bride explained.

The pair prioritized their vendor team, focusing on a few key pros who would help keep the day flowing seamlessly and ensure their guests enjoyed a stellar experience from start to finish.

“Our top priorities were our wedding planner, officiant, and DJ,” Danielle revealed. “The flow and organization of an event makes a huge difference, so I wanted to make sure I had a great planning team in the background orchestrating the flow so guests could enjoy the event. Having a great officiant and DJ were crucial since both of those people set the tone for the ceremony and reception and keep the vibes going.”

Of utmost importance was the selection of their wedding planning team, and Danielle was beyond impressed with the creativity and care she received from Blue Skies Weddings + Events.

“We looked for someone who was passionate about their job, friendly, but still professional. It was really important to us that we had someone who could also help us with choosing the designs to make sure everything went together cohesively. Heather and her team from Blue Skies Weddings + Events were lifesavers,” the bride raved. “Partway through the planning process, Alec was deployed to the Middle East, so Heather was my go-to for all the planning and organization. She was always willing to listen, work through things, and make helpful suggestions. She made me feel like I was the only client she had, even though that was far from the truth. Heather is a great listener, proactive, and loves weddings. I would recommend her without any hesitation.”

With a focus on their guests’ experience, Danielle sought a DJ who would create the energetic party vibe she envisioned. Not only did Tampa Bay DJ Co. deliver with the perfect professional DJ service, but they enhanced the entire celebration with show stopping accent lighting and effects.

“We were looking for someone who could completely own the party. We wanted a DJ who was personable, professional, and who mixed music. We did not want to feel like the music was a playlist on shuffle. Cory Barron from Tampa Bay DJ Co. came highly recommended from our planner and many others. On the introductory call we knew immediately he was the right choice because of how excited he was; his enthusiasm and ideas are infectious! We knew he loved doing his job and was going to make sure that our event ran smoothly and was a great party,” the bride gushed. “We also used their extra services with lighting, CO2 bursts for the dip of our first dance, and fog bubbles for our exit. Cory made sure the lighting was the right vibe for the event and the most updated technology. These elements really elevated our wedding and made it even more memorable. Cory and his team were hardworking and innovative, and we knew our reception was in good hands with them!”

The couple turned to the creative team at Behind The Vows to unobtrusively capture the entire day and preserve the memories in natural, authentic fashion. Their speedy production turnaround and detailed approach to content creation resulted in a highlight video that Danielle and Alec will forever treasure.

“Our wedding planner highly recommended Behind the Vows. We liked how their Instagram explained content creation and had fun videos that were specific to Tampa. The pricing was also reasonable and able to fit into our budget,” the bride detailed. “We originally chose to have a content creator because both sets of my grandparents were going to be unable to attend the wedding, and we wanted to have videos to share with them immediately after the wedding. We had the videos the day after our wedding, and it was so nice to be able to relive everything. It was also more informal than a traditional videographer and there were a lot of details captured so I can always remember all the work put into every detail. Where a formal videographer may focus more on the couple, content creators can focus on everything, so we also have videos that feature more of our guests and their enjoyment of the event!”

Some of the core memories of the day included the ceremony space reveal, the first kiss, and the last dance, which left the couple and their guests in awe.

“For us, the most memorable moment was when we first walked into the ceremony, with the florals and draping suspended from the ceiling, flickering candles, and string music playing, created such a memorable moment of ‘this is really happening! We are getting married!” the bride reminsced. “It all came together even beyond what we pictured with a team of vendors that really hit it out of the park.’ As for our guests, they gasped (and still talk about) our first kiss when the aquarium turned on the bubbles in the tank behind us! Another memorable moment was one of our last songs, Mr. Brightside when our DJ handed us a CO2 gun that we shot into the crowd during the chorus; that was a peak-life moment.”

The Proposal: 
Alec and I love cruises! He proposed on the balcony of one of our cruises, and then we joined our friends for dinner and made it a game to see how long it would take them to notice the ring!  

What did you look for in a wedding planner? 
We looked for someone who was passionate about their job, friendly, but still professional. It was really important to us that we had someone who could also help us with choosing the designs to make sure everything went together cohesively. 

Heather and her team from Blue Skies Weddings + Events were lifesavers. Partway through the planning process, Alec was deployed to the Middle East, so Heather was my go-to for all the planning and organization. She was always willing to listen, work through things, and make helpful suggestions. She made me feel like I was the only client she had, even though that was far from the truth. Heather is a great listener, proactive, and loves weddings. I would recommend her without any hesitation.

Why did you choose to have a content creator for your wedding day? 
Our wedding planner highly recommended Behind the Vows. We liked how their Instagram explained content creation and had fun videos that were specific to Tampa. The pricing was also reasonable and able to fit into our budget.

We originally chose to have a content creator because both sets of my grandparents were going to be unable to attend the wedding, and we wanted to have videos to share with them immediately after the wedding. We had the videos the day after our wedding, and it was so nice to be able to relive everything. It was also more informal than a traditional videographer and there were a lot of details captured so I can always remember all the work put into every detail. Where a formal videographer may focus more on the couple, content creators can focus on everything, so we also have videos that feature more of our guests and their enjoyment of the event!

What did you look for in a wedding rehearsal space? 
We wanted our closest friends and family to have a unique experience with great food. There isn’t a better way to introduce Tampa to our guests than a water view of the city! We also chose Yacht StarShip because the team is great to work with. They have multiple dinner format options, and we ended up doing a station meal which was perfect for us. It allowed our guests to have a variety of food and to mingle easily, and there is a DJ with music on the top deck so we ended our night with a dance party! 

What did you look for in a wedding DJ? 
We were looking for someone who could completely own the party. We wanted a DJ who was personable, professional, and who mixed music. We did not want to feel like the music was a playlist on shuffle. Cory Barron from Tampa Bay DJ Co. came highly recommended from our planner and many others. On the introductory call we knew immediately he was the right choice because of how excited he was; his enthusiasm and ideas are infectious! We knew he loved doing his job and was going to make sure that our event ran smoothly and was a great party. We also used their extra services with lighting, CO2 bursts for the dip of our first dance, and fog bubbles for our exit. Cory made sure the lighting was the right vibe for the event and the most updated technology. These elements really elevated our wedding and made it even more memorable. Cory and his team were hardworking and innovative, and we knew our reception was in good hands with them!