I am full on convinced that rain on your wedding day brings out not only the best in couples but also makes for some fabulous photos. And when those photos are from Vitalic Photo, it’s a fab-photo guarantee. A little sprinkle didn’t phase this completely in love duo, if anything I think the grey skies added to this already lovely Key West soiree – and the full gallery is all the proof you need that this wedding was as fun as it was fabulous!
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From the Bride… When my husband and I first talked about our wedding, there was little doubt where we wanted to tie the knot. We both love the ocean and knew that Islamorada – the tiny island in the Florida Keys where I spent my childhood summers – was the perfect place for the fun and laid back beach wedding we envisioned. We rented out The Drop Anchor Resort, a small 1960s-era motel on the beach, as our wedding location and took to calling it our “Love Shack.” I worked with my friend Lisa, a designer, to create a theme inspired by Mexican folk art. She created a logo of our initials inside a papel picado (Mexican paper flag). We used orange and fuchsia as the primary colors to create a sense of vibrancy and used black as an accent for some added drama. A custom mad lib with our fuchsia logo was at every place setting at dinner and I created black tin can luminaries with our initials hand-punched into them for the tables. Flowers in the Keys were hard to come by without costing a fortune, so I rented potted succulents from a local landscaping company. My husband created the wedding program fans that carried on our theme, and we gave our guests orange maracas made in Mexico as wedding favors.
We planned all of the details down to a “T,” but Mother Nature is one thing that just can’t be planned. The day of our wedding saw torrential downpours (the start of a five-day stretch that would set a Florida record) and our caterer urged us to move our wedding to a nearby restaurant and give up the dream of a beach front wedding. My husband looked at me with calm eyes and assured me it would be okay. I allowed myself five minutes of panic and no more. I was marrying my best friend, so it was going to be one of the happiest days of my life, regardless of the weather. We decided to carry on with our original plan, with the addition of a tent and a lot of umbrellas. Guests sat at communal tables under the tent for our ceremony while the rain poured around us. As soon as the ceremony concluded, the rain let up for the first time all day. Guests mingled on the beach for a cocktail reception, followed by a buffet-style Caribbean dinner. After dinner, with the rain still letting up, we gave guests sparklers and asked them to get into a circle to the tune of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.” We then surprised them with a performance from a local fire dancer. My husband and I were even treated to a surprise as fireworks went off over the ocean as the song ended.
The rest of the night saw more rain but by that point we didn’t care — we danced our butts off and ended the evening with an impromptu pool party under the cloudy sky. The day was more amazing than I could have ever imagined. They say rain on your wedding day is good luck, and I truly believe it made our wedding day even better. It made everyone remember why we were together — the food, the drinks and the details are nice, but we were there to be surrounded by and celebrating love. I’m so grateful to our vendors, who helped make the event wonderful, and to our amazing friends and family, who showed us that no storm can dampen their ability to have a really great time.
Wedding Photography: Vitalic Photo / Wedding Venue: Drop Anchor Resort & Marina in Islamorada, Florida / Wedding Coordination: Danielle Pierog of Caribbean Catering / Bouquet: Floral Fantasy Weddings / Table Succulent Rentals: The Banyan Tree / Catering: Caribbean Catering / Baking: Elegant Temptations / Music: Scott Youngberg / Wedding Dress: Nicole Miller