One combo I can never get enough of? Formal + fun. Just those two words together conjure up images of elegant brides dancing the night away with their dapper grooms. It’s a wedding fusion that never fails to deliver the pretty and today’s shining example is this downright breathtaking Sarasota affair from Fabulously Chic Weddings, aka, a drop-dead gorgeous mix of sophisticated details and heartwarming moments, all wrapped up in mesmerizing images from Trenholm Photo. See it all unfold in the full gallery.
Oh, and we’re not done yet. Check out this incredible film from Voila Cinematic. It’s beyond amazing.
From the Bride… When we were first thinking about how we wanted our wedding to look and feel like, Brad simply requested the end scene from the movie “Meet Joe Black.” I knew at that point it had to be formal and it had to have an air of opulence. Stylistically we both love vintage and refurbished items, so after finding the Powel Crosley Estate we knew it was the perfect match. The Powel Crosley Estate really had everything we were looking for: the winding staircases, magnificent fireplaces, fabulous wood beams that spanned across the ceilings, and the gorgeous and expansive private views of Sarasota Bay. Having grown up with religious backgrounds we knew our ceremony had to be in a church. We do have a local church that we attend, but knew with our guest count it would be too large. So we started to hunt for a quaint small church that we could have our ceremony in. With the original wood floors and white pews, the adorable red doors, and the quintessential little white church feel, the Crocker Memorial Church quickly became our choice. Being local, we love how we were able to have two Sarasota landmarks as our venues.
As far as the aesthetics went for our wedding, we wanted to add to the romance of the venues. At the Crocker Memorial Church, we went with simplicity. We didn’t want to distract from the rich history that we loved about it. By simply adding fabric, in a couple of textures and shades, crystals to reflect the light, and restored pieces of wood picked up from a local salvage yard, to a backdrop, we were able to add to the church’s overall feel without taking away from its history. We also had two large vases with all white flowers to add to the romantic feel.
At the Powel Crosley Estate, we thought the lighting had to be perfect to really set the mood. What a better way than with candles, candles, and more candles. We used an assortment of ivory candles in fluctuating sizes and in varying containers. We also had large silver candelabras and medium sized matte black candle sticks to hold candles as well. We put a chandelier and café bulb lighting over the dance floor to continue the mood outside when dancing. There were two long tables to accommodate the sixty guests, adding to that intimate feel we were trying to capture. The tables had beautiful rosette textured linens in a dark champagne color to give the angular tables some body and texture. The floral arrangements, neutral in color with mostly white and pale peach soft and structured flowers, were in a variety of non-matching clear and mercury glass vases. The overall color scheme was neutral shades with metallic and black accents.
Other personal touches included the guest place cards. I created little formal characters of each guest in attendance with their name attached. These served as double duty being that they also helped the servers to know which guest ordered which entree (white name card being fish and black name card being beef). We also had our new monogram placed on a Victorian styled mirror that was hung above the fireplace to display our new married title. We also wanted a way to incorporate our family members who were no longer with us. We accomplished this by having black and white photos put in metallic and mirrored frames above us on the fireplace mantel. The groomsmen had personalized hometown maps put into their cufflinks. Seeing that all the groomsmen grew up in the same hometown as Brad, it was a way to personalize it in a meaningful and fashionable manner.
We also wanted to have a way to incorporate our Great Dane into our wedding without have to deal with his actual unpredictability, so we added small touches of him throughout. The first one being in the favors I created. I drew a picture of our dog and had a Letterpress company imprint the image onto coasters for the guests to take home. We also made a donation in our guests honor to the Great Dane Rescue Society. Our cake included our dog with a miniature replica sticking out from underneath the ruffles of the bottom tier. Our wedding day really was everything we could have hoped for. After everything was said and done, we finally have been able to decide on what our overall wedding theme should be called—Formal and Fun!
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Photography: Trenholm Photo | Planning + Design: Fabulously Chic Weddings | Floral Design: Bee Ridge Florist | Ceremony + Reception Venue: Powel Crosley Estate | Cinematography: Voila Cinematic | DJ: Stereophonic Dj’s | Officiant: Rev. Rick Lackore of Sensational Ceremonies | Bakery: Morton’s Gourmet Market | Catering: Fete Catering | Rentals: All Event Rental | Photo Booth: K2 Photo Booth | Hair + Make up: Jess Waldrop Make up Artists | Wedding Dress: WToo (Watters)-Marlow top and Bevan Skirt | Shoes: Colin Stuart | Bridesmaid Dresses: Various