This is the kind of wedding you dream about. An elegant + sophisticated day that weaves traditional details with a downright glamour that can’t be replicated elsewhere. A day that mixes soft pink hues with lush, flowing florals from Wilson’s Limited, a breathtaking TPC Sawgrass setting and all kinds of mesmerizing images from mak photography. Soak it all in right here, right now in the full gallery.
From mak photography… This is a wedding I photographed at TPC Sawgrass in Jacksonville, Florida. It was SUPER DUPER stylin’. The bride left no detail untouched and the overall effect just oozed timeless elegance, with a little touch of southern (monogrammed cornhole boards during the cocktail hour – so fun!). I loved it because they elevated the traditional church / ballroom wedding to something spectacular. They had a “Cheers, Darling!” theme since the groom’s last name is Darling, white dinner jackets for the guys, and the place itself was beyond picturesque for a total “Jacksonville” style wedding.
From the Bride… Michael and I met in high school and it was one of those instant connections that we often didn’t know what to do with, but eventually realized it was something big. After many, many years we made it official and could not wait to celebrate our wedding with friends and family. We knew we wanted to get married in Jacksonville and have a wedding that was timeless and elegant, and every bit a celebration of our relationship and the town where it blossomed.
It was pretty easy making all the decisions for the wedding. For our ceremony we chose Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in downtown. Being one of the oldest Catholic church’s in north Florida, it has an ornate altar and stunning stained glass windows that were the perfect setting for the classic wedding we wanted. We paid homage to our family history and got married on the same day, same time, and same church that Michael’s parents were married in more than 25 years before. Since we had a summer wedding and had many out of town guests, we decided to take the reception out to the beach to the famed TPC Sawgrass. Their Mediterranean style clubhouse is a perfect blend of old world elegance and modern luxury upscale. It sits right on the 18th green of the famed Stadium Course where THE PLAYERS Championship ends so it is about as Jacksonville as it comes and as classic as the wedding I had always dreamed of. (Michael sometimes makes fun of me because I always talk about how simple things were before and how great it would have been to live in the 50’s.)
From the classic Rolls Royce to the Motown band, everything just seemed to fall into place with our vision. My dress was by Rivini and had French tulle and a French Chantilly lace blouse for a more traditional look. My veil had a matching lace trim and I wore a blusher for my walk down the aisle, while also carrying a prayer book that has been in my mother’s family since 1896. My gold sparkly Jimmy Choos were a little punch of modern. My bridal party wore soft blush Monique Lhullier gowns in different styles and I gave them coordinating jewelry by Sonya Renee. All of our florals were creams and whites. Our reception space and church florals were peonies, garden roses and hydrangeas and accented by candlelight in different style containers and hand lettered number signs on the dinner tables. The overall effect was so glamorous, but simple and elegant. We had an artist create a custom illustrated map of our wedding weekend that also incorporated significant places in our lives, like where we went to school, where we are honeymooning, etc. It was included in our welcome pack, but also on display at our guest book table. Even the name change found a place in the wedding! I would soon be taking the last name Darling, and so we decided to play that up at the wedding and incorporate a “Cheers, Darling!” theme, which lent itself perfectly to the day.
We were overwhelmed with the amount of love and support from our family and friends on our special day. It was the perfect day to kick start our new life together!
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Photography: mak photography | Wedding Dress: Rivini | Floral Design: Wilson’s Limited | Reception Venue: TPC Sawgrass | Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Event Planner: Christina Kreations | Hair: Grazyna Mercado | Band: The Voltage Brothers | Bridesmaids’ Jewelry: Sonya Renee | Bridesmaids’ Shoes: Vince Camuto | Church: Immaculate Conception Catholoic Church | Illustrations: Sarah Hanna | Makeup: Carrie Wilson | Place Cards + Table Numbers: Addressing Ink | Welcome Packet + Program + Menus: Pearl Beach Paperie