Why You Should ALWAYS Let the Venue Guide the Way

Abby
January 2, 2017
Categories: Romantic, The Blog
Tags: Indoor Wedding, Organic Elegance

In a lesson that I’ve said probably a hundred times while writing this blog…if you book your venue before making any major style decisions for your big day, your wedding will be SO much easier to design. Your venue should set the tone for the types of florals you have, the linens you choose, the gowns you ask your bridesmaids to purchase. And this affair is proof that the Venue First Formula, works like a charm. With planning done so beautifully by Destination Wedding Studio and photography captured so lovely by Care Studio, this Key West stunner is nothing if not absolutely gorgeous.

From the bride… John is from Louisiana, and I am from Florida, however grew up in Louisiana. Strangely, we grew up 15 minutes from each other. We chose Key West because on a whim (while at Coral Castle in Homestead) decided it would be wonderful to visit Key West since we both have never been. Well, it took a lot longer than thought and ended up only being there for about 2 hours that night. But, in that short time, we fell in love with the place. It was like New Orleans met with Florida and had a child. To us, it represented both sides of our families, and we love that. For the venue, I personally picked Casa Marina because it seemed like Key West’s history never left. Adore that.

The planning was SO smooth. We picked the most beautiful venue and church without even physically checking any places out. On top of that, we had Peggy Russell as our wedding planner, and she’s perfect. She is detailed as I am and we both share love for design, aesthetic, and carrying out ideas.

The theme for our wedding was 1940’s/50’s and we wanted to cater to our grandparents and the older crowd in not make it a huge party but a real celebration. The decor had as little flowers as possible, as little as I was allowed (ha!). We really wanted to bring out nature’s elements within the building as the venue had such a beautiful deep espresso brown, ivory and green palette. Our florists, Duarte Florals helped us achieve our own complimentary palette of navy, neutrals, and green.

The bridal party held the same theme as the wedding itself — with a hint of Boardwalk Empire pinstripes for the men and fine silk dresses for the women. We wanted the bridal party to be in one color. The bridesmaids’ dresses were made lightweight with textured silk, designed to fit all body types. Comfort was of huge importance, and also their opportunity to wear it again. The men had matching suits, except for the groom – he had a custom made version (it was our first time we had our initials monogrammed in something). He bought all the groomsmen matching shoes and tie bars.

A special memory that was so simple, but so meaningful, was when we were walking out of the room where we got ready and I stopped to look at myself. Until that moment, I hadn’t ever stopped to really look at myself. It was surreal. I never dreamed of having a wedding or getting married, and there I was standing in front of me, doing something I never thought I would… And it felt so good. After the Father announced we were official husband and wife, we just smiled at each other with pure bliss and turned towards the group of people who loved us and we paused… Fully accepting all the love that everyone was there to give. The whole night… We were so loved.