[section title=”The Planning”]
[field title=”Wedding Colors”]I knew I wanted bright colors that would make me smile every time I looked at the girls throughout the day! I spent a lot of time at our venues and the main colors I got were blue and yellow from the Ca’ d’Zan (ceremony space) and green and pink from the Ringling Museum (reception venue). Luckily for me, my bridesmaids fell into trios of how I knew them so the sisters picked yellow, childhood friends were pink, high school friends were green and the college girls blue. This made it easy as each trio was friends with one another so coordination was easy and fun![/field]
[field title=”Design / Vibe / Vision”]I grew up with my parents hosting numerous dinner parties in our backyard chaotically thrown together by pulling our local pub’s singer last minute for entertainment, us kids making the floral arrangements from what we could forage outside that day and multi-course meals my parents effortlessly threw together. They were always a beautiful and stylish affair but never too over the top that you couldn’t kick your shoes off and dance on the tables. This was how we wanted our wedding day to feel – so we went full steam ahead on creating an outdoor Tuscan garden dinner party adorned with personal touches relevant to our dear family and friends.[/field]
[field title=”Proposal Story”]I thought I was meeting my brother for a sibling park day only to show up, after aggressively biking through the city, to find Garrett under a willow tree along Lake Michigan with his big smile down on one knee. There were plenty of tears quickly turned into laughs as we realized I still had my airpods in the entire proposal. We had a beautiful intimate picnic in the park soon followed by our family running over to celebrate. That evening we headed to our roof for a glass of celebratory wine only to be greeted with a Mexican feast adorned with 20+ of my closest friends who he flew in from around the world to celebrate all weekend!
Once we got engaged, it wasn’t where, it was when!? Both of our families have homes on the tiny 10 mile island of Longboat Key, an extremely small world when one of you is from the midwest and the other the east coast. Once we settled on the location, the venue quickly followed. Between Garrett being a history buff and myself a closet art enthusiast, The Ringling Museum of Art was a natural fit. The architecture transports you right into Italy while the landscaping still honors its Florida roots. [/field]
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[board_carousel title=”Getting Ready”]
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[board_carousel title=”Bridal Portraits”]
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[board_carousel title=”Flat Lays”]
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[board_carousel title=”First Look”]
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[section title=”The Fashion”]
[field title=”Wedding Gown”] Finding a dress was tough, I started in New York then went to DC all to end up finding the dress a half mile from my home in Colorado at Little White Dress. Once I saw the Monique Lhuillier Lily of the Valley lace, a flower that only blooms in May (our wedding month), I knew it was a sign. I wanted a few different looks from the dress so we asked for some extra lace from Monique and made a custom topper for the ceremony to change it up. I also sent in my mom’s wedding dress and had two purses made from her lace for us to carry that day. As for my second dress, I wanted to wear something short and comfortable for dancing. I looked everywhere but kept on seeing the same dresses so I went to Donna Beth Creations a month before the wedding and we squeezed in as many fittings as we possibly could and made a custom dress adorned with 3D pearl flowers and a layered choker necklace to match.[/field]
[field title=”Bridesmaid Dresses”]My bridesmaids-to-be lived all around the US so asking them to partake in the wedding wasn’t easy! I wanted to send them letters to explain how much their friendship means to me but also something to acknowledge the time, money and effort it takes to be a bridesmaid – it had to be something they would treasure but also be able to use. After spending so much time at our beautiful venue, the art inspired me so I decided to create some of my own! I didn’t want to send them art they felt obligated to hang on their wall so I ended up settling on a personal favorite, shoes! I took pictures of the little details at the venue – whether it be the tiles lining the Ca’ d’Zan, the bougainvillea around the courtyard, or the marble floors. From there, I thought about each girl’s style and hand painted white slides inspired from the details at the venue for each girl. This was no easy feat with 13 bridesmaids but in retrospect it was a great way to relax and think about the lucky friendships I cherish during the wedding planning chaos. The girls ended up all wearing their shoes on the dancefloor and it was surreal to see all the designs live at the venue!
There is nothing more calming than getting ready the morning of your wedding in the comfort of your home with your mom, best friends, dogs and a champagne tower! After waking up between my mom and sister like the youngest child I am, the ladies filed in and we started the morning by taking a coffee walk with our labs, Parker and Theo – the only boys allowed in the house that day! After some much needed showers, I gifted the girls white linen cover ups to throw over their bathing suits while they caught some last minute rays by our pool. We took turns between hair and makeup, pool time and bouquet making. Our florist gave us a few extra buckets of Feverfew so the girls could make their own bouquets – this was a nice way to get creative during the downtime! Emotions quickly got the best of me as my mom and sister fitted me into my dress, followed by a heartfelt bridesmaids reveal. They serenaded me with a custom rendition of Faith Hill’s This Kiss before sending me off with my best friend’s mom (aka my second mom) to drive me to the wedding.
When it came to attire, I knew I wanted bright colors that would make me smile every time I looked at the girls throughout the day! I spent a lot of time at our venues and the main colors I got were blue and yellow from the Ca’ d’Zan (ceremony space) and green and pink from the Ringling Museum (reception venue). Luckily for me, my bridesmaids fell into trios of how I knew them so the sisters picked yellow, childhood friends were pink, high school friends were green and the college girls blue. This made it easy as each trio was friends with one another so coordination was easy and fun! With the help of an inspo board, the general ask was to feel like themselves, ensure dancefloor comfort and to not hold back – ruffles, cutouts, tiered skirts, bows, unique necklines welcomed and encouraged! The ladies delivered! As each of the colored trios walked down the aisle, there were dropped jaws ending with audible gasps as the three sisters anchored the processional in yellow!
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[field title=”Groomsman Attire”][/field]
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[board_carousel title=”Wedding Party”]
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[board_carousel title=”Ceremony”]
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[board_carousel title=”Cocktail Hour”]
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[section title=”The Details”]
[field title=”Food & Drink”] We spent a lot of time on the menu as we knew we wanted to do something non-traditional, delicious and interactive! What’s better than a family style Italian feast!? We had a spicy vodka rigatoni, mushroom ravioli, chicken farfalle, mahi mahi saltimbocca style and grilled Italian vegetables. Our guests loved passing their pastas from neighbor to neighbor as they doused their bread in oil and vinegar. As for dessert, we debated doing a wedding cake but once we visited Cakes by Ron, we knew we had to! We worked very closely with him on rounds of sketches before settling on a green textured four tier cake with dried Italian fruit slices, herbs and flowers wrapped down it. She was a focal point yet blended so well into the organic garden setting! In addition to this we had breadsticks on all the cocktail hour tables (a cost effective fan-favorite), shipped in an Iberico Ham leg for live carving (the one nonnegotiable from my fiancé), chugged espresso martinis as we transitioned from dinner, had freshly baked cookies and cannoli’s passed on the dancefloor, and ended the night dancing with dirty martinis in one hand and Taco Bell’s finest Crunch Wrap Supremes in the other![/field]
[field title=”Florals & Decor”]Top of mind when designing the reception space was figuring out the right way to honor the beauty of the Ringling while making it feel comfortable for guests to let loose in the space. In order to do that, we needed 5 long feasting tables to fill the space. We ordered countless BBJ Tavola fabric samples before finding the perfect effortless pattern which ended up being a green and ivory baroque linen with some texture. We paired that with a light wood charger for an organic feel and texture. For the head table, we wanted this to pop so we found vintage farm tables that matched the wooden chargers at the guest tables and paired these with rattan green chargers to then match the linen on the guest tables. It was visually harmonious yet effortless at the same time.
The Ringling courtyard is garnished with giant terracotta pots around the perimeter of the courtyard so we wanted to bring that cohesive design to the tables. We worked with our florist, Victoria Blooms, to source a variety of terracotta pots which she filled with various garden herbs and wildflowers to give a relaxed yet plentiful look. For the head table, we doubled down on the overgrown wild flowers and added some smaller terracotta pots mixed in to tie together the guest tables. For our table numbers, my dad and I found some extra stone from our fireplace at our Longboat Key home so we broke it into pieces then attached cursive table numbers to the stone. I suppose it was our something old and something borrowed!
When it came to escort cards, I wanted them to make a statement but also serve a purpose for guests. I thought long and hard about what that could be and once I envisioned our guests shaking tambourines from the dinner tables to the dancefloor, I knew I had it! Creating the tambourines with the guests names was quite easy – I just needed my sister, some sharpies and a good playlist! The larger challenge was figuring out how to display them as I wanted it to be a statement that also tied into the aesthetic of the venue. We ended up settling on floral arches, ribbon and shower hooks to put it all together then our florists draped vines around it for some color. Based on the noise level, our guests may have had too much fun with these!
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[field title=”Wedding Cake”]As for dessert, we debated doing a wedding cake but once we visited Cakes by Ron, we knew we had to! We worked very closely with him on rounds of sketches before settling on a green textured four tier cake with dried Italian fruit slices, herbs and flowers wrapped down it. She was a focal point yet blended so well into the organic garden setting![/field]
[field title=”Readings, Ceremony Music, Reception Songs”]Finding a song to dance to was quite the struggle for us – either too cheesy or formal or just unnatural – when are we doing a choreographed waltz out with our friends!? Instead of focusing on the perfect song, we focused on the feeling we wanted for us and our guests – romantic, inclusive and fun! We kept coming back to one of our favorite song, Sonnentanz (Sun Don’t Shine), which had the lyrics but was too upbeat for a first dance. We eventually found a slow cover of the song and from then on, were determined to find a way to mix the songs together so we could have it all! We worked with our band on the concept, None Other Band, and they seamlessly blended the two versions into one so that we could spend the first half having our romantic first dance and the second, surrounded by our friends and family who got us there. The struggle was the transition from slow to fast so when it happened the Saxophonist (our favorite instrument) came out on the dance floor with us and live played as our family and friends flooded in around us. I don’t think anything can ever top this moment for us!!!!
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[field title=”Special Detail #1″][/field]
[field title=”Special Detail #2″][/field]
[field title=”Special Detail #3″][/field]
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[board_carousel title=”Couple Portraits”]
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[board_carousel title=”Reception”]
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Photography: Cornelia Zaiss Photography | Cinematography: Storybook Films | Event Design: Corrianna Roellig (Bride) | Event Planning: NK Productions Wedding Planning | Floral Design: Victoria Blooms | Wedding Dress: Monique Lhuillier | Cake: Beautiful Cakes by Ron | Invitations: Corrianna Roellig (Bride) | Reception Venue: Ringling Museum Of Art | Catering: Michael's On East | Entertainment: Wiley Entertainment | Beauty: Beauty by Audrey B | Bridal Shop: Little White Dress Bridal Shop | Rentals: So Staged
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