There is so much to be said about the wedding of Debbie and Jim. One of the things about this wedding that stands out in my mind is that it was a labor of love. Throughout the planning, Debbie consistently took into consideration the enjoyment of her guests by adding details. Each seat at the ceremony had a espresso colored paper fan to fan away the heat, the seating chart was meticulously poured over, the menu was deliberated for weeks until it was perfect, the music selections were made with friends and family in mind, and the open bar menu was discussed in great length. All this work for the comfort of friends and family; and in the end Debbie and Jim were rewarded with a magical night that had all the comfort and warmth they had hoped for.
The ceremony took place at Oyster Catchers beach on the property of the Grand Hyatt, and we pulled out all the stops - it was glamorous! Two frosted acrylic columns flanked the beginning of the wide aisle topped with arrangements pave roses ranging in light pink to deep red atop column vases of aqua water. The arrangements (a surprise design for Debbie) had more than 125 roses each. Mahogany tables (topped with Tahitian bowls filled with petals) lined the hot pink aisle. The couple got married in front of a white draped “wedding cabana” befitting the Oyster Catchers location. The perfect setting was made more perfect by the officiate, Jane, who led the couple through a collection of traditional vows and hand written love notes. After the ceremony, guests lingered while enjoying the water and the sounds of a string quartet before moving on to the reception.
Jim’s favorite restaurant is Armani’s, famous for innovative Italian cuisine and Tampa’s only 5-star dining choice. When paired with the lovely aforementioned ceremony location, Armani’s became the perfect choice for an upscale Sunday night wedding feast!
Guests began the evening with a cocktail hour including an open bar complete with fine wines (the groom’s favorite), panini-pressed grilled cheese and artfully prepared crab cake “martinis.” Live piano music tinkled in the background as guests watched the sunset from the 14th floor location.
Debbie’s red and aqua color scheme made a strong play at the escort card table. Aqua linens covered the large candle lit table and guests found their aqua escort cards lined up on acrylic boxes of pave red flower blossoms.
As dinner was announced, by DJ Doug Decker of Grant Hemond and Associates, guests entered a truly transformed space. Hot pink uplights accented columns, 4’ chocolate brown Manzanita trees sat on ledges around the dance floor, and candles were everywhere (large floating, small floating, and ruby red votives.) Specialty linens took the theme to a whole new level. Large guest tables held linens of red pin tuck with tablescapes of ruby red votives, hot pink silk wrapped vases of red freedom roses (each rose accented with a crystal stud) and hot pink ultra fragrant attaché roses. Each place setting had an aqua napkin stuffed with a custom designed menu/place card. Small guest tables had contrasting aqua linens with tablescapes of ruby red votives and custom designed arrangements of hot pink spray rose “poufs” atop crystal stem ware. Each place setting had a contrasting red satin napkin with the menu/place card.
Guests feasted on an incredible menu prepared by Executive Sous Chef Jose. Heirloom tomato salads were followed by combination plates of braised osso bucco, risotto, plantain crusted snapper and three colors of organic cauliflower.
And then the desserts began…Crème Brule, followed by a huge surprise for the guests – a Cold Stone Creamery cart complete with the little red and white umbrella set up at the bar for an all you can eat ice cream treat! Guests chose from several flavors of ice cream (hand selected by the bride) and tons of mix- ins. And with that the partying began! Guests ate ice cream, sat in the “confessions booth” provided by Simply Wed Video, hung wishes on the wishing tree wrote messages in the engagement picture book provided by their lovely photographer, Tina Sargeant, and danced the night away. The stunning cake (provided by Cakes by Nomeda) was cut and given to guests as a midnight snack. Wedding goers floated back to their rooms stuffed with sweets, only to find custom “Do Not Disturb” signs letting hotel staff know that they partied into the night at Jim and Debbie’s wedding!
There were just too many details to mention; too much to talk about! Here are some quick fun facts to sum it all up:
Over 1,000 roses were used for this wedding, including pink attaché roses that smelled like heaven!
Whoever says Sunday weddings end early was wrong! Jim and Debbie broke the mold by needing to extend theirs!
Tina Sargeant, Jim and Debbie’s photographer, has a gorgeous blog up, with amazing photos that show all the details we painstakingly worked on.
Michelle at Paper Players in Dunedin put the icing on the cake with the most gorgeous table numbers, menu/place cards, escort cards and the adorable “Do Not Disturb” signs, without which the tablescapes would not have been the same.
But my favorite detail of all…The pictures show the reception at Armani’s up lit in pink, creating a glow inside the restaurant that felt like a kiss. Little did we know, that all of Tampa driving by the Grand Hyatt that night saw the eastern corner of the 14th floor glowing pink too, as if all the love Jim and Debbie had for each other couldn’t be contained and flowed out into the world.
And with that, let me predict: “They Lived Happily Ever After…”
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