The looming hurricane Hermine prompted me to write about Paige and Franklin's wedding from March 2022. Paige chose her family estate to host an intimate upscale garden party wedding. The entire day was to take place outside with the ceremony on a large open piece of property, the cocktail hour on the poolside courtyard and the dinner reception under a tree lined path draped with cafe string lights. When you have outdoor plans, you have to have a Plan B and the night before the wedding we knew we were putting our Plan B into action.
Mother nature brought in a tropical storm with strong winds and flooding knocking out the electricity for a good part of the wedding day and making the outdoor locations too windy and wet to utilize. With the help of the couples' amazing family and friends, rooms were cleared of furniture to allow for all the rented dining tables to be set up inside. The vendor team sprang into action adjusting plans for florals and set up. Paige had to send her hair and makeup team to a nearby location with electricity. It was a day where you truly witnessed love and cooperation from everyone to make this day perfect for Paige and Franklin despite the conditions. It remains one of my favorite weddings to date.
What was going to be an oversized lush garden arch outside became a beautiful candlelit fireplace backdrop thanks to our wonderfully creative florist Garden and Grace.
Guests gathered in the library to watch Paige descend the staircase and meet Franklin at the altar while her brother pulled double duty playing the piano and acting as officiant.
The rain stopped and we were able to pull off the champagne tower outside on the pool deck to kick off cocktail hour. Is there anything more festive than a champagne tower?
Dining tables were designed with bistro style garden chairs, linen table cloths, floral napkins, custom place cards, tons of bud vases and candles.
Originally Paige was leaning towards a catered multi-course custom wine pairing dinner until Franklin suffered a serious medical emergency that caused them to rethink their plans. Although they still wanted to evening to feel classy and elegant, they chose to forego all the formalities of a chef prepared dinner and ordered pizza from their favorite Gainesville pizzaria. Guests chose from a variety of toppings on the pizza buffet and bottles of wine were placed on the table for family style serving.
Dessert was s'mores outside at the fire pit followed a pool party with their closest friends that were hosted overnight at the family's home. I think Plan B may have turned out even better than the original.
For more photos and to learn more about how we helped Paige and Franklin create their Plan A & B click here