The Foodie Patootie is MARRIED

It’s been a little over three months since I walked down the aisle. There are days when I am nostalgic about that day, wanting anything to go back and relive the best day of my life over and over again. There are days when I feel very married, like a wife, and it’s still a little weird. There are days when I wonder how the time went by so fast, and yet so slow.

But every day I feel loved by, and grateful for, my husband.

I wish I could have had all of my readers there with me on my big day, but you’ll just have to settle for pictures. 🙂

*All photos, unless otherwise noted, were taken by Jerdan Photography, the best photographers that a gal can ask for*

On Friday, July 26th, we were married in a Catholic church. It was very important for us to do so and I did feel a higher power in that room with us. It was intimate; we only invited our family and those involved in the wedding and I loved it that way. It gave those closest to us a chance to witness our union.

It turned out to be a beautiful day, having cleared up after a torrential downpour, so of course frolicking in the fields around the church was completely necessary. July 26th is now my favorite day of the year. (Besides getting married, I’m getting old enough now to no longer recognize my birthday as my favorite day.)

But, as important as a church marriage was to us, I could not NOT have an outdoor wedding too. It was something that I had dreamed about for forever. Plus, this was the one time in my life that I wanted to be the center of attention. I wanted to walk down the aisle in a gorgeous wedding dress in front of all of my family and friends. I wanted to have the music in the background and see my husband at the alter waiting for me. And I wanted it all done outside in the sunshine!

So the next day, we did just that.

Guest Photo

We picked Davis Island Garden Club for our outdoor ceremony and reception. I worked closely with DIGC representative, Michelle, in the months leading up to the wedding. Michelle is one of the best professionals I encountered during this entire process. She is quick to respond to emails, extremely knowledgeable about DIGC and willing to work with brides to make their big day as special as possible.

Saturday, July 27th involved everything pre-ceremony that a bride would anticipate. Hair, makeup, being with my bridal party and family. My mom, Mike’s mom, my flower girl, both bridesmaids and I had our hair and makeup done by Megan Marie from City of Angels salon.

After receiving the timeline from our photographers, I spoke with Megan about the time to arrive at the hotel, when we would need to be done by, the order we should be worked on, and SHE MADE IT HAPPEN. Megan was one of the most crucial people because our entire rest of the day was dependent on her timeliness. Completing hair and makeup for six ladies is not easy, but Megan rocked it so hard.

Happy with my wedding look, and with the guys ready in the room down the hall, it was time for some photos before heading to the ceremony site.

Dress from Brides By Demetrios

Me and Mom

My Husband 🙂

I was prepared to whack him with my flowers if he peeked.

Now is the time to give a shout out to the best father-in-law ever. As in, ever. My dream has always been to have a peony bridal bouquet and although peonies are only in season here in the spring, my father-in-law put in a special order to Holland, all to make sure this one element, that was so important to me (really, for some unknown reason), was present.

You can find my father-in-law, Mario, at Island Flowers on 7th Avenue in Ybor City. As the owner and top florist in charge at this shop for many years, he knows his way around wedding and event florals.

On the way to the ceremony spot, I wasn’t nervous. I thought I would be, and I frequently imagined everyone’s eyes on me. When it came time to walk down that aisle, it couldn’t happen fast enough. I was so anxious and excited to be down there by Mike.

We asked our friend Marshall, who has no legal authority to marry anyone, to be our “officiant” for this second ceremony. He is one of the funniest people we know and that’s the vibe we wanted. Marshall is also eloquent and sentimental; we knew he would deliver the perfect ceremony. He assisted us with writing funny, yet heartfelt, vows as well.

My vows consisted of allowing Mike to play hours of video games and Mike’s promised to support my Real Housewives obsession and my love of beagles.

True to form, we had party crashers drive by us in their boat on the water, blaring rock music. It made everyone stop and burst out laughing. This unexpected surprise was yet another incident that captured our fun relationship.

Husband and Wife

One of my concerns for this day was the weather. In Florida we have 2 seasons: summer and rainy. Most of the time, it’s both. This past summer, it rained every single day and I cursed the weather every time I saw those dark storm clouds roll in. But, turns out that July 27th marked the most gorgeous day of the summer. We lucked out, folks, we really did.

About an hour before ceremony start time, the texts from guests about the weather started rolling in. Without a cloud in the sky, but with a great breeze and bright sunshine, it was everything we were hoping for.

Time for the reception!

Before taking you inside the reception, I have to pull your attention to the seating chart. I wanted something simple yet pretty, with the correct shade of gray and pink from the other elements of the wedding. I went to Kristin from Media Bug Unlimited on Etsy and couldn’t have been happier with the result. I recommend Kristin many times over for her professionalism, enthusiasm, efficiency, and just being a really great person.

Throughout the entire process of creating this seating chart (which took a couple of tries only because I gave her incorrect information a couple of times – what can I say? I had bridal brain), Kristin was either 9 months pregnant or had just given birth, yet she was still extremely prompt. It really blew me away.

Now come with me inside!

Decor! We had a combo of peonies, garden roses and some greenery. I also named each table a flower instead of a number.

I cannot even deal. I’m just glad his pants didn’t split open.

First dance to “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”. We picked this song as a tribute to my maternal grandparents who passed away.

Duh.

Me and Dad (guest photo)

My Grandfather was the life of the party!

Me and Best Friend/Matron of Honor, Jackie

Elliot and Sara, two of my favorite people in the world. Elliot writes the very popular and awesome Raleigh food blog, Eat Raleigh, and has been a friend of mine for 12 years!

Our “officiant” Marshall and his lovely wife, Karen, another long-time and favorite friend of mine (12 years too)!

Me and Krystal, rocking Hogan’s Beach sunglasses.

You may recognize Krystal’s mug from her two blogs, Krystal’s Kitsch (lifestyle and personal blog) and/or Sunny Soirees (event blog).  Krystal was instrumental to so much of my wedding. She helped me with ideas and concepts, decor, pairings, kept me sane, and also created some graphics for me. She designed my favors and rehearsal dinner menu.

A little bit after dinner, Mike surprised me with something I never, ever expected: my favorite food truck was waiting outside!

For weeks prior to the wedding he had coordinated for my favorite food truck, Destination Grill, to come by and serve our guests my top selections that they offer. We had Memphis Blues BBQ Sliders, Gumbo Lafayette, Smoked Mac & Cheese and Cranberry Coleslaw.

This was a complete surprise to me. When Mike took the microphone and announced that Destination Grill was outside, I was so pumped!

Seriously, does it get any better than this? Guests lined up for the second dinner and the guys from Destination Grill took some time to take pictures with our photo booth props. If ever you see these guys at local food truck rallies, stop by and say hi. Tell them The Foodie Patootie sent you. 🙂

Another thing you should know is that I am not a fan of cake. I can recognize a tasty cake, but I would rather have some other kind of dessert. I still wanted to cut into a cake with Mike (and more, smash each other in the face), but there was more of a need to have a dessert table. Enter: Piquant.

There were zero other options in my mind for dessert. If you have been around this blog for any length of time, it’s clear that my love for Piquant knows no bounds. With the gracious help of my mom, we were able to offer guests a wonderful spread of Piquant goodies. We had:

• Peanut Butter Bombe
• L’Opera Torte
• Chocolate Brownie Torte
• Raspberry Mousse
• Mini Lemon Macarons
• Cheesecake Flan
• Mexican Wedding Cookies
• Passionfruit Tart
• Mini 3-tier almond wedding cake with vanilla raspberry buttercream filling

And then we face smashed.

These two days were everything I ever dreamed of and more. Yes, days leading up to the wedding were somewhat stressful and it all happened so fast, but it was perfect in every way, thanks in huge part to Kristen from Flawless Fêtes. Kristen happens to be a friend of mine from middle school that I came into contact with again when I realized that she grew up to be a wedding and event coordinator!

It really did work out great because I knew that Kristen was organized and proficient. She made everything flow and remain on track. I cannot thank her enough.

Next time: Pictures from the honeymoon in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic!

Venue – St. Paul’s Catholic Church & Davis Island Garden Club
Day of Coordination – Flawless Fêtes
Photography & Photobooth – Jerdan Photography
DJ – Eric Harding with Grant Hemond & Associates
Florist – Ybor Island Flowers
Catering – The Green Lemon & Destination Grill
Dessert Table – Piquant
Printables – Krystal’s Kitsch
Seating Chart – Media Bug Unlimited
Hair and Makeup – Megan Marie
Spa Services – Lecada
Bridal Party – Brides By Demetrios
Menswear – Men’s Warehouse