So after an extended summer break, I’m back and with one of my favourite weddings to date! Beautiful Tatiana wore a stunning boho Grace Loves Lace dress to marry her love Brian in April this year in St Petersburg, Florida. They chose their venue, Green Bench Brewing for it’s meaning to them, they filled it full of their favourite people and had a genuine and beautiful wedding day. Tatiana worked with her wonderful florist to bring their vision to life, from the venue to the flowers weaved into her hair is just jaw-droppingly beautiful!

I was completely wowed by the incredible flowers, the beautiful flower girl and bridemaids, the epic bouquet throw and I love how all the couple’s family look so happy and proud of them both, it’s so lovely.

I follow their incredible photographer Mari Sabra on instagram, I love her style, it’s very, very cool, authentic and beautiful. These images capture the details and beauty of the day and has an honesty to it that I really adore. So I think you should go get a coffee, and start your day with this beautiful celebration of love, family and friends.

Let me hand you over to Tatiana to tell you all about their amazing wedding day;

The Love Story

We met in 2011, we were both working for a craft brewery in Tampa, Florida, he as a brewer and me as a bartender. We were friends for about 6 months before we started dating.

The engagement process was a lot of fun. We decided to go with a non traditional stone and design the ring together. The stone we chose was a mint green Tsavorite Garnet, both of our birthstones, from the recommended Fine Water Gems  We had it set in a rose gold Tacori setting from a local jeweler.

The Proposal

The proposal, although I knew was coming eventually, was the best part. We took a trip to Colorado, our first vacation without any friends or family. We had been hiking all day in Boulder and wanted to hit one more trail. Once we got there Brian magically pulls out a large picnic basket from the trunk of the car and we make our way up to find a nice spot to relax. While eating our various charcuterie, cheeses, fruits, and wine (a favorite of ours) he pulled out a little blue box and asked if we could spend the rest of our lives together. It was simple, magical, and totally us.

Inspiration

I wanted our big day to be fun and organic. Most of our friends and family would have to travel and I wanted to make sure it was an enjoyable and not stressful experience for everyone. I loooove flowers; all shapes, colors, and sizes. I didn’t choose “colours” for the wedding but instead told my florist to use whatever was in season. Everything else (linens, bridesmaid dresses, backdrops, etc.) remained on the neutral side to let the flowers stand out.

Venue

We decided on Green Bench Brewing Co. for a lot of reasons. Mostly because they have a beautiful tasting room and beer garden, but we both also work there. Brian is the head of the Mead & Cider program and I wear many hats from production to the tasting room while I finish school. We love the space, the people, the beverages, it’s really our home away from home. Can’t get much better than that!

The Ceremony

My lovely Father walked me down the aisle. He adores ‘Brain’ 🙂  We walked in to an instrumental version of a song from our favorite Bollywood movie. Jasn-Bahaaraa by A.R. Rahman – it was so dreamy and ethereal. I felt like i was floating walking down the aisle towards Brian.

Photography

I chose Mari Sabra based on her style and value. I didn’t want a style that was too bubbly but instead more on the romantic side. I had seen a lot of her work with local florist and models and loved it. She also included an engagement shoot in her pricing, which was great because we probably wouldn’t have done it otherwise. So glad we did!

Dress – Grace Loves Lace

My dress is from the Australian designer Grace Loves Lace. Effortlessly elegant and unique handmade French lace dresses. I had been following them on Instagram for a while and had my eye on a few of their dresses. The only problem was, at the time, their only showroom was in Australia. Lucky for me they started a traveling concierge in the U.S. and were to hit two cities in their first visit. One of which was Dallas, Texas, where one of my best friends and bridesmaid lives. So my mom and I hopped on a plane and made a girls weekend of the trip. The dress I choose is their Verdelle gown. All lace with a faux cape, super comfortable, timeless, and unique. Exactly what I was looking for. I bought it that weekend and never looked back.

Veil

The veil is also from Grace Loves Lace. It’s their silk chiffon, floor length, Gabriela veil. The accessories I kept simple and went with another Australian designer, Salita Matthew. Grace Loves Lace carries some of their jewellery and I purchased the Venus anklets with rose gold accents the same weekend as my dress. I later purchase their Gaia earrings with rose gold accents directly from their online shop.

Shoes and Accessories

The shoes I wore were simple, comfortable, and nude, with a single strap at the ankle and a thick heel. I found them at DSW, the designer is Audrey Brooke. I wore an antique diamond ring that belonged to my grandmother as my “something old”

Hair and Make-up

My hair style was inspired by an Instagram picture a saw by stylist Ulyana Aster and executed perfectly by my personal hair stylist Uliana Pakskina. She also did all the bridesmaids and flower girl. I gave all my girls freedom to do what they wanted with their hair, just no crazy updos. I wanted them to feel beautiful and comfortable, not forced into anything.

For my make up artist I went with a friend who happens to be a MAC make up artist, Cristina Puentes. I wanted to look like a polished version of myself. I don’t wear much makeup on a regular basis so I didn’t want to show up to the wedding with it caked on. Same for all the ladies in my party. Sticking with the relaxed, comfortable, organic theme.

Bridesmaids and Flower Girl

The bridesmaid dresses are from VICI  They are nude/tan universal wrap dresses. I thought they’d give a cohesive look but still allow each girl to be different. In the end they decided on everyone going with a sleeved look except for my sister and maid of honor.

They all wore whatever shoes they wanted, I just asked that they stay away from black. As bridesmaids gifts I gave each of them necklaces form Long Lost Jewelry that they all ended up wearing for the big day.

The flower girl dress we got from Windsor which can be more on the adult side, so later we added straps and a sash at the waist.They each wore flower pieces in their hair by my florist, Cotton & Magnolia  each one different.

Style

I didn’t have a planner or stylist, that was all done by myself with input from Brian along the way. I did, however have a co-ordinator on the day, my florist, she was amazing and made my vision come to life.

I wanted our wedding to be reflection of us and all the things we love and have made us fall in love along the way. I took the traditional layout of a wedding and put our spin on everything i could. For example, the processional song and song I walked down the aisle to were instrumental versions of songs from our favourite Bollywood movie and the food was inspired by what we ate on our first date. It meant throughout the whole wedding there were a bunch of little things that reminded me of falling in love with Brian.

Groom’s Threads

Brian loves to get suited up but has very few occasions to do so. He has a tailor in town, Angel’s Custom Tailor, Inc, he has been using for years who also custom makes suits, and what better reason for a custom made suit than your wedding day. He went for a three piece lighter navy suit that we got to hand pick the fabric and style. It fit like a glove and the color was perfect on him.

Brian’s shirt and tie are both from Nordstrom, shirt tailored again by Angel (who also did some minor adjustment to my dress). Shoes and belt are Allen Edmonds and his shoes are Carlyle Plain-Toe Oxfords in Walnut.  All the Gents wore their own suits, I just asked again for no black.

Flowers

My florist was Elaina, of Cotton and Magnolia, I love her! I met her at the Indie Market  that Green Bench hosts every first Saturday of the month. Her booth was full of beautifully arranged flowers and she was so sweet. When choosing flowers i gave her a lot of creative freedom. I wanted colour and I wanted what was in season (trick to keep prices low) with lots of green. She hit it out of the park! We had dahlias, king protea, peonies, ranunculus, and few varieties of roses. The centre pieces had all of the above plus some tulips and berries with tons of greenery throughout. The guys had petite succulents in their boutonnieres which i though was a nice masculine touch.

The Cake

Our cake designer was Jovanna at The Artistic Whisk We wanted a clean looking cake design, not too busy, we both like a geometric theme, and incorporated rose gold and ivory for colors. It actually ended up looking a little Art Deco inspired, which was fine by us. The flavours were the best part. Two of the tiers where a marble with German chocolate ganache and the other two (our favourite) was a Lemon cake with a raspberry and basil jam filling. We figured that covered all the desert bases.

The Rings

We got our wedding bands from Zales. Brian wanted to be able to try his on because originally we were thinking of an alternative metal for his ring. Those ended up being too bulky and heavy on his hand so we went with a white gold band with ridged accents around the top and bottom. I stuck with my rose gold theme, with a slender band that has a row of dainty diamonds to compliment my engagement ring but small enough to be practical for everyday wear. We got the rings soon after Valentine’s day, which happened to be great timing with some awesome sales.

Catering

Man did we have awesome vendors! We love paella and it also happened to be what we ate on our first date. We got so lucky when a friend of a friend suggested Senor Pepe’s Paella Catering. Jose was so friendly and quick to respond to all my questions, I cannot recommend him enough! We ended up with three giant paellas; one with a variety of fresh local seafood, one with chicken and Spanish chorizo, and one vegetarian. They were big, beautiful, and so delicious. It was important to me that the food we had wasn’t just sitting under a heat lamp getting cold and old. The paella was right off the fire and so flavourful. He was also almost a third of the price of any other “traditional” caterer I spoke with.

For ease we wanted to use disposable plates but still wanted them to look and feel nice. I also hated the idea of just throwing away a bunch of plastic at the end of the night. We found these awesome biodegradable palm leaf plates from Webstaurant Store  they were beautiful, sturdy, and each one was was a little different. All of our other rentals were supplied by Coast to Coast.

Favourite Moments

It all went by so fast! Probably the speeches for so many reasons. My Dad’s speech express so much pride and gratitude. His family is from Mexico and came to the U.S. as immigrants. My father is now a 20 year U.S. Army Veteran. He spoke of how much pride he has for his heritage but also of the joining and melding of our family to Brian’s, which has a well established History in the States. It was such a touching expression of past, present, and future. Especially in today’s political climate. My sister and Maid of Honor had everyone, including myself, laughing, then crying, then laughing again. And Jeremy, Brian’s twin brother and Best Man, who usually has a harder exterior actually started tearing up when giving his speech. It was surprising but so touching.

Entertainment and Lighting

Green Bench already had string Edison bulb lights in the beer garden so we just had to worry about music. I DID NOT want the typical “We are Family” “ChaCha Slide” DJ. We had heard DJ Sugar Bear aka Seth spin at Green Bench a few times and he had a great old school vibe that made you want to get up to get down! He played for the ceremony and cocktail hour as well. You know you picked the right DJ when your grandparents, friends, and little ones don’t want to leave the dance floor.

Transport

We used Skyline Limousine of Tampa Bay as transportation to and from our wedding. Our driver was so nice and on time for everything.

Stationery and Favours

All the Invites, menus, and name cards came from Minted.  We didn’t really do favours, but we were leaving the next morning for our honeymoon so we asked everyone to take home and enjoy all the flowers from the day.

First Dance

We chose another very ‘Us” song.  Rose Royce – I wanna Get Next to You.

Honeymoon

It was amazing! The night of the wedding we stayed the the Marriott Hotel in Tampa International Airport and flew to Los Cabos Mexico the next morning for a whole week! We stayed at The Cabo Azul Resort in San Jose del Cabo. Less of a party town than Cabo San Lucas, more of a quite artsy fishing town. It is one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever been. Very walkable and friendly.

Advice For Others

Take your time and do it as a team, after all that’s what this whole thing is all about. Try to incorporate as much personal touches as possible. It’ll make the day even more special, seeing, hearing, tasting all the things that made you fall in love. Finally, your vendors are everything! Look outside the box, you’ll find less expensive and more unique options.

We wouldn’t do anything differently other than made it an hour or two longer! it went by so fast and i never get to have all the people i love in the same place at the same time.

What an incredible day, huge congratulations to Tatiana and Brian, the new Mr and Mrs Wing! Thank you so much for sharing your day with us and sending you love for your future together.

Thanks too to Mari Sabra Photography for these brilliant images, be sure to check out her other work on her website and Instagram too.

with love