A Sophisticated Fusion Wedding

Rita & Jack  

Our lovely couple, Rita and Jack met online via Sparkology.com and hit it off right away!   Rita and Jack live in the Northeast but knew they wanted a warm weather wedding and thought that Florida would be a great place as it's easily accessible for their family from the Northeast and Jack's family from Atlanta. Rita became obsessed with places that had banyan trees and stumbled on Banyan Street in Boca Grande and The Gasparilla Inn & Club. When she showed her Groom the location, he was shocked because it was the same place he vacationed with his family as a child. He had many fond memories of being there with his grandmother as a child so it was really kismet! When they went to visit The Gasparilla Inn & Club they fell in love with the venue and could really see themselves having the perfect wedding there for both their ceremony and reception. 

It is tradition for Chinese brides to have more than one gown….and Rita had THREE! There's always at least one red dress as red is the color of good luck and celebration. In addition, Brides typically have one western style white gown for the ceremony and a cocktail dress for the end of the wedding.  Rita first found her white gown and her Mother actually had her red dress custom made in China!  Then Rita happened to be searching for her rehearsal dinner dress and found her third gown! The bride thought it was so pretty but a little too fancy for the rehearsal so she decided to keep it as her "cocktail" dress to end the evening! 

In keeping with the theme of tradition, Rita and Jack also had a Tea Ceremony.  The tea ceremony is a tradition where the married couple is offering their elders tea as a sign of respect. Typically the tea is presented and the elder/s will present the couple with gifts and words of wisdom on a long and happy marriage. It's significant as it is the moment where the couple is united and presenting their respect to their new families. 

Being that Rita and Jack are extremely sophisticated, we wanted to incorporate their class and elegance throughout their wedding.  Of course we enlisted Botanica International Décor and Design Studio to execute the vision and they knocked it out of the park! We definitely did not want to go “beachy” but rather complement the gorgeous venue.  We tented their reception and infused teal, magenta and gold throughout the space.  For the tables, we created a mixture of square and round tables adorned with gold sequin runners and a collection of modern turquoise glass with stems of orchids.  The bride wanted loved candles so we added a heavy assortment of candles throughout all of the tables to add just the right amount of romance and glamour! For the personals, the bride’s bouquet consisted of a simple yet loose clutch style bouquet of transitioning colored magenta and white florals consisting of vandas, cattelaya and cymbidium orchids.  The groom’s boutonniere was the perfect complement to the bride’s bouquet as it consisted of a single white cymbidium orchid with a raspberry center. 

Thank you to Amalie Orrange Photography for capturing this couples essence and love! Also a huge shout out to DJ Felix for keeping the party rocking all night! We so adored working with this couple and we loved their wedding!!!  Next up for this sophisticated couple…..A BABY!!!!!!  Congratulations Rita and Jack!!!!!

A note from the bride on why she hired a Wedding Planner:
I realized there were many many things I didn't know, nor would find time to learn. I wanted someone on my side that I could trust to give me unbiased advice based on their expertise in the wedding business. My decision to hire a wedding planner was the BEST decision I made for my wedding. Stephanie was always there to answer my questions and keep me on track throughout the planning process. She was absolutely critical to keeping my wedding running smoothly on the day. There wasn't a thing that I wished happened differently, that's the difference Stephanie made. 
What people tell you about the wedding day just breezing by too fast is absolutely true. Without Stephanie, I don't think me or my wedding party would have been able to fully enjoy the wedding because we would have been too worried about the logistics. And honestly, I went to a wedding this past week where the wedding planner was very hands off and it was still lovely but noticeably disorganized. 

Wedding Planner:  Clover Girls of Course! Ceremony/Reception Venue & Catering: The Gasparilla Inn & Club Florist: Botanica International Design and Décor Studio  Photography:  Amalie Orrange Photography Tent/Dance Floor/Lighting: U.S. Tent Rental Hair & Makeup:  Femme Akoi  DJ: DJ Felix Event Productions