If you are from the Sunshine State, you will love this DIY Old Florida inspired wedding captured from Esther Louise Photography. The vibrant color palette and florals make for such a fun summery wedding! The bride fell in love with a vintage print of Florida and based the entire inspiration off of that, creating a romantic setting that you’ll fall in love with.
Dan and I were both born and raised in Tampa, Florida. We proudly pull for our hometown sports teams, and love living in the Sunshine State- currently in Key West. I knew we had to incorporate a lot of Florida elements while still keeping the overall feel very natural and simple. During one of the image searches I did for inspiration, I came across an old Florida poster that totally hit me over the head. The colors, the feel; everything about it was perfect, and I chose to base our day around it.
The biggest DIY was the invitation suite. I designed the layout, ordered the prints, envelopes and stamps, inserted the liners, and hand wrote each envelope myself. For the save the dates, I hand-painted each one. I can’t say I ever want to try that huge of a task again on my own, but I am so proud that I did it for us and of how they turned out.
The best part of the day was when I finally got to put the dress on and see Dan. I was so excited to show him myself when I felt the most beautiful I ever have.
What made our wedding so special for us was how central our guests were. Everything we planned was with them in mind. We wanted our guests to enjoy every second of the day and never be bored or waiting for events to happen. We held our cocktail hour before the main event, had a crowd-involved ceremony, and went straight into our reception afterwards. We chose to do a “walking reception,” which means our guests were able to eat as they pleased to, with no formal seating assignments. It ended up being very personal and fun. Groups who had never met were mingling and laughing together. It was great!
The venue was filled with wildflowers and candles to give off the natural feel we were striving for. And, we of course purchased the poster and displayed it front and center at the venue. The venue itself was perfect for us; we wanted one location for all of the events, and some thing on the water that still had a garden feel to it. It was a tall order to find something that fit those ideas, but the Edson Keith was absolutely perfect.
Spending time with him and friends and family when we were the happiest we could ever be was something I’ll never forget. And overall, seeing the final product of the wedding we created together and sharing it with our guests was just awesome.
Photography | Esther Louise Photography | Venue | Edson Keith Mansion at Phillippi Estate Park | Planning | Just Save The Date | Florals | Northside Florist | Vintage Rentals | The Reserve Vintage | Catering | Milan Catering and Event Design | Menu | Erin Williams | Videography | Cineaverde | Lighting | Tampa Lights Inc | Musicians | DJ Buggy and Rusty Lemmon | Dress | Hayley Paige from The White Magnolia | Headpiece & Veil | Melinda Rose Design | Hair | Destiny & Light | Groomswear | Men’s Warehouse
