An Elevated Coastal Wedding at The Gasparilla Inn with Grandmillennial Charm

[section title=”The Planning”]
[field title=”Wedding Colors”][/field]
[field title=”Design / Vibe / Vision”]

We used shades of greens, blues, and whites during our wedding day to play off the natural beauty of Boca Grande, the sea, and the Gasparilla Inn.

We credit Nicole Kaney and her team for executing our Elevated Coastal vision and bringing it to life. I would consider myself a “grand-millennial” and love the use of print, pattern, and hints of rattan. We incorporate those in our home, and wanted our wedding to feel like an extension of that.

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[field title=”Proposal Story”]

Ben and I led parallel lives for many years before meeting. We went to undergrad together at Miami of Ohio, and coincidentally lived a block away from each other off campus for years. We would often see each other around campus and admire from afar, but nothing ever came of it! After graduation, we both moved to New York City and coincidentally found apartments in the Lower East Side, also a block apart from each other! We began running into each other through mutual friends and parties, and our relationship blossomed from there. We shared our first kiss at the iconic NYC bar The Red Lion in the heart of Greenwich Village. During COVID, we spent almost an entire year in Florida, so getting married at the Inn was a no-brainer for us. We love the people and atmosphere of the Gulf Coast. It will always hold such a special place in our hearts. As Ben and I spoke about our proposal in the year leading up to it, I had two requirements: to be surprised and for our proposal to be private. It was a Friday night in April, and I was dressed and ready for dinner (or so I thought!) with Ben’s family. Ben was getting ready to call our Uber, but he said before he did that he had a question to ask me, and got down on one knee in our Chicago apartment! I was so surprised and happy, and we spent the rest of the evening celebrating as a couple. When we arrived back home family was there to meet us in our apartment, and we spent the rest of the weekend celebrating.

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[board_carousel title=”Getting Ready”]

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[board_carousel title=”Bridal Portraits”]

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[board_carousel title=”Flat Lays”]

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[section title=”The Fashion”]
[field title=”Wedding Gown”]

My ceremony gown was the Quince by Ines de Santo. Ironically, shortly after I got engaged, my mom saw this dress on Jon Hamm’s wife and sent it to me, remarking about how pretty she thought it was. It ended up being the 3rd dress I tried, by coincidence! I purchased the dress from Ultimate Bride in Chicago’s Gold Coast and had such an amazing experience there from start to finish.

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[field title=”Bridesmaid Dresses”]

I wanted all of my bridesmaids to feel like themselves, so they all chose their floor-length dress from Reformation in whichever print, pattern, or solid felt most like them! All of the gowns were in tones of green, blue, and whit, keeping with the elevated coastal theme. My sister was my “something blue” and Maid of Honor, and she wore a solid blue dress from Jenny Yoo. Although every dress silhouette and pattern was different, I loved how cohesive and fun the photos turned out.

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[field title=”Groomsman Attire”]Ben wore a custom tuxedo with a white dinner jacket made by Antonio Matarazzo. His groomsmen were all dressed in classic black tuxedos.[/field]
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[board_carousel title=”Wedding Party”]

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[board_carousel title=”Ceremony”]

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[board_carousel title=”Cocktail Hour”]

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[section title=”The Details”]
[field title=”Food & Drink”]

All of our food and drink was done by the incredible culinary team at the Gasparilla Inn! Our food was amazing and played into the coastal vibe as well, with lots of fresh seafood and delicious appetizers. We served a plated sit-down dinner for our guests with a choice of Filet Mignon, Grouper, or Gnocchi. Our salad choice was a fun take on a BLT, called the bacon bibb stack. And our signature cocktail “the Calico” was served all night.. a take on the traditional Aperol Spritz and a nod to our beloved kitty Rachel. We always reminisce on our tasting weekend because it was one of our favorite parts of the planning process. My grandparents joined us, which made it even more special.

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[field title=”Florals & Decor”]

Botanica Designs did our day of florals, and also constructed our place card display from scratch! Every detail was perfect, down to my bridal bouquet, which my sister caught at the end of the night. Our tent design was something out of a Nancy Meyers film (which was exactly what I wanted), it felt so elevated and beautiful, all while feeling like a true extension of us as a couple, and fit perfectly with the venue. I loved the batik prints on the linens and the use of rattan throughout the tent. Trout Designs was truly the icing on the cake for our wedding. The custom paper goods and invitation suite Olivia designed were incredible. A few of our favorites were the custom matchbooks with a little crab that noted E+B (our initials) given as guest favors, and a custom sketch of our beloved cat Rachel, which we named our signature cocktail “the Calico” after. Olivia used coastal, fun, and personal details throughout every aspect of the design process, and we couldn’t be happier with the result. We still have a bowl of the custom matchbooks that we use in our home, almost 8 months later! Nicole Kaney and her team sourced linens, lighting, vvotivesand paper goods from so many talented South Florida Vendors.

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[field title=”Wedding Cake”]

Our cake was a red velvet cake with buttercream frosting made by the incredible pastry team at the Gasparilla Inn. We decided to save our top-tier for our 1st anniversary, but admittedly ate another slice each on the Monday after we got married at home in our NYC apartment. The rest is tucked away for June 2025!

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[field title=”Readings, Ceremony Music, Reception Songs”]

Music was a huge part of the day, and one of the details that I spent the most time on. I made a playlist for every part of the day, down to the morning spent in the bridal suite with my family and friends. Readings: My aunt officiated our wedding and read a beautiful passage called The Beauty of Love. It brought the guests to tears and was one of my favorite parts about our ceremony. Music: Jade Strings played live music during our ceremony, which was important to us. I grew up watching Little Women with my dad and have always loved the classic score by Thomas Neumann, it holds a lot of memories for me. I walked down the aisle to a song called Spring from the Little Women score. It was a light and airy feeling, and sounded beautiful on the violins and cellos. Our first dance was to Elvis’ “Can’t Help Falling In Love”. We took about 6 weeks of lessons leading up to our wedding and had so much fun learning our dance. It made for really fun date nights, and put us at ease for that big moment. All of the guests surrounded us during our first dance, which was a memory we’ll never forget! I danced to Tupelo Honey with my dad for our ourFather-Daughterr dance. Van Morrison is special to both of us, and it was a tribute to my late grandmother whom I was very close. I had basically one requirement for the reception, and that was that I wanted the dance floor packed the entire night. DJ Tommy delivered, from bringing Ben and me out to one of our favorite songs from our time living in Paris (Freed from Desire) to mixing in a combination of disco, house music, rap, country, and slow songs. There was a brief interlude where my brother rolled out a beer pong table, and we played bride vs. groom. Safe to say Ben won! One of my favorite parts of the whole night was our private last dance. After the guests cleared out of the tent, Ben and I danced under the lights to When We Were Young by Adele. It was the most special part of the entire day, I wish I could bottle up that feeling forever! We then exited the tent to go to our afterparty at the Pink Elephant to “Best I Ever Had” by Drake. A nod to Toronto since Ben grew up there.

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[field title=”Special Detail #1″]

My second dress was one of the most special parts of the day for me! I fell in love with a new season Monique L’Huillier floral dress as I was shopping, but couldn’t justify the price for my second look. I found a very similar Monique dress second-hand, and had it transformed from a full-length gown into a 3-piece party dress. The dress had a bubble hem, which was great for pictures and dancing, and a detachable train and sleeves for drama that I wore for sunset photos and our cake cutting. The dress was so unique and something I will keep forever! The alterations team at Fit N Fix Chicago did an incredible job capturing my vision for the dress and executed it seamlessly.

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[field title=”Special Detail #2″]

Heirlooms were a big part of our day! My mom gifted me diamonds from her original ring to place in my wedding band, and Ben wore his grandfather’s cufflinks that have been in his family for generations. It was really special for us to be able to honor our family in this way.

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[field title=”Special Detail #3″]

To say it rained on our wedding day would be an understatement 🙂 It poured sideways until I walked down the aisle. Thankfully, Ben and I had just wrapped up photos and our private vows before it started raining. Although rain on your wedding day is the stuff of nightmares for most brides, I actually couldn’t have imagined our day without it now looking back! It made our ceremony that much more moody and romantic. My dad carried an umbrella over me as I walked towards the aisle, and it’s a great memory. Perfectly imperfect as is life! One of my favorite parts about the rain was when my aunt stopped me before I walked down the aisle and told me that rain not only meant good luck on your wedding day, but lots of children in our future. Ben and I are expecting our first child, a son, this April! Maybe she was right after all 🙂

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[board_carousel title=”Couple Portraits”]

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[board_carousel title=”Reception”]

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