What a gorgeous day!!! Loved hanging out with Tara + Michele in the Magic Kingdom and celebrating their engagement with these awesome pics! Enjoy!

Interview with our GORGEOUS couple, Jillian + Nick:

How did you meet? In college at the Florida vs. Georgia football game in Jacksonville. I drove over from FSU with a group of friends and when we got there, the hotel had overbooked our room. The guy who drove us already had plans to stay with his best friend: who after hearing the news, invited us to stay with him. That guy was Nick!
What attracted you the most to your husband/wife?
Jill: Aside from his ruggedly good looks? He made me laugh nonstop all weekend, and from the moment we said “hi” we just clicked.
Nick: She didn’t think I was a big goon & was laughing at all my dumb jokes. (Jill says I have to be more serious, so… she was beautiful and fun to be around.
How Did he propose? Nick proposed on his birthday! That night, we were going to dinner to celebrate, and as I was getting my things together, Nick, who was going through the mail, handed me an envelope. I wasn’t expecting a package, and the return address was unfamiliar. “Jacksonville, what the heck is from Jacksonville?” (I didn’t realize he put the return address of where we met!) I opened it, and pulled out a small velvet bag. Inside the bag was a necklace. “I didn’t order this. Who is this from?”
Nick just laughed. I noticed there was writing on the pendant. I read it, read it again, and said “Is this for real right now?”
The necklace read “You are the love of my life. Will you marry me?” After many “o my god’s” I said “Of course I’ll marry you!”
What inspired your vision for your wedding? I wanted a very romantic feeling to the room, so I envisioned a lot of candles.
I basically figured out how many candles would light the room on fire, and took it down a notch.
Tell us about finding your venue: We found St. Patricks church first. After, we did a search for venues in the area and found Ballen Isles.
Everything about it was perfect, and Lori the coordinator was the best!
What was your biggest planning challenge? I bought the centerpieces and most of the decorations, so handing everything over
to the florist & banquet manager & hoping it came together how I envisioned was tough! They did an amazing job though! My mouth dropped when I walked into the ballroom!
What was your favorite design element of your wedding? The table decor.
Did you have any DIY details? Yes! Jill’s mom wrapped 100 glass votive candle holders in black lace and designed the birdcage.
We had a table to display wedding portraits of our parents, grand parents and great grandparents. Jill designed the Viennese table decor.
What was the most memorable moment of your wedding day?
Jill: Walking down the aisle with my father, and locking eyes with Nick for the 1st time that day.
Nick: When we were announced as Mr. & Mrs. Palmisano at the reception.
Describe your cake: Going with the vintage theme, the cake was ivory and black, with ivory roses on top. The top was Nick’s favorite flavor: Carrot Cake.
The bottom was Jill’s favorite flavor: Red Velvet.
How was your experience with your photographer? Sara & Jason are absolutely incredible. Not only do they take the most beautiful photos, but they are a blast to work with!
The moment we met them for our engagement pictures, we were so excited to see them again on our wedding day. And, only three days after we took our engagement pictures, naturally dying to see them,
they sent us a “Happy Valentine’s Day” package of all our engagement pictures on February 14th! There are no forced awkward poses; they capture each genuine moment. Everything is original.
They welcomed our ideas and made us very comfortable. They’re so much fun to be around and we couldn’t imagine having anyone else with us on our wedding day!
What’s next for you as a couple? Starting a family.
Please list your vendors:
Photography: Concept Photography
Videography & Cinematography: Kat Small, Cinema Chic
DJ & Drummer: Z Entertainment
Florist & Decor: De La Flor Gardens
Bridal Dress: Boca Raton Bridal
Dress: Rivini
Grooms Tux: Austin Burke
Cake: Cakes Etc.
Desserts: Carmine’s Bakery
Invitations: Ft. Lauderdale Invitations
Hair: Hair by Danielle Nycole
Makeup: Karla Calderon
Venue: Ballen Isles

Interview with our spectacular couple, Kendra + Tom:
HOW DID YOU MEET? Tom and I worked for the same company but in different states; I was in the Boston office and he was in the Philadelphia office. We communicated through email for 3 months before finally getting the chance to meet each other in person. He is a huge Phillies fan and kept promising to take me to my first game when I came to town but stood me up and ended up having “food poisoning”. On my next trip down, we finally got a chance to go to dinner and that’s where our love for food and each other took off!
WHAT ATTRACTED YOU THE MOST TO YOUR HUSBAND/WIFE?
Kendra: I love that he is a guy’s guy and is extremely whitty (which keeps me laughing) but also has a sensitive side. His double dimples were pretty irresistible as well!
Tom: Besides the obvious of being extremely sexy, she has a heart of gold
HOW DID HE PROPOSE? It is quite humorous and needless to say did not go as planned for me. We were up at our family beach house in York Beach, Maine. Let’s just say Tom made multiple attempts to try and lure me onto the beach the night of July 1st but I refused to get out of the car because I was cold (on July 1st mind you!) so he had no choice but to propose in the car right next to the beach.
Although it was not a storybook proposal, he tells me that proposed at our favorite place in the world. It was an incredible night that we will never forget… and it will make for a great story years from now when I explain to my children how difficult she can be to deal with at times but that she is still the best mother, wife and friend anyone could ask for!
WHAT INSPIRED YOUR VISION FOR YOUR WEDDING? I loved the idea of having an untraditional wedding on the beach. I wanted it to be casual yet elegant. I already had a beautiful setting as my background so I used that as my inspiration when making design choices about the evening.
TELL US ABOUT FINDING YOUR VENUE: Right from the start, we knew we wanted to have a destination wedding so we could stretch out the amount of days we got to spend with our family and friends. The Florida Keys were a top contender so we flew down over a long weekend to check out our top picks. After two days and four site visits, we still hadn’t found “the spot” so we decided to call it quits and enjoy our last night in Key West. We jumped on our scooter and were buzzing around the island when we ended up on a dead end street. This street just happened to be the location of the Southernmost on the Beach and there just happened to be a wedding going on. We went back the next morning, got a tour of the property and fell in love-it was the perfect spot!
WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST PLANNING CHALLENGE? Being that it was a destination wedding, I had to be realistic with the number of DIY design elements I would take on since it would be difficult to travel down with everything. In the end, I am glad I had to limit myself on the projects because I was a lot more relaxed!
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE DESIGN ELEMENT OF YOUR WEDDING? My dress and the Chandeliers. I absolutely loved that dress and am still trying to figure out how I can where it again! The chandeliers looked incredible hanging from the palm trees. They pulled everything together.
DID YOU HAVE ANY DIY DETAILS?
The Orchids on the tables. I contacted an orchid farm in Miami and we picked them up on our way down and put them in pots we bought at IKEA.
WHAT WAS THE MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT OF YOUR WEDDING DAY? Our first dance. Tom and I both felt as if we were the only ones on the beach. At that moment, it was just us dancing underneath the stars.
DESCRIBE YOUR CAKE: The Untraditional bride and groom chose cake pops and mini desserts instead!
HOW WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER? Sara and Jason are INCREDIBLE. I fell in love with their work before we even had a venue picked out and knew we had to have them. They did an amazing job of putting Tom and I at ease and making all those photo poses that you anticipate being awkward, actually fun!
WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU AND YOUR HUSBAND AS A COUPLE? We are moving in a month and are planning our Honeymoon in Italy so that should keep us busy for a little while. Beyond that, we are looking forward to starting a family!
CAN YOU PLEASE LIST YOUR VENDORS:
Band-Chillula http://www.chillula.com/
Photographer: Concept Photography
Rentals-Eventfully Yours https://www.facebook.com/pages/Eventfully-Yours/166603556727898
Venue: Southernmost Hotel Collection http://www.southernmostresorts.com/
Florist: Lily Bee’s Florals http://www.lilybeesfloral.com/
Orchids-Orchid Whiz orchidwhiz@gmail.com ask for Mela
Wedding Coorindator -Erika of Simply You http://simplyyouweddings.com/
Desserts- Cakes by Karol http://www.cakesbykarol.com/
Hair/Makeup-Isle Style http://www.islestylekeywest.com/
Welcome Cruise-Sebago Water Sports http://www.keywestsebago.com/

The next morning…