Interview with our fun-loving coouple, Danielle + Alex:
HOW DID YOU MEET? We met at Fiddler’s Green Irish Pub in Winter Park Florida. Alex was in graduate school at Rollins College getting a master’s degree in business and I was finishing up an undergraduate degree at Rollins College. We had mutual friends that introduced us at the bar, I was not as into him at first but he pursued me and the rest is history.
WHAT ATTRACTED YOU THE MOST TO YOUR HUSBAND/WIFE?
Danielle: I was attracted to Alex because he was not like the other guys at Rollins College. I thought he was a fun skater boy that seemed relaxed but educated. Later I found out he was like the other guys at Rollins College, but he was better at hiding it than them. I am still happy he is not the usual preppy guy, Alex always seems to amaze me with his unusual style and lack of concern of what others think of him.
Alex: I’ve always like that fact that Danielle is extremely warm and easy to talk to. She can have a conversation with anyone about anything, something I’m not really good at. I could tell she was very caring from the first time I met her, I guess that explains why she is such a good nurse, it’s in her nature.
HOW DID HE PROPOSE? Alex is in the beer business and we have to go to a lot of dinners and bars. He told me we were asked to participate in wine pairing dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Lake Mary, and it turns out he had set up a dinner at the chef’s table at the restaurant just for us. The table was in its own area of the restaurant tucked behind curtains. Each course was paired with wine and he placed the ring in the champagne glass with the first course. I did not notice the ring and started drinking the champagne and he was so nervous as he tried to point out the ring in my glass. He tried to fish out the ring from the glass with his fork, but he was so nervous the fork was clinking against the sides of the glass and I thought he was going to shatter the glass so I helped him out. He was so adorable. I couldn’t believe he was as nervous as he was because we have dated for almost six years. Once we got the ring out of the glass he asked me to marry him and then put the ring on the wrong finger, which made the whole experience so much better! (this is why I love him so much, he does not get caught up in the superficial things in life, he didn’t even know the right finger, hah). Then, the musician started to play a jack Johnson song and he got upset because he said it wasn’t the one he was supposed to play after he proposed, which means he thought it out, and was so cute!
WHAT INSPIRED YOUR VISION FOR YOUR WEDDING? We both love the beach and want to move to an island, so having a destination wedding was a no brainer for us. We had found Marco Island, Florida a year and a half ago when we were supposed to plan a vacation and never got around to it, so his parents sent us there and we loved it! We said we could get married there the first time we ever saw it, and that was the end of that!
TELL US ABOUT FINDING YOUR VENUE: I went on a search with my dad driving down the West Coast of Florida in search of a wedding venue. I had researched two places in Islamorada, in the Keys, but I realized early on the budget would not allow for those two places. When we went down the West Coast we looked at four different places, Marco Beach Ocean Resort reminded me of a small Ritz Carlton and I felt like it was the perfect fit for us.
WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST PLANNING CHALLENGE? The most challenging part of planning the wedding was the fact that I was in three classes, working full-time, and preparing to start graduate school in January in addition to planning the wedding. I cannot believe the wedding came together because I had never dreamed of having a wedding and had no clue what to do, but I guess I figured it out along the way. Another issue was my dress…I wanted the Monique Lhullier Scarlet dress, but could not bring myself to spend that much money on a dress when I knew I was quitting my job and taking out loans for graduate school. I had the dress remade, but in the end I had wished I had bought the dress and felt more like myself on my wedding day. That is my one and only regret of the wedding!
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE DESIGN ELEMENT OF YOUR WEDDING?
Danielle: I loved the guys’ outfits in the wedding with their hops and barley boutonnieres. The fact that I had the boys do an arts and crafts project and put together their own boutonnieres the morning of the wedding is great.
Alex: I really loved the checkered shoes Danielle allowed the groomsman and me to wear for the wedding.
DID YOU HAVE ANY DIY DETAILS? I also loved the way the napkin rings turned out. The napkin rings were a coral colored ribbon with a seashell, I had previously collected on the beach in Marco Island, on each one. I felt like this element brought in a special piece of Marco Island connecting the wedding to the place it was being held at. My mom made those and it was so thoughtful of her to do.
WHAT WAS THE MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT OF YOUR WEDDING DAY?
Danielle: The most memorable moment to me is when I saw Alex for the first time and couldn’t stop smiling because I was so happy to finally be marrying my best friend. I know people say they get nervous and their stomach gets upset, but honestly I felt a sense of ease and all I felt was pure happiness the day of the wedding. It all went by so quickly, but from what I remember I felt as though I was floating on clouds and had such a fun time with my closest friends and family to celebrate with Alex and me on our most special day of our life!
Alex: My favorite memory was after the ceremony when we went down to the beach. That was one of the coolest sunsets I’ve ever seen, and so I take it as a good omen that we saw it on our wedding day. Running through the birds and then sitting back and watching the sky with our closest friends was pretty cool. Danielle looked so beautiful out there on the beach. And then obviously the dance off at the reception between Sean and Bryan was outrageous, can’t forget about that spectacle.
DESCRIBE YOUR CAKE: We didn’t have one! We decided to have individual key lime tarts and the hotel made them for us, and they were adorable. The only thing I wish I had done is eaten one. I never got to try one, all I got was one shoved up my nose by Alex!
HOW WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER? We had such a fun time. We are pretty fun people, but we were really overwhelmed at the wedding and hadn’t had a chance to relax in months so we were a bit uptight. The photographers helped loosen us up. I just wish I hadn’t been hung-over from the rehearsal dinner the night before and could have started drinking earlier before the photo shoot. Once we got down there to take pictures I decided to open a personal bottle of champagne, that helped!
Sara and Jason were so organized and had everything planned out from the beginning. My dad was worried the pictures were going to take forever, but I informed him that Jason and Sara had it under control, and they did.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU AND YOUR HUSBAND AS A COUPLE? Danielle starts graduate school to be a nurse anesthetist and Alex keeps selling beer to be able to afford Danielle’s lifestyle!
CAN YOU PLEASE LIST YOUR VENDORS:
Photographer: Concept Photography
Venue: Marco Beach Ocean Resort
Band: Hot Topic 4 person band with steel drums
Flowers: bride’s bouquet from Naples Flowers
Food: Sale e Pepe
Officiate: Amber Phillips
Hair & Makeup: Jamie Laino
