Jessica and Chris’ wedding day {Casa Monica Wedding Photos} | Jacksonville Florida Wedding Photography

Jessica + Chris Wedding Photos

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Wedding Weekend Info:

Hotel accommodations for guests:

We told friends and family that there were many bed and breakfasts that they could stay at. We also booked a block of rooms at the Casa Monica, Hampton Inn – Historic District, and the Best Western.

Rehearsal Dinner Location:

The Raintree Restaurant

Ceremony Location:

The Sultans Pavilion, Casa Monica Hotel (up on the pool deck)

Reception Location:

Flagler Ballroom, Casa Monica Hotel

Caterer:

Casa Monica Hotel

Wedding Coordinator:

Dawn from the Wedding Authority. She was amazing! I could not have pulled everything together without her!

Photographer:

The amazing Tonya Beaver Photography!

Videographer:

We decided that we were not going to have a videographer and that a family member would use their camera to take a video of the ceremony. The day before the wedding Dawn asked if we would mind having a videographer take a video of our wedding for free, if we wanted the video we could pay for it after, they wanted to build their portfolio.

Cake:

Publix Bakery, Mission Trace. It came out tasting delicious and looked amazing. I would highly recommend them.

Florist:

57 Treasury. Karin was fantastic. When I first met with her I could tell she had a very artistic way of putting flowers together. She was very helpful when we told her our budget and had to trim down on the size of the arrangements.

She even came up with the idea to put the centerpieces on top of candle sticks for the reception, I was skeptical about how tall they would be but in the end it came our better than I could have imagined.

Officiate:

Our friend Suzanne officiated for us.

Hair:

Amy from Rio Hair Studio. She was awesome, everyone’s hair turned out perfect.

Make-up:

Kira McCarty from On Site Muse. She was fabulous. I had a snafu with my previously planned make-up artist so I was scrambling to find someone new three days before the wedding.

I emailed Kira and she responded quickly and we spoke that night. I sent her pictures of what I wanted my makeup to look like. The day of our wedding I met her and she made me look gorgeous!

Entertainment:

Joey DeSena from Special Day Entertainment. Chris actually found him, that was his job was to secure the entertainment for the night. Joey was great to work with, he sent us time lines to help organize the flow reception (he was also our master of ceremony). He definitely kept the party going!

Transportation:

One of the reasons we chose to get married in January was because of the Nights of Lights. We had a trolley ride on the Old Town Trolley after the reception with our guests through the historic district of St. Augustine. It was absolutely beautiful.

Wedding Dress:

I grew up in Jupiter in South Florida. I went home and found a dress at Tamera’s Forever Bridal in Stuart, FL. It was great because my grandmother and mother were there with me and helped me choose the dress.

Wedding Shoes:

Gianni Bani from Dillard’s, I saw them and fell in love with the details on the back, and the price!

Bridesmaids Dresses:

Wtoo from their website. My bridesmaids were from all over so it was easier to e-mail them a link to get the dress at one of their local bridal shop or online.

Groom and Groomsmen Wear:

Michael’s Formalwear of Jacksonville.

Before the Wedding …

How did you two meet?

We met at The Irish Pub in Tallahassee. I had graduated from Florida State and was working in Tallahassee at the time and Chris had just come back to Florida State for law school. I didn’t want to go out that night but my roommate forced me to go. I saw him across the bar and had my friend introduce us. From that night on we were pretty much inseparable.

How did he propose?

It was Saturday, October 13, 2012.

We planned a day to go to the mall and then go to our friends house to watch FSU play football against Boston College. Chris suggested we go to Town Center so that I could go shopping before the game. I didn’t think anything of it, except that it was a great idea, what girl would say no to shopping?

Chris drove and dropped me off at Target saying that he needed to “get gas” so that we wouldn’t have to get it on the drive home. Again, I thought nothing of it, just extra shopping time for me! Chris met up with me at Target stating that he could not get gas because there was “too much traffic” and the “gas station” was on the other side of the shopping center. We ended up not going to our friend’s house and instead went home to watch the football game.

As we were unloading the car Chris told me that he would grab my phone from the center cup holder. As we were just getting to the front door, Chris said that he forgot his phone in the car. I thought it was strange that Chris would grab my phone and not his, but I chalked it up to Chris being forgetful, and again thought nothing of it.

Later that evening, when FSU was up 38 – 7 towards the end of the third quarter, I went on my phone, opened up FaceBook and noticed that my friend Savannah liked Harby Jewelers FaceBook page. I was looking at the rings and in the middle of a FSU play Chris got up and said he had to go to the bathroom.

I thought that was strange, Chris never leaves the room if FSU is on TV. But I dismissed this thinking that FSU was winning by a lot and went back to looking at the rings, not ever thinking that Chris knew what I was looking at. Chris came out of the other room and got down on one knee and said,

“What do you think about this one?”

I was absolutely speechless!

How did you decide on your color scheme, flowers, and cake?

I had been looking for wedding venues and saw the Casa Monica and fell in love with the whole decor of the hotel. I always loved dark rich colors and the reds and golds of the Flagler Ballroom were perfect.

We designed the flowers and cake around the room, we didn’t want to much color because because the room spoke for itself.

How did you decide on your invitations, and who did you use?

We used Wedding Paper Divas for our invitations. I chose them because they are online and and easy to use.

After the Wedding …

Where did you go for your honeymoon?

As our wedding present from my Swedish family we spent a week at the Grand Luxx Residence Club in Riviera Maya, Mexico. It was absolutely beautiful. We took a day trip into Playa del Carmen and also to the Mayan Ruins at Chitzen Itza. It was definitely the perfect week of care free relaxation after the wedding!

If you could give yourself any advice prior to the wedding, what would it be?

Don’t stress about the little things. Everything will come together in the end and no one will know if you didn’t add this or that. On the day of your wedding do not stress about anything! If something goes wrong someone will fix it and make it work.

Also, be flexible because there is always something that will throw the timeline off. Just enjoy your day and take everything in, you planned this for so long ENJOY IT!

Tonya Beaver Photography Studio Location: Jacksonville Beach, FL

318 First Ave N

Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250

To view more Wedding Sessions, please visit:

https://www.tonyabeaverphotography.com/weddings

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https://www.tonyabeaverphotography.com/wedding

Hi, I’m Tonya, a Jacksonville Florida Photographer. I specialize in photographing weddings, families, and babies. I would love to hear all about your photography needs to see if we’re a right fit for each other. As a photographer, I get to capture the most exciting and life changing experiences in people’s lives.

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