Shanna and Rody's Wedding {The Historic Thomas Center Gardens Wedding Photos} | Jacksonville Florida Wedding Photography

Shanna + Rody Wedding Day

Shanna and Rody’s wedding was beautiful. The Thomas Center Gardens in Gainesville, FL are the perfect place for a fall wedding. The ceremony was sweet. When they first saw each other, you could just see the love between this special couple! After the ceremony, all of the guests and the couple had a truly good time and celebrated their wedding. It was a fun party full of dancing and laughing!

Congratulations Shanna and Rody 🙂

Wedding Weekend Information from Shanna:

Hotel accommodations for guests: Hampton Inn and Suites Downtown Gainesville, FL

Rehearsal Dinner Location: Blue Gill Quality Foods.

Our favorite Gainesville restaurant! They recently opened a private room where they can host many different types of events.

Ceremony Location: Turtle Court, The Historic Thomas Center Gardens

Reception Location: Spanish Court, The Historic Thomas Center

Caterer: Chef Brothers Custom Catering

Linens and chairs: The Grande Event

Photographer: Tonya Beaver Photography

Tonya and Bill did an amazing job capturing everything… they were all over the place at exactly the right moments and didn’t miss a shot. I am so excited to be able to relive the day through such beautiful photos!

Cake: Dream Day Cakes.

Yeni and Fred from Dream Day were so easy and fun to work with. They make some amazing flavors, plus were able to make mini cupcakes look elegant!

Florist: The Plant Shoppe Florist

Betsy was invaluable and extraordinary in the planning and execution of our wedding. She and Rody have been friends for a long time and it was his only request that we hire her for the wedding…. I am so very thankful we did!! The flowers and everything else she did for the wedding were nothing short of incredible.

Officiate: Reverend John Marshall

Our friends were married by him last year and we loved the ceremony, and he had beautiful words for our ceremony as well.

Hair: Kristen Kimball from Maureen and Company Salon

She was wonderful! I had “auditioned” another stylist, but knew as soon as Kristen started working with my hair during our practice run that she was the one. Her many years of experience showed when she was able to take my vague requests and turn them into something fabulous.

Make-up: Carly Sims from Salon Savoy

Carly uses a makeup line that is called True, and it is so weightless and provided perfect coverage the entire night!

Entertainment: Wayne’s World Entertainment

Wedding Dress: Alfred Angelo Bridal.

Wedding Shoes: A Bridal Boutique

I looked everywhere for some comfortable close toed shoes and was so excited when I finally found them.

Matron of Honor Dress: David’s Bridal

Groom and Best Man Wear: Men’s Warehouse

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Before the Wedding …

How did you two meet?

Work! We had been working together for a couple of years, but we didn’t know each other very well. We had mutual friends and associated with different circles, but still socialized on occasion. I invited him to join in on my St. Patty’s Day celebration a few years back. I realized later in the evening that there was something there – a strong mutual attraction. We began dating and well, you know what happens next.

How did he propose?

He convinced me to go ring shopping one Saturday, but he wanted to go to lunch first at my favorite Gainesville restaurant. As we walked in, he pulled me close and told me that he hoped I would forever remember this day. He had gathered family and close friends to surprise me, but I just thought we were just having lunch.

(I mean, we were going ring shopping later, right?)

And because he knows how important family is to me, he wanted them to be involved in this special moment. I remember he was sitting so far away from me and I asked him to come closer, then he began the lovely proposal. I still had no idea what was going on until he was halfway through the proposal and had pulled the ring out of his pocket!

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

color scheme:

I love fall and the colors associated with the season. Since we got married in October at The Thomas Center, it only seemed appropriate to incorporate the rich, warm colors of Fall.

flowers:

I only told the florist that I wanted fall colors; burgundy, oranges, greens and a lot of texture and she put together the stunning flowers.

cake:

We wanted to do something different for our cake, so we decided on a small cake for us to cut and then mini cupcakes. It was fun to be able to offer three different flavors of cupcakes that everyone could taste (almond cake with Crème Brule buttercream, chocolate cake with peanut butter and almond cake with raspberry buttercream—all amazing!), plus they were so cute.

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

We wanted something simple and elegant for our invitations. We went with Carlson Craft ordering through our florist, who made everything so simple. One of the things I highly recommend is having the company address the outer envelopes… it saved us so much time!

After the Wedding …

Where did you go for your honeymoon?

Greece for 2 weeks (Athens, Santorini, and Milos) It was so beautiful and we had many great adventures!

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

Resist the need to control everything-trust your vendors to do what you hired them to do. I did a great job not stressing about things because in the end, it didn’t matter. All the important people were going to be there to witness an amazing love and the rest of it all fell into place. Another thing would be to try to slow down and take it all in because the day goes by SO fast!

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

For more Wedding pricing, please visit:

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.

Not only in Jacksonville, but all over North Florida: Ponte Vedra, Amelia Island, St. Augustine, etc.

I know there are quite a few photographers in Jacksonville so it can be overwhelming. But I invite you to check out my wedding, family, and newborn portfolio. Also, feel free to check out some of my reviews that my previous clients have given me. Jacksonville is one of the most beautiful areas for photographing engagements, weddings and family photos. From the beach, golf clubs, parks, downtown, gorgeous churches and so much more. I look forward to hearing from you and getting to know you more!