How beautiful is Liza & Ryan’s colorful, cleanly designed coastal wedding on Anna Maria Island? Captured by Everence Photography, it’s the perfect marriage of bold colorful flowers designed by Beneva alongside clean classic attire! And how about that white sand? The couples portraits almost look like they’re standing in snow, but it’s the beautiful sand! We’d like to share with you what the bride, Liza, had to say about their love story and wedding day:
from Liza: “Ryan and I have been together for years, we met in college both studying Music Business and in a Copyright Law class. He had my attention the first day of class when we went around the classroom all saying what we wanted to do after we graduated. He was all the way in the back corner, me- front row and center. By the time we got to him everyone had given their very professional PC answers…work for booking agencies, artist management, publishing companies, etc. But then he spoke, in his low mysterious voice, the words “sail around the world,” and from then on I knew I needed him in my life. What a dream boat, literally. He’s been my adventure ever since.”
“Choosing a location was by far the most difficult part of the wedding process. We have family and friends all over- Minnesota, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and California and it was important for us to choose a place that would be a getaway for everyone. We realized after months of looking that Anna Maria was staring at us in the face, I have grown up going to the island my whole life, my dad grew up going there, cousins, my grandparents… Ryan had been a few times and understood the close bond. Needless to say, it is full of memories and now so many more 🙂
Our vision for the wedding was to keep things simple, natural and elegant. We both wanted everything to be outside. We chose Coquina Beach for the ceremony since it is a no swim zone, so figured it’d be more private and quiet than the other beaches on Cinco de Mayo. It was important to us that the wedding was intimate and full of our closest family and friends. We had about 75 guests attend plus the 12 of us in the wedding party, it was perfect! We had the most adorable ring bearer and flower boy. The flower boy tossed daisies that i picked from the sand dunes that morning off the beach. The wedding party walked down the aisle to “Notion” by Tash Sultana. Ryan and I chose our processional and recessional separately and they both ended up being by the same band!! I walked down to “Watermark” by Sleeping at Last” and Ryan and I walked away to “Umbrellas” by Sleeping at Last. “
“For vows, we opted to do a mixture of traditional vows and then wrote our own vows for each other. The rain clouds were rolling in as the ceremony begun… it was windy too… As soon as we said I do and kissed it began to rain, we walked down the aisle with petals thrown at us and we literally ran to our van.. It was utterly and hopelessly romantic.”
“Unfortunately we had to move the reception inside but the ballroom was beautiful, having just been renovated. Jillian at Pier 22 threw it all together super last minute and went above and beyond. The buffet was filled with all the healthy options we wanted and their staff was so considerate with making the options vegan friendly. When we got to Pier 22 Ryan and I got in an impromptu dance session photo shoot where the reception was supposed to be. Our “first dance” was to Rolling in the Deep by default because we wanted to get in a dance session and photos outside by ourselves before the reception.. but our planned dance was to “As Much As I Ever Could” by City & Colour. It was the first song he played for me when we first met, sat me on his lap and all while playing and singing to me. Yeah, that’s real. You can’t make this shit up.
My great aunt and uncle surprised us at the reception which was a highlight of the evening for sure. A friend of ours sang and played guitar for the cocktail hour, then she DJ’d the reception and sang “I Will Always Love You” to send us all off for the night. A couple friends from Nashville came up to video the wedding and then we had fantastic vendors like Beneva who made my flowers dreams come true, Jillian who was so calm and collected throughout everything and then Jessica & Jordan who were pure rockstars. “
“We are SO glad we did a first look and all of our photos before the ceremony. The first look was extremely special to Ryan, he says it was his favorite part of the whole day. Such a sweet moment for us to spend together and be super giddy after months of planning. I was just so excited all day to see him and to look into his eyes on the beach, with all our loved ones and say I do!
Ryan and I opted out of a couple “traditions” that have become popular such as writing letters (but I did give him a little booklet of poems I’ve written for him over the past seven years), garter toss, bouquet throw, wedding party intros, and we are glad we did. We wanted to stay true to our selves and have our wedding day be who we are and what we wanted. It really helped us stay focused on what was important- getting to marry each other.” – Liza
Photography – Everence Photography / Groom’s Suit: Savile Row Company, London ENG / Groom’s Wedding Band: Amazon / Engagement Ring: James Allen, designed by groom / Bride’s Dress Designer: Something Blue, Vancouver CAN / Bridal Shop: Willow Bride / Bride’s Jewelry: Grandmother’s Opal Pendant, Mother’s Tulip Earrings / Bride’s Wedding Band: Stone & Strand / Bride’s Shoes: Steve Madden / Bridesmaids Dresses: Chose individual dresses from BHLDN, Lulu’s, Show Me Your Mumu / Florals: Jaclyn Ludowese @ Beneva / Cake: Publix / Videography: Tanner Gallagher, Rye Originals / Stationary: Designed by Amy Bruns, Hand painted by Bride / Hair & Makeup: Kasey Yvonne / Reception: Jillian Price @ Pier 22 Ceremony Chairs: US Tents DJ: Shevonne Philidor
