Sarasota, FL Wedding at the Ritz Carlton by Aaron Bornfleth Photography: Candace + George

Bright colors and bright smiles are plenty in this sunny Sarasota, Florida wedding of Candace and George.  We’re talking bright yellows paired with fuchsia, and the cutest J.Crew bridesmaids dresses.  The  gorgeous love story was photographed by Aaron Bornfleth Photography. Take a look!

From the bride:

It was very important to both of us to get married outside, near water. After many months of searching, we located our beautiful wedding and reception venue at the Ritz Carlton Beach Member’s Club in Sarasota, Florida. It was important to us that our wedding guests had a unique experience as no one, including us, were from Florida. We decided to have our ceremony under a beautiful pergola on a gorgeous manicured lawn. Our cocktail hour was held on the beach and our reception was held on an open terrace overlooking the ocean. Since our venue was so beautiful, it allowed us to use minimal decorations to accent our venue. We wanted simple elegance, and that is exactly what we received!

Initially, I found the planning process to be especially overwhelming. I am an only child and all of my friends who have gotten married did so in a different state. That translates to being far away from the planning process. I went to a local bookstore and picked up some wedding books which I found to be very helpful. Another significant challenge was balancing wedding planning with a very demanding career. I am not sure exactly how I managed both responsibilities, but I can say that I did not get much sleep during the months leading up to our wedding. Also, we both felt the financial pressures associated with the cost of weddings as we both had recently completed graduate school. Although a lot of money was spent, we invested our money wisely with amazing vendors.

Considerable effort was spent attending to small details that would make our guests feel welcome and that would show our uniqueness. For example, our wedding colors were inspired by pink and yellow plumeria flowers. We were sure to accent these colors against the greens and blues of our beautiful nature backdrop. Another aspect of our wedding that was especially important was finding a way to incorporate our mothers into the ceremony as they are both deceased. We made sure to incorporate them into our wedding vows and programs. We also had framed black and white photographs of them that were on the welcome table as guests arrived. Lastly, we made sure to create a photobook guestbook which highlighted photographs throughout our lives. We felt that this would be an opportunity for both sides of our family to learn more about us as they left us notes about their experience at our wedding.

You Make Loving You So Easy…

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