How to have the greatest destination wedding in Naples, Florida

Do this:
Hire Liz Banfield to capture every last detail so that you can soak up the weekend in real life.
Then...

1. Invite a couple hundred of your favorite people to Florida

2. Give them awesome sea inspired welcome bags

3. A couple days before the big wedding, have a small private ceremony with only your most immediate family and then have a nice "just married" lunch

4. Take some incredible photos around town and at the Naples Pier. Then head over to your Parisian rehearsal dinner at Le Lafayette

5. Invite all the over ladies for a retro and vintage inspired bridal luncheon, complete with a silhouette artist and glass bottle cokes

6. Welcome everyone to Florida and set the tone for the weekend with a Tommy Bahama style sunset bash at The Naples Beach Hotel

7. Before the big wedding, remind everyone how much fun the beach is with a beach bbq complete with all the beach games

8. Get pretty with all your besties, take your bridal portrait and then meet your groom for some pre-wedding photos before going over to Port Royal to have your big ceremony under the shade of a pretty sailcloth tent

9. Have cocktail hour in the sand, and have a bagpiper signal the sunset and the call for dinner & dancing

10. Get a big incredible high energy you-just-cant-sit-down wedding band

11. Do a dine-around so that if anyone can break away from the dance floor they can eat at any time, and almost any kind of food. Have a gigantic Ice Sculpture between the Beer & Bourbon bar and the late night DJ

12. Make sure your cakes fit the mood...by the sea inspired for you and Masters blazer for him

13. Have more fun than you could have ever imagined because this is the best night ever

Making it happen: Dr Dan Lamey, Kakes by Karen, St Ann's, Botanicals on the Gulf, Le Lafayette, Jim Hjelm, Monique Lhuillier, Salon Tease, Liz Banfield, A Bryan Photo (video), Garden District (Bridal Luncheon Floral & Saturday wedding), Silhouettes by Kathryn, Naples Beach Hotel, Port Royal Club, Sperry Tents, Party Time Rentals, Aria Dresses, J Crew, Taylor Rental Naples, Jim McWilliams, Island Events Rentals, Talent Entertainment, Elan Artists, Stereophonic DJs, Weddings by Socialites

You can see more images in the inaugrual issue of Coastal Living Weddings, currently on newsstands.

Hemingway Inspired Destination Wedding

Today I was reminded of one of my favorite weddings on Captiva, Florida at South Seas Island Resort.

Jen and Des designed some their own decorations for this very Hemingway themed wedding.

Des, the groom, wore a personalized tie clip. I love his style! 

 Jen and Des on the boardwalk to Captiva beach, behind Chapel by the Sea. 

The Muller's captured this traditional wedding photo on the sand dunes making it a little less traditional!

Chapel by the Sea is known for their traditional sea glass blue pews.

Just married!

The bridesmaids wore sophisticated, but beach perfect, strapless, knee length, turquoise dresses.

Instead of a typical guestbook the bride and groom used a Hemingway coffee table book and asked guests to leave notes under the images. 

 The vintage labels above the card box and guest book were collected by the bride during the months we were planning her wedding.

For seating, the groom used titles of Hemingway's manuscripts & made an authentic looking covers.

Each title was actually the name of a guest dining table.

Under each title he put the guest's names. 

 The bride and groom collected several 

antique, Hemingway themed items to display at their wedding for decoration.

 Des designed all the paper details including the table name, menu cards, and place cards.

  

To make the reception feel a little less traditional-been there-done that, we used longer rectangular Kings tables that sat 8-12 guests each.  These are great for low and long centerpieces like these.

The bouquets included roses, succulents, and green viburnum.

We love what Floral Artistry created for the table centerpieces.

Including the fruits made it very island authentic. 

For more images from this wedding, check out our real wedding pinterest board