Brenna and Ryan are Married!! - Jacksonville FL Wedding Photographer

When I first met Brenna over lunch at Bistro Aix, I thought she was such a beautiful bride not only on the outside, but inside too!  She is one of the nicest and sweetest person you will probably ever meet, and not to mention very crafty also!  She practically designed and made all the decor in her wedding :)  I think that is really awesome, and I even told her that she should think about working in the wedding industry on the side after her own wedding :)  

I had the pleasure to meet up with Brenna several times before the wedding, and at all times, Ryan was away for work.  I finally met him on their wedding day, but I feel like I have known Ryan way before that just from how Brenna talked about him.   He is very polite and caring, and I could see in his eyes how much he adores Brenna.  They make such a lovely pair, and I just know that they are going to have a strong marriage.  If they can put up with the crazy chilly Nor'easter winds on their wedding day, then they can withstand anything :)

Congratulations, Brenna and Ryan!  Be sure to check out their sweet slideshow for more pictures!

Enjoy!
XOXO

-->>CLICK HERE FOR THEIR SWEET SLIDESHOW :-D
-->>CLICK HERE FOR THEIR SWEET SLIDESHOW :-D


  








































































































THEIR LOVE STORY:

How We Met:

Wine tasting in Ponte Vedra Beach.  We love the VINO!

Our Proposal:

One of our favorite things to do on the weekends is shop together at Fresh Market for filets, good cheese & fresh veggies, cook at home and enjoy a good bottle of wine. Ryan wanted this to be the way we celebrated the rest of our anniversaries together.  He orchestrated a plan to have our best friends sneak into our house while we were shopping, light candles throughout the house, and have a bottle of champagne ready when we returned.  We think a lot alike.  Sometimes too much.  Not knowing any of these plans, I surprised him with the same set up, candles, champagne, & a big home cooked meal, the night before he had planned to propose.  I had sensed he was stressed and thought it would be a nice way to get him to relax :o)  He scrambled to try to come up with a different plan, not wanting to repeat my romantic gesture the next evening, but ultimately decided our favorite date night ritual would be the best and most authentic way to ask for my hand.  He convinced me he was craving a steak, and with all the stress he had been under with work, it would really mean a lot to him to just stay in, and make our favorite meal together.  As I chopped the veggies and prepped the meal, Ryan disappeared downstairs.  When I’m hungry, not much can break my focus in getting food to the table and in my belly!  I was so focused on dinner; I didn’t notice he had come back into the kitchen with a bottle of champagne and ring box.  He told me this was his favorite meal and that making this meal together was the way he wanted to celebrate every anniversary for the rest of our lives (among a lot of other sweet things that shall remain private :o)).  It was perfect, it was low key, it was US.  And I of course said yes!

Date Night:

See above LOL!

 

What Brenna Love About Ryan:

Lots of things!  He is very thoughtful and conscientious. He goes out of his way to make my life easier.  His selflessness when it comes to caring for his family & friends.  I love his tough exterior and the fact that underneath is a sweet, gentle man.  I admire his work ethic; he doesn’t do anything halfway, he is committed to seeing things through to the end.  He is passionate about his health and loves to be outdoors doing just about anything that keeps him moving.   I love that every day I learn something new about him that makes me respect & admire him even more.  His smile when he only says 2 words, knowing I will be able to complete the rest of his thought and sentence.  And have you seen him?!  He’s gorgeous! :o)

What Ryan Loves About Brenna:

I love the fact that Brenna is the female version of me!  She is very loving and knows exactly how to pick me up when I am feeling down.  Her gentle smile and loving touch are just a little piece of what I love about her.  I love how committed she is to working out and that she loves the outdoors and being active as much as I do.  Brenna is extremely caring and loving.  She is very passionate about everything she takes on.  Brenna is the most creative person I know and never ceases to amaze me with the ideas she comes up with.  But the feature I adore most is that she loves more than anything else in this world and she makes sure she shows it every day!

Our Wedding Invitation:

I made the invitations myself.  I couldn’t find anything that I loved and that really conveyed the laid back vibe we wanted for the wedding.  I tried to pull together some of the elements of the wedding and include them.  They were a labor of love, but I think they were worth it.

Our Wedding Colors:

Pewter gray, coral, soft peaches & pinks.  I liked the contrast of the darker gray against the soft shades.

Our Wedding Cake:

AMAZING & DELICIOUS!  AlleyCakes created a 3 tier cake with 2 different flavors: carrot cake with cream cheese buttercream icing & dark chocolate with pistachio buttercream icing.  She understood exactly what we were looking for, and added her own artistic touch.  I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out!!  Did I mention delicious?! YUM.

Flowers:

Bridal Bouquet: Peonies and Ranunculus with lots of hanging amaranthus.  The amaranthus reminded me of the Spanish moss hanging from all the trees around the Ribault Club.  Peonies were out of season, but Kelley of Kelley’s Bloom Room made it happen!

Girls Flowers:  White Hydrangeas with amaranthus.  Hydrangeas remind me so much of Cape Cod, where Ryan is from.  I just love them.  The contrast of the white hydrangeas against their pewter chiffon gowns turned out just as I had hoped. 

First Dance Song:

“Better Man” by James Morrison (performed by Charlie Walker)

Honeymoon:

Hermitage Bay in Antigua.  Heaven on Earth.

What We Are Looking Forward To:

Many more Gator football games & New England Patriot games together, weekends on the beach with great friends, chocolate lab puppies, starting a family, building our dream home, and all of the fun along the way…

THEIR AWESOME WEDDING VENDORS:

Location: Ribault Club

Caterer: Mai Oui Gourmet

Coordinator: Adair Currie of Dairing Events

Photographer: THE BEST! (Corinna Hoffman Photography)
Cake: AlleyCakes
Florist: Kelley’s Bloom Room
Officiant:  Jerry Macnamara-our very dear friend
Hair: Apryle Nolan
Make-Up: Renee McCullers
Entertainment: Charlie Walker & Johnny Flood
Ceremony Music: Stephanie Dixon Harpist
Transportation: Mr. Noel Dana
Wedding Dress: Enzoani from The White Magnolia
Bridesmaids Dresses: Bill Levkoff
Groom & Groomsmen: Calvin Klein
Favors: Pashminas for the ladies & coozies for the gentleman

Stephanie & Patrick's Hawaiian Beach Wedding - Jacksonville FL Wedding Photographer

The weather was simply perfect on this beautiful couple's Hawaiian-themed beach wedding! I had so much fun getting to know Stephanie and Patrick since last Fall when we first met for a consultation. I'm so happy and thankful that they have chosen us as their wedding photographers because they are truly such a fun couple to photo-shoot! Their engagement session last Fall at Jacksonville Beach was a blast!

Bobby and I got really excited when we found out that there was going to be a Polynesian dinner show at their reception :) It was truly a great wedding full of great people! It was so good to see familiar faces there, as well :) I went to the same high school with Steph's cousin/maid-of-honor, Melody, and one of Patrick's groomsmen (which btw is Melody's fiancé!) :)

Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Purcell!! Aloha and welcome back from your honeymoon in Hawaii!! :)

XOXO

-->>CLICK HERE FOR THEIR FUN SLIDESHOW :-D

-->>CLICK HERE FOR THEIR FUN SLIDESHOW :-D

STEPHANIE & PATRICK'S LOVE STORY:

How did you guys meet?

We met in the summer of 2002 shortly after I had finished high school. I met Patrick at the parties that Patrick’s brother used to throw at their house. We became friends and it was October 25, 2002 when we started officially dating.

How did he propose?

He totally surprise me when he popped the big question! I had just gotten home from taking a very stressful exam at school, and I wanted to go for a walk in the St. Johns Town Center, which is where we live. He decided to bring The Ring with him in his pocket in case a perfect opportunity happened to come along while we were out. Patrick knows that it’s nearly impossible to keep secrets from me and figured if he were to pop the question at a completely random time and location, then I would never have any clue ahead of time of what he was planning to do. Of course that perfect opportunity came along when we happened to walk by Mayors (jewelry store), and I made a comment that the ring inside the window looked nice..hint, hint. We continued walking past the jewelry store, and Patrick then replied by saying “well it’s not like you’d say yes if I got you a ring anyways…and besides you don’t want THAT ring.…” In reply, I said “well how would you know unless you try?” Patrick then said “oh is that right, really.…” He then stopped and got down on one knee at that right moment.
I had no clue whatsoever that he was going to propose when he did! We happened to be right in front of the Brooks Brothers store when he proposed. And obviously, I said, "YES!!!"

What do you guys do for fun?

Travel, go to the beach, spend time with family and friends, boating, and go out to dinner.

Where is the most romantic place you guys went to and what did you do there?

Hawaii =) Went out to nice dinners every night, went for walks on the beach at night, hiked up to the top of mountains with beautiful views.

What are your wedding colors and why did you guys choose that color palette?

Turquoise, aqua shades, royal blue, yellow. We both love the beach and the ocean and wanted to incorporate colors that represented these into our wedding.

Describe your wedding cake and your topper:

The entire cake itself was 4 round tiers and turquoise which was the main color of our wedding. It was decorated w/white fondant shells, starfish, and sandollars. Also there were accents of coral. Flavors included chocolate cake w/chocolate buttercream filling, choc. cake w/choc ganache and french strawberry cream fillings, and vanilla cake w/french strawberry cream filling. Cake topper was 2 white fondant starfish.

Describe you wedding flowers:

In general these were a mixture of tropical yellow/gold colored flowers. They consisted of various combinations of the following: yellow mini calla lilies, yellow cymbidium orchids, Macara Teresa orchids, aranda yellow orchids, yellow pin cushion protea, diamond accents, leaf loops, bear grass loops, and shell/starfish accents.

What advice can you give to another bride planning for her own wedding?

Stay positive, don’t sweat over all the little things, especially on the day of. Hope for the best, expect the worse, then you’ll be better able to keep your cool if something goes wrong. Remember to give your fiancé attention and include him in the planning if he desires. Also spend some time w/him away from the planning as often as possible.

Where did you go for your honeymoon?

The island of Oahu in Hawaii.

What are you looking forward to in the future?

Starting our married life together and doing more traveling together =)

THE WEDDING INGREDIENTS:

CEREMONY LOCATION: Ocean Breeze Conference Center, Mayport Naval Station, Jax., FL

RECEPTION LOCATION: same as above

CATERER: same as above

WEDDING COORDINATOR: I wouldn’t say we had a technical “wedding planner/coordinator.” I coordinated most of the day myself and came up with a lot of the ideas with the help of family and friends. Someone that did help considerably was my aunt Susan Doris when it came to reception décor. She happens to be an interior designer. Here is her business name in case you want to know: “Susan Doris Interior Design.” Here is the link to her website: http://www.susandoris.com. Just FYI, she doesn’t typically do wedding décor, just helped me out b/c we’re close family. I did tell her she should look into it though since I think she did such a good job helping design mine =) Someone else probably worth mentioning is the coordinator that worked for the Ocean Breeze Center that made sure the reception/catering went smoothly the day of. His name was Paul Turban. Other than that, no actual professionals were hired to plan/coordinate the wedding.

VIDEOGRAPHER: In Motion Video Productions

CAKE: 3 Sisters Chocolate (cake designer-James Hubner)

FLORIST: Kelley’s Bloom Room

OFFICIANT: Reverend Richard Shannonhouse (Chaplain from Memorial Hospital where Patrick works)

HAIR: Stephanie Rodriguez (did my hair and 2 other BMs) and Larissa (don’t know her last name-did 2 BMs hair). Both are from Angels Hair and Nail Salon in Arlington.

MAKE-UP: Pro Makeup Artist Faythe Mesic

ENTERTAINMENT (DJ/BAND): DJ Tony Mann

CEREMONY MUSICIAN AND POLYNESIAN PERFORMERS: Jet Belleza (singer), Malia Belleza (Hawaiian chant), and Isabella Belleza (conch shell blower) all from the group “The Polynesian Triangle.”

POLYNESIAN DANCERS: “The Polynesian Triangle”

TRANSPORTATION: Dynasty Limousine of Jacksonville, FL

WEDDING DRESS: Maggie Sottero (from the Bridal Shop at the Avenues)

BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES: Jasmine Bridal (from the Bridal Shop at the Avenues)

GROOM AND GROOMSMEN WEAR: Michael’s Formalwear