Guests were greeted by two large bamboo vases of graceful palm fronds at the back of the aisle. The couple walked up to a bamboo arch covered with sheer organza fabric that was flanked with two floral sprays of Bombay blue orchids and white roses.

The bride chose a traditional all-white rose bouquet with natural stems banded with off-white ribbon. The bases of the bouquet’s stems were exposed to give the piece a lovely, natural look. The bridesmaids, in their soft blue dresses, carried blue hydrangeas with white roses and lime green dendrobium orchids.

As the party moved into the tented reception area, the tabletop centerpieces gave a nice additional pop of color by adding hot pink spray roses to blue hydrangea mounds with lime green button chrysanthemums.  This casual look was a perfect selection for the tables in the big tent.

The team at Flowers by Fudgie had fun creating this couple’s great, fun destination wedding.  Kimberly Dyer of Kimberly Dyer Photography captured the whole event so they would remember it always.  

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The backdrop for the ceremony was our bamboo and fabric canopy decorated with 2 floral clusters of roses and orchids.  The lavender rose, Cool Water, is contrasted by the deeper purple dendrobium Bombay orchids.

The sweetheart table was edged with rose petals and decorated with the bride’s bouquet following the ceremony.  We always suggest getting as much double usage from the flowers when every possible.

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The reception tables carried out the beach them with glass bowls filled with sand and shells and topped with yellow lilies and blue orchids.  Votive candles were added with miniature shells and a single blue orchid trimmed each napkin.  Each detail helped to round out the tropical theme.  

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]She selected a simple hand tied bouquet of all hand open white roses and her bridesmaids carried all red.  Bamboo vases of all white flowers to include stock, lilies, roses and alstromeria, flanked each side of the couple.  The oblong dinner tables  for the reception in the Grill where topped with 2 small bowls of white lilies, red rose and delphinium and the cake created by the pastry chef of the Ritz was topped simply with 3 hand open red roses. 

Thanks to Limelight Photography who handled the photos and provided the photos in the gallery.

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Rev Georgeanne Butler preformed the ceremony, which included a “sand ceremony” element.   Two large bamboo vases of areca palms and river cane with Bombay orchids flanked the couple and the aisle was decorated with sheppard hooks with glass cones of hydrangea and pink spray roses that were then reused on some of the table settings at the reception.  

The bride carried a bouquet of soft pink hydrangea with pink ranunculus and the brides with hot pink ranunculus.  White dendrobium orchids where used in the brides hair as well on the jacket of the groom.

The Sunset Terrace at the Ritz Member Beach Club over looking the beautiful Gulf of Mexico was the reception site and where the couple and their family and friends celebrated their marriage.

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Barbara & Don from Wisconsin dropped by a couple of days after their dream wedding at the Longboat Key Hilton. They had so much to say about their experience… we decided to let them tell you about it themselves!

The Flowers By Fudgie team helped Barbara create the wedding she was dreaming of without her needing to come to Florida in advance. We’re here for you via our website, e-mail, telephone… whatever it takes! We can help you locate venues, photographers, caterers and officiants to suit your needs!

Contact us via our website or call us at (800) 338-5983 to get your questions answered today!

A bamboo arch with tropical flowers and 2 lovely matching arrangements flanked the back of the aisle.  These florals where transferred to the reception following the ceremony.

Evelyn England and Debra Lindsey from Sage Art and Video captured photos for the couple.

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This couple from New York chose the white sands of Sarasota Ritz Beach for their destination wedding.  It was a perfect October day for the Fudgie’s team to design a chuppah made of curly willow, grapevine and decorated with hot pink roses, Italian ruscus and bougainvillea.  The bride liked the natural look of vines, so it was carried into every aspect of the ceremony and the reception.  Small tips of curly willow were added to all the men’s boutonnieres and the hand-tied clusters that the mothers carried.

Black lanterns lined the back of the carpeted aisle and were decorated with fresh roses and tips of curly willow.  A small grapevine wreath was decorated with Ravel hot pink roses and bougainvillea and was attached to each chair lining the aisle to carry the theme through the seating area.

The cocktail hour was held on the Ritz’s beautiful Sunset Terrace at the beach.  Then, the 60 guests were transported to one of the ballrooms at the Ritz hotel downtown. There, the elegant room was back-lit with hot pink up-lighting on the walls.  Affairs in the Air handled the placement of the gels that gave the room a soft wash of pink and Brett from Made in the Shade placed several ficus trees and ferns around the perimeter of the room.   Each guest table held two tall cylinders at 26″ and 20”.  Each one contained curly willow with hot pink roses and spray roses and a swag of bougainvillea tucked into the branches.  The base of the tall cylinders were flanked with two glass cubes with curly willow nested inside and mounded with more roses.  A dozen small cube-like votive candles completed the centerpieces and added to the ambiance of the room.  

The bride’s bouquet of hot pink roses, ranunculus, nerine lilies and miniature green hydrangea became the centerpiece for the couple’s sweetheart table, along with four additional small cube arrangements of roses and votives.  The place-card table had a beach theme with the cards nested into trays of small shells and flanked with many candles, shells and cymbidium orchids. 

We were delighted to hear from the bridal couple on the day after the wedding!  They told us their special day was everything they dreamed of and that the flowers and decorations were a big hit  with all  of their guests.  The Flowers by Fudgie team does it again!

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Again, we worked with wonderful wedding professionals such as Nicole Kaney from NK Productions and Barbara Banks Photography whose pictures you will see displayed.

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The wedding was for 140 guests in the Healing Garden with cocktails on the lawn and the reception moved into the Ballroom with back lit walls and up lighting under each of the floral arrangements.  Each arrangement included a submerged orchid in the stem of the 26″ vase and topped with tropical flowers, roses and cascading amaranths and around the base there were 3 smaller cylinders with gold Vanda orchids floating under the ivory lit candles.  The color scheme looked beautiful in the room.

The reception was at the Crosley Mansion, where we worked with many other professionals as a team. Tina from Sun Weddings served as the coordinator, Paul Mattison from Mattison’s Catering, Claudette from Rental Depot, and others that we are accustomed to partnering with came together beautifully.

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Planning a wedding long-distance — the bride is from Connecticut — presents some unique challenges, but we were happy to work with the bride via e-mail utilizing our digital portfolio so that she could select the elements for the wedding of her dreams.

The bride was gracious enough to send us this thank-you note and to tell us about this video of her special day.