As we’ve mentioned before, we love a beautiful winter wedding in St. Augustine. Meghan and Steve used the magical lights and colors of the city as the inspiration for their wedding day this past December, and the results are pure perfection! With the help of wedding planners The Eventful Gals and florist Shea Hopely, The Treasury on The Plaza ballroom was adorned with natural, lush greens accented with rich jewel tones. We dare you to keep your jaw off the floor as you take in all of the stunning details captured by photographer Monika Gauthier.
We just adore their stunning wedding video created by Gator Bride Videography. Click below to watch!
Meghan, the beautiful bride, took the time to share more about the couple’s love story, wedding design inspiration, and advice for future brides and grooms…
HOW WE MET:
Steve and I met almost eight years ago through our mutual friend, Lindsay. We talked for a little bit that night and I later found out that Steve called Lindsay on his way home to find out if I was dating anyone at the time – I wasn’t. Steve and I ran into each other a few weeks later and this time he asked for my number so that he could show me around Jacksonville since I had just moved to the area. After a few months of texts, phone calls, and many canceled dates (sorry, Steve!), our paths crossed again one night in downtown Jacksonville and we’ve been together ever since.
HOW HE PROPOSED:
Steve and I dated for a little over five years before we got engaged. Since we had been together for so long, I used to tease him about proposing nearly every time he did something out of the ordinary or took us somewhere special by asking him: “Is this where you’re going to propose to me?” The night that we got engaged was no different – although I never thought that it would actually happen that night! We went on an impromptu trip to the Florida Keys and Steve mentioned before we left that he made reservations at a restaurant for one of our last nights there – the only detail that he gave me about the trip. The day of the reservation, we drove down to Key West and took a quick boat ride to Sunset Key to have dinner at a restaurant on the beach. The night started off normal, except that Steve kept mentioning that he wanted to take a picture on the beach at sunset. I thought it was a little strange that he kept bringing it up, but I went along with it. As we were getting ready to take the picture, Steve kept moving away from me – almost like he didn’t want to be in the picture. I’m pretty sure I even said something to him like, “Can you please stand still?!” while he was inching away from me. After that, he broke away from me and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I was so surprised! We were so lucky to have someone there to take pictures of the whole thing to share with our friends and family.
(Side Note: I immediately started looking at wedding venues the night that we got engaged and came across a video from a wedding at The Treasury on the Plaza. The next morning, I sent a link of the video to my Mom and told her how much I loved the venue and couldn’t even imagine getting married there. It turns out that we visited The Treasury a few months later and knew immediately that it was the place where Steve and I would become husband and wife.)
WHAT WAS YOUR VISION?
Steve and I had always talked about having a winter wedding in St. Augustine during the Nights of Lights celebration. Many of our guests were traveling from out of town for our wedding and we wanted them to see the city during this time, so we decided that December would be the best month for our wedding. Because of the season, our vision started with deep, jewel-toned florals that we wanted to be the focal point of our reception. We also wanted to consider the venue’s history as a building constructed during the 1920s Art Deco Movement, so we paired our romantic florals with ivory and gold Art Deco paper products, including a welcome message for our guests that sat on ivory and gold chargers and matching place cards and table numbers.
WHERE DID YOU FIND INSPIRATION?
We found inspiration for our wedding design from wedding blogs like Style Me Pretty and Wedding Chicks, and also through Pinterest and Instagram. Images of previous weddings at The Treasury were also a great source of inspiration because they gave us an idea of the space and were helpful when we were making decisions on the floor plan for the ceremony and reception, centerpiece styles, linens, and lighting options for our wedding.
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT FROM YOUR WEDDING DAY?
Aside from our first look and our ceremony where I got to marry my best friend, one moment from our wedding day that stands out to Steve and I was when we got a “first look” of the ballroom while it was being flipped from our ceremony into the reception space. Many of our vendors that we had worked with were in the ballroom getting things ready for the reception, so we had a chance to say hello and thank them for everything that they did to make our wedding day possible. We also got an idea of how the space was going to look when our guests would enter the room for the first time. The reception was even more beautiful than I had imagined it would be and we were so excited to spend the rest of our evening there with our closest friends and family!
ADVICE FOR FUTURE BRIDES AND GROOMS:
As a self-proclaimed perfectionist, I found wedding planning to be a pretty difficult task. I had a hard time making even the smallest of decisions for our wedding and when I did make one, I would find something else that I thought I liked better and would spend days weighing the options. One thing I realized, though, was that the aspects of our wedding that I loved the most were the ones that I didn’t overthink or second-guess. That being said, my advice to future brides and grooms would be that once you find something you both love – whether it be the meal options, table linens, or even something small like a card holder – stick with it! You chose these things because you loved them. Try to resist the urge of continuing to look in magazines, online, or in stores for something “better”, because I guarantee you that in the end you will be just as happy with the first choice that you made. If I had realized this earlier and been more confident in my decisions, it would have saved a great deal of time and made the planning process less stressful.
Watch the teaser video for Meghan and Steve’s winter wedding in St. Augustine:
Video courtesy of Gator Bride Videography
VENDORS:
Wedding Coordinator: The Eventful Gals
Officiant: Bob Hovey
Ceremony Draping: St. Johns Illuminations
Florist and Rentals: Shea Hopely
Caterer: Mai Oui Gourmet
Wedding Cake: The Pastry Studio
Ceremony Music: Wehner Weddings
Reception Entertainment: DJ Jacob Towe
Photographer: Monika Gauthier
Videographer: Gator Bride Video
Photo booth: Chic Booth
