clare & jeff | tampa wedding photographer | christ the king & higgins hall

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… insight from clare & jeff on their wedding day experience …

what was your favorite moment, or favorite part, of your wedding day?
The “first look” was perfect for us. It helped us both calm our nerves a bit and have a moment to ourselves, and it helped the rest of the day go smoothly.
We loved every minute of the day, and we think the first look was a big part of that. We highly recommend it!

is there anything you wish you had done differently when planning your wedding?
Well, we learned that two months before your wedding is not the ideal time to move to Oregon and start new jobs.
But hey, we made it!

which three vendors were most important to you when planning your wedding?
1. Photography was really important for us! We wanted timeless photos that we’ll still love in 30 years and candids that really portray the big day.
2. Food and drink were huge for us in terms of making our guests happy. That’s what people talk about down the road.
3. We really wanted a live band to keep things energetic and make things feel extra special.
We were really happy with all three!

what was your biggest wedding day savings? (and was it worth it?)
It was more of a time issue because of our big move, but we ended up sending our invitations via Paperless Post’s email service. It also saved some money, but we wouldn’t recommend this as a way to cut costs.

what was your biggest wedding day splurge? (and was it worth it?)
They weren’t the biggest expenditure, but paying extra for Chiavari chairs felt like major splurging. They were worth it!

what was the best advice you received when planning your wedding? (and did you listen?)
The wedding is not as important as the marriage. (That’s 100 percent true, of course.) We kept a good perspective almost all the time.

was there anything encountered during wedding planning that was unexpected?
A million little things come up toward the end! We flew to Florida a week before the wedding for last-minute preparations, and honestly, we could have used a few more days.

was there a moment(s) during your wedding day that suprised you?
We had planned a lightly choreographed first dance, and Clare forgot it as soon as the music started! The band had set up an iPod with their sound system for our first dance, and it ended up skipping after a minute anyway.

when you look back on your wedding day in 50 years, what do you think you’ll remember most?
The first moment we saw each other before the ceremony was so wonderful. That will definitely stick with us!

how it all came together …