missy & josh | st. petersburg beach wedding photography | sirata beach resort ceremony and reception

… insights from missy and josh …

what was your favorite moment, or favorite part, of your wedding day?
Missy: My favorite part of the wedding day was having all of our loving family and truly meaningful friends in one room. It was overwhelming with the amount of love I felt on the day/weekend. To have people literally fly from LA, St.Louis, Chicago, Pittsburgh, etc was such a blessing. I’ve always wanted to vacation with all of my friends/family from all over in one place and this was the one time it came true for me. My eyes fill up with tears now just thinking about it. I will also never forget my husband Josh that day. Everything from his stylish hair style, to his Vineyard Vines tie with small ice cream cones on it, and the love I felt from him that day. It’s a strong love that I feel everyday from him, but there was something special about his love that day.

Josh: There’s a 15 minute period that I will always think about. We left right after our first dance to take sunset photos on the beach. Having just a few moments with Missy and myself was so nice and powerful, with nothing to rush back to, just enjoying each other. When we did get back up into the room, and sat at our sweetheart table, I looked around and saw family and friends, all smiling and having a great time. Then I looked at my new wife, and knew that it was all for us, and they were all there with love and support for us. It was great to have our alone time, and then realize that so many people were right there celebrating with us.

is there anything you wish you had done differently when planning your wedding?
Missy: Really the only thing I would have done differently for the wedding, is not to stress as much during the planning process. I do think I stayed relatively calm during the 12 months we took to plan the special day, but the times I stressed some were just inevitable and with that said, inevitable for every bride, I think. The stressful moments in planning are going to happen, but it is important to keep those times in check. If a vendor or detail started to stress me out, I either moved on because of a gut feeling or gave myself a couple hours to figure it out. I didn’t want to spend multiple days going back to the same aspect of planning.

Josh: Guys, you need to have a little list somewhere that you keep. On that list, write down everything that you say “Yeah honey, I can do that,” or “no problem, I can handle that.” If you don’t, you will forget it. Seriously, write it down. Life would have been just a little less stressful if I had remembered everything that I said I would have done, and instead I had 2 days where I booked 5 different items. It all worked out in the end, but I could have made my own life a lot easier had I just written it down and reviewed that list.

which three vendors were most important to you when planning your wedding?
Missy and Josh: We knew on the onset of the planning that there were a few key aspects of our special day that meant the most to us, and would last the longest. Therefore, we were willing to go above and beyond to find the right vendors that not only met our needs but exceeded them, and budgeted accordingly.

First, and most importantly, was our fantastic photographer, Marissa Moss of Marissa Moss Photography. Knowing that the photographs were the only tangible items that were going to last from the day, we agreed to a higher budget to find someone that we felt comfortable with, had a great personality, and had a great portfolio for us to choose. Marissa met all of these, and when we first interviewed with her on the phone, we both felt something clicked. When we met in person down in Florida to finalize using her, Missy loved her personal style both in her office and attire, and she was the all around professional with a talent to match.

Second was our florist, 2Birds Events. While it may seem silly to some since flowers quickly wilts and die, and sometimes people do not even remember what they look like, they do last forever in the photographs that are taken. We had a very specific taste outside of a traditional take on floral arrangements, and flower choices. Alexis at 2Birds not only made our vision come to life with her talents, but also had the inventory to add chic accents which made our wedding space look impactful.

As a destination wedding with a maximum guest count of 150, our location was very important to us for space, functionality, and beauty, and we found everything we were looking for at the Sirata Beach Resort. We wanted to ensure that all of our guests had space that they could all stay in the same resort, and be a part of all of our functions. We kept almost everything on the property, and did not want to have anyone have to worry about driving for different parts of our weekend. We had a welcoming party, ceremony, cocktail hour and reception all at the resort, and our rehearsal dinner was next door at the Grand Plaza Hotel. It made for an awesome weekend, with guests mingling and meeting each other even 2 days before our wedding started.

what was your biggest wedding day savings? (and was it worth it?)
Aisle runners. Small part of the day and small detail but it stood out to Missy that they did not fit the overall theme and feel of the wedding, and she didn’t like it. We spent so much time making them, and should have just spent the money to have them done through our florist.

what was your biggest wedding day splurge? (and was it worth it?)
Missy: Flowers-The money we spent on the flowers was so worth it. Flowers to me add such energy to a room/event. They also will forever be seen in the photos of the day. So, I knew if we found a florist who could bring our our vision to life, we made the decision to spend more money on the flowers.

Josh: We decided along with my parents that it would be important to have a welcoming party the night before the wedding. Nothing too expensive or outlandish, just an opportunity to have everyone that had traveled from all over to get in, have a couple drinks, some snacks and see other guests. It was so amazing spending the time with everyone before the wedding, talking with all of our guests, and catching up with family and friends we hadn’t seen in a while. I really think it helped us relax and focus during our wedding, since we had already seen and talked to everyone, we didn’t feel the urge to rush to every table during dinner. Definitely worth it, and I’d recommend it for all weddings, not just destination ones.

what was the best advice you received when planning your wedding? (and did you listen?)
We had heard from many people both recent and longer married couples that they did not have the opportunity to enjoy their wedding. Because of various reasons, they didn’t feel they were relaxed or focused on themselves, worrying about the guests and all of the little details. From this, we focused on having everything set up right for the day, and making sure that we would not have to focus on anything, just ourselves. We took the time throughout the day to recognize what we loved, and remember that everyone was there for us. Because of that, we made sure to enjoy everything, eat our whole meal, tell everyone to come see us on the dance floor, and not worry about anything else going on. It proved to be a great plan, as we had such an amazing time, as did our guests, and nothing bad happened.

was there anything encountered during wedding planning that was unexpected?
All of the little details that most people don’t think of really can creep up on a couple. There is a lot that goes into the whole weekend, not just the day, and we found ourselves wondering about different aspects that needed to be addressed. It was very important to us to have it go without a hitch, and there was a lot of work in finalizing the small details others may not have noticed. Overall, though a little stressful since it wasn’t fully expected, we made everything work out great with the details we discussed and planned.

was there a moment(s) during your wedding day that surprised you?
The only thing that was really surprising was how calm that whole day was. All you hear from most people that talk about weddings and their own wedding day is how stressful the day can be and to be ready for anything to go wrong. We literally had such a smooth, calm, perfect day. That was the surprising part.

when you look back on your wedding day in 50 years, what do you think you’ll remember most?
We will remember how that day matched our personalities and relationship in that moment… we have no regrets about how we planned that day, and are so very happy that we spent the money we spent, invited the people we invited, hired the vendors that we hired, chose the details we chose, and that we have found each other to spend this wonderful thing we call life together.

… how it all came together …