Emily and Carson's Olive Green and Dusty Rose Whimsical Florida Wedding by Josie Brooks Photography

Well Hello Tuesday! How are you all after Facebook and Instagram went down last night! Have you recovered yet? It was very odd, but at the same time strangely freeing! Now we are all back to normal it’s the time to share the gorgeous Whimsical wedding of Emily and Carson. This stunning couple had an intimate wedding of 50 after their original wedding in Puerto Rico was cancelled due to Covid. Instead, they planned this delightful wedding in Florida and I have to say I just love it. The colours of Olive green and Dusty Rose work perfectly against this beautiful venue, the decoration and the flowers are just adorable and the whole day looks so much fun. Big thanks to Josie Brooks Photography for the lovely images.

On the day of, the forecast showed rainstorms all day, but when it came time for me to walk down the aisle, the sun was literally shining so bright. Our wedding happened exactly how it was meant to happen and for that I am forever grateful!

Emily and Carson were married on 4th June 2021 at The Art & History Museums Maitland, in Florida. ‘The natural beauty of the venue spoke for itself! We had 50 guests. Our June 2020 wedding in Puerto Rico was cancelled due to the pandemic. Once we felt like things were opening back up, we started to redo our wedding plan. I believe we started planning for our new date in January 2021 and our wedding was in June 2021, so about six months of planning.’

How they met
Carson and I met at our church’s high school youth group when we were fifteen. We have been together six years now.

The proposal
We went to a drive-in movie theatre that I had been wanting to go to for so long. After the movie, he proposed. It was such a happy day.

How did you allocate your budget?
We lost a lot of money on our original wedding that was supposed to happen in Puerto Rico, so we had to be very mindful of our spending. We kept our budget in mind and tried to just start crossing important things off first. We had to learn how to prioritize!

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
I can’t say we necessarily splurged or saved on things. However, from the very beginning, I knew that I needed the best photographer. Photos last forever, they will be what we show our kids someday, so I had a vision in my head about what I wanted our photos to be. Josie Brooks blew our expectations away. She is so talented, and we couldn’t be happier with how our photos turned out.

How did you choose your photographer?
I started looking on wedding planning websites and searched on Google. Based on the websites and portfolios of the photographers, I was able to narrow it down, so I reached out to a few. Josie got back to me right away and we talked over the phone. I knew the minute we talked I needed her to be our photographer! She also worked with our budget and kept in contact with us over the months leading up to the wedding, to make sure everything stayed on track.

The dress
My dress was Willowby by Watters, and the style name is Galatea (in ivory).

The suit and bridesmaids
The groom and his groomsman wore suits from Generation Tux. They were amazing! The bridesmaids all wore dresses from Lulu’s bridal line.

Theme or colour scheme
The theme was boho/whimsical. I wanted it to feel natural, with pops of olive green and dusty rose.

Flowers
Our florist, Jenna, owner of BAUGhaus, was incredible! I told her my colours and vision and she created a mood board that was EXACTLY what I was looking for. She even managed to find the exact dresses the bridesmaids were going to be wearing, without me telling her which ones, I had only told her the colour. She used a lot of pampas grass and greenery.

Decoration
What drew me to the venue was the natural beauty of it, so I knew I didn’t need to add too much décor. The floral arrangements, signs (made by our incredible wedding planner, Dani from Celestial Love Events), and candles were pretty much the only décor we had. We also had boho woven fans for our guests.

Food
Cocktails Catering catered our event. They were amazing!!!

Wedding cake
Our wedding cake was from Publix.

Entertainment
DJ Russ from Event Concepts Entertainment kept the party going all night long. He was fantastic!

Who supplied the stationery?
We used Minted for our invitations and dinner menus. Our amazing planner, Dani, owner of Celestial Love Events, made all our wedding signage (which was absolutely beautiful)!

Where are you going on your honeymoon?
We haven’t had a chance to go on our honeymoon yet! Carson is in the military, so it was difficult just being able to get the time off for our wedding (since we had to travel back to Florida).

Personal touches
We left one chair on the front row in our ceremony empty, in honor of Carson’s dad who passed away in 2017. Instead of having someone sit there, we put a picture of his dad. Carson also had a handkerchief made from one of his dads’ shirts. We put a picture of my parents on their wedding day and a picture of Carson’s parents on their wedding day on our welcome/guestbook table.

Special moments
One of my favorite moments of the day was walking down the aisle and the sun shining down, despite all the rain that had been pouring down all day long. I had prayed all day for it to clear up long enough for us to have our ceremony and I knew in that moment God answered my prayer. It was such a sweet moment for me. The father-daughter dance and toasts were also highlights.

Advice for other couples
My advice would be to relax on the day-of and soak in all the special moments. Chances are, there will be a few things that happen that you didn’t plan on happening. Embrace those moments and know that your day will turn out exactly how it was meant to!

Biggest surprise
The biggest surprise of the day for me was how relaxed I felt despite the excitement and nervousness of the day. My photographer, wedding planner, sisters, and Carson played a huge role in how calm and happy I felt on the day of. Looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing!