When we got engaged, we knew 2 things about our wedding: (1) we wanted to get married, locally, in the Panhandle area and (2) that we would have ALOT of out of town guests. Having moved to the area just 2 years ago, most of our family and frien...ds live in other states. It was important to have all of our guests stay in one location, but also be in a location that has beach access (why else would you ask all your friends and family to travel so far?!). Which, come to find out, is difficult to do when you live in a beach town that is made up of predominately condominiums and beach houses. We were also taking into account the fact that some family would be flying and would not have vehicles here. Therefore, we wanted to try and eliminate as much travel within the city for everyone as possible.
We looked at 3 venues total. The first two were not really our “style”, but, finally, we did a tour with Brooke at The Island Weddings. Our tour was in October of 2018. The Island had recently been purchased by a new owner and the entire development was undergoing renovations. For those that do not know, The Island Hotel has been around since the 60’s. My parents vacationed there in high school and my brother vacationed there in college! So, we know the hotel and the area well and we were very excited that it was undergoing renovations prior to our wedding. When we did our tour, some of the wedding venues had not been renovated, yet. But we could tell that the venues that had been renovated were beautiful and we could see that the renovations were going to take The Island to a whole new level!
From there, it was an easy decision. The Island had the beach front view, the beach access, the ability to have everyone stay in one location, and the option of several different beautiful venues for us to have different events. So, we booked with The Island Weddings! (Also, it was an added bonus that, for anyone who did want to get off the Resort for a bit, there were lots of different restaurant [everything from seafood to Italian to burgers] and right across the street is Island Times where people can rent pontoons and other watersports – and they also have really good food!)
Throughout the wedding planning, Brooke kept us to date on the renovations by sending us pictures of all of our venues. It was exciting to see how our venues evolved from a 60’s vibe to a modern, chic look!
We know the typical tradition is to have all of your out-of-town guests to the Rehearsal Dinner, but with have a 200-person we wanted to do something smaller, more intimate for the Rehearsal Dinner. Therefore, we decided we would have the Rehearsal Dinner in the Bali Room with our immediate families and the Wedding Party, and a Karaoke Party/Welcome Party in the Fiji Room immediately after the Rehearsal Dinner. (SIDE NOTE: Anyone debating doing a Karaoke/Welcome Party, I HIGHLY recommend! It was so much fun and a great way to get everyone on both sides of the family acquainted with each other!)
We had 28 people total for the Rehearsal Dinner and the Bali Room was perfect for this. It felt exactly how we wanted to: Intimate. The food for the Rehearsal dinner was AMAZING. Chef Trevor is an awesome chef and the presentation was spectacular!
Everyone was invited to the Karaoke/Welcome Party, which we had in the Fiji Room. It was the perfect size. Everyone had so much fun! (Seriously… even if you are not considering a Karaoke Party, consider it! SO. MUCH. FUN.)
Brooke had the awesome idea to use The Fiji Room the next day (wedding day). Brooke helped turned it into a Bridal Suite, which was gorgeous. It is an all-white room, which screams Bridal Suite and furniture was brought in to give a feel of comfort. There was plenty of space to move around and get comfy, get your makeup done or eat. I can’t wait to see the pictures from here! Brooke really has a vision with the different venues and it’s amazing how she can turn one venue into something totally different the next day!
We were married at St. Mary Catholic Church in Fort Walton Beach (just about 5 minutes down the road from The Island). Upon our return guests were greeted and guided towards the Island Maui Ballroom and the Island Capri Room. These Ballrooms are on the 6th Floor of the tower and there really are not any other words to describe them other than: GORGEOUS. Both have been beautifully renovated. The best part to us was that it didn’t look like just any other hotel ballroom (you know the ones I am talking about – they have the yellow, reds and greens in the carpet and long yellow curtains…). It was so much better! Hayley Odom, the interior designer for The Island, definitely knows what she is doing. The combination of the beautiful blues, greys and whites, with stunning chandeliers just make the room pop! Both Ballrooms have balcony access which was really nice at night with the breeze. And during the day, it has the most beautiful view of BOTH the Gulf and the Bay. I have never been to a wedding before with such a beautiful view!
We had the band, tables and bars in The Island Maui Ballroom and the food and a few extra tables, as well as, a seating area in The Island Capri Room. And, yet again, Chef Trevor killed it! The food was SO GOOD! (For anyone who likes re-stuffed baked potatoes, Chef Trevor’s a must try! He served them in smaller sizes, so, you can even pass them as an appetizer!) Everyone truly seemed to have an awesome night and we could not be happier that they did!
Overall, I could not be more thankful for Brooke and The Island Weddings. Weddings can be stressful, and Brooke truly helped us every step of the way and made it so much easier on us. Brooke pulled off an amazing weekend for us, our family, and our friends, and we cannot wait to make many more memories at The Island in the future!