1. Real Weddings

A Colorful, Tex-Mex-Inspired Wedding at St. Augustine Green in Rosemary Beach, Florida

Caroline Ittner (29 and a publicist) and Christopher Pinkston (29 and a sales engineer) turned their outdoor wedding into a bright Tex-Mex-inspired ce

Caroline Ittner (29 and a publicist) and Christopher Pinkston (29 and a sales engineer) turned their outdoor wedding into a bright Tex-Mex-inspired celebration. Every detail carried on their theme, from the spicy margaritas (Caroline's favorite) to the vibrantly colored maracas that guests shook during the ceremony. The outdoor setting at St. Augustine Green allowed the couple to get creative with succulent accents and really get into the fiesta mood with chips and queso. They weren't afraid to have fun with bright colors, either, making every reception table and ceremony chair pop with bright red rose aisle decor or funky garden-style centerpieces with bold ranunculus. Everyone danced under authentic custom papel picados that the couple ordered from Mexico. The traditional folk art banner featured the couple's names, "happy day" or "love" with an ornate design. (The design was also echoed on the custom stationery.) At the end of the celebration, the couple said good-bye with a bubble-filled exit before jumping into a “just married”-clad Rolls-Royce. Caroline and Christopher's planners at Defining Moments Weddings & Events made sure everything came together seamlessly, despite the last minute downpour and thick humidity. All these beautiful details were captured by the talented Dear Wesleyann Photography, below.

Caroline and Christopher's aisle decor matched the wedding arch and added extra color to the natural setting of St. Augstine Green in Rosemary Beach, Florida. Mini-arrangements of greenery, fuchsia garden roses and pink tuber roses accented every row of wooden folding chairs.
Their wedding arch captured the natural setting at St. Augustine Green with an understated design. Events by Nouveau, the couple's florist, decorated each birch-wood post with a grand garland of greenery and bunches of fuchsia garden roses, which also accented the aisle.
Caroline and Christopher had a large wedding party, but her sisters stood out before and during the wedding. They all got ready together in floral baby-doll dresses with mosaic-inspired patterns along the high neckline. Later, the bridesmaids switched out their looks for navy dresses.
While Caroline's wedding dress and accessories were all ivory and silver, she added a pop of color with her bouquet. Events by Nouveau, their florist, filled its ivory satin wrap with blush and fuchsia garden roses, white delphiniums, peach roses and white tulips.
Before they even got to the reception, guests were encouraged to have some fun. Every seat had a navy (to keep away the heat) and a bright-colored maraca to shake during the couple's first kiss.
For her dress, Caroline picked a more formal, modern look. The Watters gown had ruching along its strapless sweetheart neckline and an organza overlay that extended into a romantic, frothy skirt. A scalloped detail also fell just above her knee.
Caroline matched the rest of the women in the wedding party by putting a bright flower in her hair. The waterfall braid in her half-up hairstyle was paired with a fuchsia garden rose at the center. Everyone had a different look, but the flower helped tie them all together.
By working with Studio EQ through Etsy, Caroline and Christopher designed an invitation that resembled the papel picados in their reception. “I searched high and low on Etsy to find the right person to do it at the right price,” Caroline says. Each one had this white floral cut-out design along the front.
Caroline and Christopher's wedding party included almost every color. All the groomsmen, including his best man, wore navy suits with white shirts and gingham ties, creating a uniform look. Their bridesmaids, however, donned dresses in all their favorite colors, prints and styles. Caroline’s two sisters stood out from the pack with navy blue dresses and pink bouquets. The rest of the women wore flowers in their hair.
Caroline’s favorite drink is a margarita, and since it fit with the Tex-Mex theme, it was no surprise that the drink also served as their signature cocktail. They even chose a spicy flavoring and paired it with Tex-Mex appetizers.
The outdoor cocktail tables had their own natural accents. Each was set with bright orange ranunculus, greenery, succulents and pink peonies inside a wooden breakaway vase.
Even though it was raining throughout the day, the couple and their guests were still able to enjoy an outdoor cocktail hour. Some of the wooden tables were lined with candlelights inside vintage planters and clear glass bottles filled with bright ranunculus. Succulents also lined the center of the table.
Caroline and Christopher's centerpieces brought in St. Augustine Green’s natural atmosphere with lush, natural arrangements. Events by Nouveau arranged each with greenery, green mini hydrangeas, peach roses, mustard yellow ranunculus and orange ranunculus inside a tall green pedestal vase.
Guests had more than just their assigned chiavari chairs to lounge in during the reception. Caroline and Christopher set up a seating area with tall orange velvet chairs and wooden tables, so guests could chat and get a front-seat view of their friends on the dance floor.
The lounge furniture came with its own romantic centerpieces. Each glass-topped table was paired with a low arrangement of pink roses inside a lime. Tall candles in trumpet glass vases as well as natural arrangements of mini green hydrangeas, bright garden roses and wax flowers from Events by Nouveau made the seating stand out.
Sometimes adding a bold floral to an otherwise plain dessert can really make it stand out. Caroline and Christopher knew they wanted a simple wedding cake, so they picked a two-tier ivory confection from Fatty Patty's Cakes & Cafe. The round layers were covered with buttercream frosting and then topped with a single succulent at the center.
Keeping with their Tex-Mex inspiration, Caroline and Christopher ordered authentic papel picados from Mexico. Each white accent had the couple’s names and the words “love” or “happy day” surrounded by different intricate designs. One of them also had a surprise for the couple. “They spelled the groom’s name wrong, and it was too late to place another order,” Caroline says. “No one seemed to notice and the ones that did just laughed.”
Before they left the reception, Caroline and Christopher made one last memory with friends and family members, complete with cat ears. Everyone blew bubbles as they made their way to the white Rolls-Royce exit car.
Bud & Alley's Restaurant & Rooftop Bar was more than the caterer. After the grand bubble exit, Caroline and Christopher slipped into this classic white Rolls-Royce and headed for their after-party at the restaurant. The car also had some of their favorite treats from Whataburger—a surprise for Caroline from Christopher. “Because it was such a nice car, we weren’t allowed to eat in it,” Caroline says. “It smelled so good and we were so hungry that we had to pull over to eat before getting back into the car to go to the after-party.”