Sky Diving for Faith, Love, and Marriage: Vanessa + Mike

So what the heck does a couple {and their wedding party} do the day before the wedding? Mani Pedi’s with the girls? Nope. A bridesmaid luncheon? Wrong. Rehearsal Dinner? Eh-eh.

They go SKY DIVING of course!! Our oceanside couple from today’s real wedding, Vanessa and Mike fell head over heels in love, then fell (or jumped) out of a plane! And talk about a free spirited group of friends and fam because most of their wedding party jumped with them! I’m about 99% sure Mr. Oceanside (nor my wedding party) would go for a sky diving excursion. But learning that they tied faith as one meaning behind the jump, made it even more magical. It not only signified they were putting their lives in Gods hands to carry them down from their jump safely, but they were also putting themselves and their marriage in the hands of God to lead them through life. {BIG SIGH}….just love it!

So are you ready? Set. Jump!

Now Kiss!

Butterflies in your stomach yet?? Well get ready for more with their beautiful pink and yellow wedding as photographed by Lauren and Michael Kinsey from Lauren Kinsey Photography. So many details intertwined throughout their day reflected their style, cultures, and personality. Their love of the ocean influenced their decision to marry at the Sawgrass Country Club with an amazing ocean view.

From the photographers, Lauren and Michael Kinsey: Vanessa + Mike contacted us from North Carolina and since we weren’t able to meet in person, we settled for a Skype video chat (hello, the best thing EVER! so much cooler when you can video chat!) and we chatted for over 2 hours about everything under the sun! :) Their wedding was on April 2 at the beautiful Ponte Vedra Beach at the Sawgrass Beach Club. Ponte Vedra is home for Vanessa, so naturally, this is where she wanted to get married. :) It also holds a special meaning for Mike + Vanessa because Mike proposed to her there over Easter weekend. The thing that really struck Michael and I was the quiet, passionate love that they share for each other. I love the way that Mike holds Vanessa so naturally and the way that Vanessa balances Mike out so perfectly. It is beautiful to watch and it comes so naturally for them. They are also hugely adventurous! They went skydiving with the bridal party the day before the wedding! What the what?! True story. :) All the details were beautiful! Each table had a place card designating special places to Mike + Vanessa and a short story on the back about that location. :)

Now onto the pretty pink and yellow goodness…

First a little more from our Oceanside Bride, Vanessa: Mike is from Miami, FL (he’s first generation Cuban-American) and I am from Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. We met back in the Spring of ’06 in a Calculus class at the University of Florida. We had secret crushes on each other as we sat near each other in class, but we went our separate ways until we realized we lived in the same apartment complex in the Spring of ’08. We were friends for a month but we both had such strong chemistry that falling in love was almost instantaneous. We’ve been going strong ever since. =) Mike proposed on the beach (on Easter while visiting my family in Ponte Vedra) on our two year anniversary, and we were married exactly one year later on our three year anniversary.

How and why did you choose your destination/location? We both love the beach and it has played a special role in our lives. We figured Ponte Vedra would be the best location, and some of our friends/family still lived in Florida. Also, for our other friends/family that were in difference states, wouldn’t the beach be a more exciting vacation? =) We knew we wanted the ocean to be visible during our ceremony and reception, and the Sawgrass Beach Club was the perfect place. It was close to my parents’ house and near the hotels our guests would stay in. It had a beautiful view of the ocean from their elevated balcony, which was just big enough for around 100 seats and felt intimate and cozy.

What unique elements or DIY projects did you incorporate into your big day to help make it extra special? I really wanted to incorporate things about our Italian (that’s me) and Cuban heritages. I knew something both cultures have in common is the love of coffee!  Our wedding favors were yellow coffee mugs with a gray goodie bag tied inside with a ribbon. The goodie bags were to be filled up at our candy bar—and all candy had a significance to these cultures. We had dark-chocolate-covered espresso beans, caramels, toffee, marzipan (made by a company called De La Rosa!) and malt balls. My mom found these great glass buckets and silver “shovels” (they were ice scoops) to tie in the beach feel, and that’s how the candy was displayed and dispensed into the goodie bags. Our centerpieces/flowers/ décor were all done by the magnificent Liz Stewart Floral Design. Mike and I made the table markers— which were designed to look like postcards. The front was a picture of the destination (a city or place that either we had traveled to together or held significance to our backgrounds). The back was like the postage side of post card with a hand-written explanation of how that place was important to us. I made the seating chart by myself as well as the candy signs, etc. I bought the metal card holders at Michael’s.

What challenges (if any) did you face while planning your wedding? In December of ’09 (about four months before he proposed), Mike and I moved to Charlotte, NC. So the whole year of our engagement and wedding planning was done 6 hours away. My mom was a HUGE help. Every weekend I could, I would drive down to meet with vendors, try on dresses, etc, but my mom was always there for the meetings and preparations I couldn’t be there for.  Mike’s job isn’t conducive to having two consecutive days off on the weekends, so he felt distanced from a lot of the decisions, and at times, so did I. This helped us ease up on caring too much about little things that were not important in the end. It helped us stay a little more grounded about it all. We loved the final product though, and all the effort was worth it!

Please tell us about your favorite wedding moment! I really loved our ceremony. Mike’s brother-in-law , Jason, was our officiant and he really knew how to balance spirituality, our personalities, serious, tender moments and humor perfectly! Mike, I, and almost ALL of our wedding party went skydiving the DAY before our wedding! So all nerves were crushed by the time we stood to make our vows. Jason tied in the leap of faith, how it symbolizes our trust in God and our willingness to take this step together. We had a few good laughs as we got ready to make our vows, and it was so exciting to see all our guests smile and feel comfortable as they took part in the special moment with us. You can see a few pictures where we break out into laughter. =)

What is your best advice for other couples planning a wedding right now? The cliché is to say never to stress, focus on the reason you are getting married. I had a very hard time with this, as it seems most people do! So, my second best advice would be to set a timeline and use that as your guide to get things done so that you never feel overwhelmed. I loved knowing that I had this and this to do this month, and I didn’t need to worry about that until next month.

Thrilled that Lauren shared this gorgeous Florida wedding with us! Cheers to the newlyweds Michael & Vanessa! I think their sky dive to marriage is a great way to jump off into many more awesome adventures together!

Bride and Groom: Michael and Vanessa
Date: April 2, 2011
City, State, Country: Ponte Vedra, Florida, United States
Approximate Guest Size: 85 guests
Ceremony Location: Sawgrass Beach Club, on a balcony overlooking the ocean
Reception Location: Sawgrass Beach Club

The creative team behind the scenes:

Photographer: Lauren Kinsey Photography / Event Coordination: Michelle Cox (Seagrass Beach Club) Hair Stylist: Ten Salon / Floral Designer: Liz Stewart Floral Design / Reception Venue:  Sawgrass Country Club / DJ: ABC Djs / Cake Designer: Sawgrass Beach Club / Paper Goods: Signage and Table Markers made by Bride/Groom and Invitations made by friend, Oliver French / Dress: Oleg Cassini / Shoes: Michael Shannon / Dress Hanger: Etsy / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: David’s Bridal / Tuxes: Jones New York / Make-up: Bridesmaid, Erin Long