Clarissa & Nick’s elegant seaside wedding at The Court.
Ceremony & Reception Venue: The Court
Time of Year: Spring
From the Couple…
Tell us about the inspiration for your wedding day?
My vision was an intimate destination dinner with everyone gathered around one long table. However, we also drew inspiration from club-staurants and beach clubs we love to make the evening exciting for everyone. Our style was elegant, slightly modern, and minimalist, and I truly believe it came to life with the perfect touch of coastal Southern charm.
Were there any special purchases or DIY aspects to your seaside wedding? Let us know the details, and how you thought it turned out? Was there a story behind your special purchase, gift, or DIY element?
Nicholas’s custom-made tuxedo was hands-down one of my favorite special purchases for the wedding because of how proud he was of it – more on that below when I get into our fashion.
What were the florals like for your wedding? Did you use flowers in any of your design elements like the bridal bouquets, centerpieces or ceremony backdrop? Did they play an important part in the overall style of your seaside wedding?
I was absolutely thrilled to see how our florals came out to create the ambience of our wedding. Overall, they were predominantly white with a touch of pink, in semi-deconstructed, free form arrangements of ranunculus, rose varieties, peonies, sweet peas, and lisianthus. Aside from the florals making the tablescape, the florals were the focal of our ceremony under the magnolia trees as they climbed up the surrounding oak trees as our alter.
Did you personalize the day in any way (string trio, guest entertainment, etc.)? What were some of your favorite parts of your seaside wedding day?
The entertainment throughout the night was one of my favorite personal touches. It started with an acoustic guitarist for the ceremony and cocktail hour, followed by a saxophonist playing during dinner, and then at the reception, DJ Shawn from BBoyd Entertainment, did a truly amazing job of hyping up an intimate group of all age ranges and getting everyone on the dance floor.
Another personalization we made to our wedding that was incredibly special was having my father, Alex, officiate. He became an ordained minister to do so, and we joked that he would be the one man show of the wedding, between walking me down the aisle, officiating, and welcoming everyone at the reception.
One last personalized touch that I know meant the most to many guests, was our signature cocktail menu, which was intentionally, equally a mocktail menu. One of the most popular signature cocktails was Blanco Water, inspired by my maiden name (Blanco).
Let’s talk fashion. How did you both choose your seaside wedding day look? What was the most anticipated or special moment of your wedding day?
I am so excited to spill all the details here. Nicholas worked with Wynwood Tailors in Miami to choose everything from the style features to the fabrics and embroidering with the fit completely customized to him. The jacket lining showed his personality with vintage race cars, then he had our wedding date embroidered on the inside pocket and our initials combined on his shirt’s cuff. And of course, I’ll add the final touch to his look was his Audemars Piguet watch. He kept his design process and decisions tight-lipped, so it was mutual to see each other at the alter.
My first look of the night was a Martina Liana gown from Elegance by Roya. It was the first dress of the third store when I immediately knew it was the one, and it was unanimous among my mother and sisters even with them previously having favorite dresses “so far.” I knew I wanted an unexpected detail, but otherwise modern traditional silhouette that had a little sexiness. The plunging neck and silk jacquard fabric delivered exactly that. The craftsmanship of details of the dress down to the covered buttons were impeccable. I also loved my cathedral veil, that layered the perimeter of the train, with a delicate leaf appliqué. I actually had the veil custom-made on Etsy, inspired by one I saw on store. The train of my gown was perfect for a traditional French bustle for dancing. I decided to best complement myself in the dress, to solely accessorize with diamond drop earrings, and Alexandre Birman Clarita heels.
My second look was also paired with Alexandre Birman Teresa heels, which were perfect for the courtyard wedding, as many of their styles including their stilettos are made to not sink into the grass. I loved that I went with the metallic hot pink to add a pop of color. The dress to pair was Bronx and Banco, with some custom alterations by my wedding tailor, Rosaya’s Stitching Post. This lace bridal mini was a true masterpiece what I almost loved more than my gown. The butterfly embellishments, structured skirt, and sweetheart neckline all added to how perfect this dress was to dance around in. The final touch to this look was the pearl and diamond multi-strand choker with pearl and diamond stud earrings.
Finally, my outro look of the night was a simple transition with the second Bronx and Banco dress, to lose the choker and layer on the matching lace Bronx and Banco bolero with a butterfly enclosure. On my way out, I paired this with Simkhai’s Pearl Oyster Clutch.
For all looks, I kept my hair in the slick back, low bun, which I felt was transitional across all my outfits and kept all night.
What was the most anticipated or special moment of your seaside wedding day?
The most special moments, I would have to say were the more intimate moments of just Nick and I. I feel Nicholas shows more emotion behind closed doors so following the ceremony as soon as we stepped inside our room, there was an immediate release of emotion, tears, happiness and excitement and all the feelings in that moment.
How did you go about choosing your venue? Is there a special story related to your venue or location?
30A has been a favorite vacation destination for Nicholas and I for many years, even so much as living there for a few months during the pandemic. However, most of our families had never experienced it, so when it came down to knowing we wanted a destination-like seaside wedding in terms of feeling like a vacation for guests, wanting to stay domestic for guests’ ease, and introducing them to a place we love, it became a no-brainer to get married in 30A.
I had my eyes set on a few venues, but it was Ashley who introduced and encouraged us to take a look at The Court. Not only did we love the idea of being one of the first weddings there, but could immediately envision our destination dinner in the courtyard when we saw it. We also loved that the The Court would only be host to our guests during our wedding weekend, which made it feel extra special to have all our guests close by for a full weekend celebrating us. Not to mention, for your friends and families to be the ones there on wedding morning, and the morning after getting married, and not strangers.
Do you have any wedding planning advice you’d like to share with other couples planning their day?
The biggest piece of advice I would give is to start making a list of all the special details as you plan them from the start of your wedding planning for shot lists and day-of instructions. There were so many details that I was excited about but in the last month, and a year later from creating some of those details, I forgot that we had done something special that wasn’t necessarily prominent to the photographers or we wanted this small thing a certain way for someone to double check.
The next piece of advice is echoing what you’ll hear from everyone else: the day goes by so quickly, make the most of it and plan to just make the most of it with your husband. I think the stepping away for an outfit change together helped us accomplish that, as well as our private last dance.
From your perspective now- what element impacted your wedding day vision the most? (Ex. “I didn’t realize those glow cowboy hats would be so much fun, but they were!” Or, “the upgraded gold flatware made the table setting so elegant. I would splurge on that upgrade again in a heartbeat.”)
Everything! It came together so nicely but if I had to narrow it down, I would reiterate the tablescape and entertainment made our vision come to life. However, the night would not have been the same without the cafe lights.
What was your absolute most favorite image from your wedding gallery?
This is the hardest question so far, so I could only manage to narrow it down to a top 4.
Tell us about any standout vendors on your creative team. We’d love to know what you (or your family) thought was “above and beyond!”
We were beyond thrilled with our vendor team in the end. Florals by the Sea clearly went above and beyond installing TREES day of to get the look, and continuing to make game day decisions to create the ambiance. Our caterer, Black Bear, was getting rave reviews weeks later from our guests from service to taste. Our DJ Shawn from B-Boy, delivered exactly what my sisters and friends expected my wedding music to be – not traditional reception music. And that is exactly what we asked for. Going into the wedding, Nicholas and I were pretty concerned about people just sitting at the table all night and that was not the case. I owe that all to Shawn. Our photographer, Hannah, made everyone feel so comfortable in front of the camera and along with her associate, captured the night perfectly. Everyone loved Jim Armstrong on the guitar.
Our stationer, Emma from Stamp Design Co, was also one of my favorite vendors that I’m glad we went with after randomly finding her British shop on instagram. To ship our stationary overseas was well worth it given her designs and quality. The wax seals and maps were some of my favorite details, and Emma was so flexible to incorporate customization.
Vendor Credits
Planner: Ashley at A Wedding Collection | Hair & Makeup: Kendra K Beauty | Photographer: Hannah Obremskey | Videographer: Salt and Palm Studio | Florals: Florals by the Sea | Rentals: Forget Me Knot | Dance Floor: Panache Tents | Ceremony Musician: Jim Armstrong | DJ: DJ Shawn Frady with BBoy Productions | Croquembouche: Bonne Vie Specialty Foods | Catering: Black Bear Bread Co. | Bartenders: Tipsy Mule | Stationery: Stamp Design Co. | Bonfire: CC Boone | Ceremony & Reception Venue: The Court
