Donnaree and Chris's Wedding at The Villa at Ridder Country Club

This past Sunday, I was the coordinator for Donnaree and Chris's wedding held at The Villa at Ridder Country Club, which is one of two properties offered by the Saphire Event Group. The day started with hair and makeup for the bride at her home. The bride wore a gorgeous strapless gown with a sweetheart neckline and detailed beading, along with a lace edged veil and fuchsia Nine West shoes. The bride's bouquet was stunning and very colorful, with a mix of flowers like ginger, orchids, mini callas, peonies, spider mums, and roses all wrapped with teal and fuchsia satin ribbon, French twisted with white pearls.

The bride and groom decided to do a first look prior to the ceremony, and it was definitely one of the sweetest moments I had ever seen. It was captured by a team of photographers and videographers, who were all fabulous to work on the wedding day. It's only been two days, but I can't wait to see the photos from Melissa DeSchamp and her second shooter, Aubrey B. Greene, as well as footage from videographers, Michael and Tricia from Michael and Tricia Films.

The ceremony for 195 guests was held on the lawn of The Villa next to a picturesque gazebo. White garden chairs were set in curved aisles, and the area was beautifully decorated with tropical floral arrangements flanking both ends of the aisle, soft white tulle between the chairs, pink fabric draped along the top of the gazebo, and rose petals scattered across the aisle. All of the ceremony decor, personal flowers, and reception decor were created by Erica and Scott of Orchids N' Blooms. Ushers handed out programs and palm fans that were tied with fuchsia satin ribbon to the guests. The ceremony processional was unique because the area between The Villa and the gazebo area is a bit too long to really walk as a processional the entire way, so a golf cart was used to transport the bride, parents, and bridesmaids to the start of the aisle. Also, they picked a great recessional song: "Now that we've found love" by Heavy D, and as newlyweds, they danced their way together down the aisle.

Cocktail hour was held in the lounge at The Villa immediately following the ceremony, where guests found their escort cards which doubled as favors: Jamaican jerk seasoning handmade by the bride and groom! These were placed in a sunburst pattern on a bed of grass, surrounding a birdcage with lush tropical florals such as red ginger and birds of paradise. At the end of cocktail hour, the bride changed out of her veil into a fun fuchsia feather hairpiece!

The reception was held in the Grand Ballroom, with gorgeous tropical floral centerpieces, pink organza linen overlays on the tables, and bright uplighting around the room. Guests were treated to a three course dinner, with a main entree of ginger marinated seared chicken with mango salsa, and wedding cake for dessert. The topsy turvy four tiered cake surrounded by sugared green orchids and a bright fuchsia sugared peony on the top was designed by Cake. and was a golden cake with strawberries and vanilla butter cream. After dinner, guests danced the night away to music from DJ Matty D of Klass Universal Entertainment. Here are some pictures that I took of the wedding!


Donnaree and Chris, it was so nice working with you both, and I definitely have to say that your friends and family were a LOT of fun =) Thank you for trusting me to coordinate your big day, and I hope you have an amazing honeymoon in the Caribbean!!

A special thanks to my assistant, Claire, for helping with set up and many other tasks. Also, this wedding marks the start of my wedding season this year, so it gets me really excited to see what's in store for the rest of the year!

~Emilie