Getting Married In Florida? We Hear Great Things About Ybor City

wedding kiss

Thinking about getting married in Florida? We hear great things about Ybor City Museum Garden! Our next couple fell so in love with this quaint venue tucked away in one of their favorite parts of town, they just had to share it with all of you. We have to say, this urban garden was a beautiful spot to say "I do" and provided a lovely ethereal atmosphere to the whole day. Keep scrolling to see more and to hear all about Bari and Jimmy's big day!

Can't get enough of this urban glam garden wedding? We know what you mean, be sure to check out the full gallery here to see every last detail that Coral & Vine coordinated and captured by Finny Hill Photography. Oh and if you are dying over the couples wedding portraits with their two dogs you should check out AGoldPhoto. According to Bari he is the dog photo whisper and even got their most skittish pooch posing for photos.

wedding party in black white and neutrals elegant wedding dress from Thia

Its a nice day for a white wedding

GURRRRRL That Dress!

From the Bride: The brand of my wedding dress was Theia and the name of the style was "Olivia." I purchased it from Your Dream Bridal online after seeing it advertised as having been passed on by other shoppers during a sample sale. It's listed measurements were very close to mine and for less than half of the original cost, I took a chance by ordering it and it ended up fitting like a glove when it arrived. Pretty sure everyone thought I was crazy but as soon as we booked our wedding venue, I immediately pictured a gown just like the one I purchased on that whim and wore.

I hadn’t ever tried on a wedding dress, not even for fun while my best friends found theirs, so I think my inner circle was just a little surprised to see what I wanted; the consensus seemed to be that they’d have pegged me wanting something very tight, with intricate beading, and a much darker color than the true snow white one I ended up with. The dress I got was perfect for the vibe of the wedding we planned. The amount of tulle created a romantic, airy illusion like I was floating down the aisle, but didn’t make me look like a Disney Princess. In my defense, I did end up trying on the tight, beaded, darker color dress I presumably would have liked, and although I felt beautiful, I didn’t feel like a bride at all. I’m actually the third bride I know who and ended up in something different than originally expected! I then bought the jeweled belt from a local beloved bridal shop, Malindy Elene Couture for the Bride; the brand of the belt was Erica Koesler. After that, my dress was altered to fit me perfectly and the sleeves were added by a longtime favorite “artist” in the Tampa area, which I’m choosing to call her because she’s so much more than a seamstress.

beautiful flower girl in tulle and lace dress

bridal party in neutral tones bride and maid of honor elegant pink and white bouquet

groom and groomsmen in black and white black and white groom and his men

very cute bride and groom portrait idea

Get Married Here! You Wont Regret it!

I submitted our wedding to bring light to the venue we used, as it is lesser known in the area, and to give our highest compliments to and recommendations for the elite collaboration of vendors we worked with. In my opinion, our wedding venue (The Ybor City Museum Garden) is underutilized and underrated as a large, local event venue, and I think it’s a shame because it is Pinterest/picture perfect, extremely versatile, affordable, and is a coveted state landmark (one of only three in Florida).
Prior to getting engaged my husband and I basically became professional wedding guests/attendants, going to 13 together in three years. By the time it was our turn, we obviously knew exactly what we did and did not want as we had experienced the entire gamut of wedding locations and styles. When we started planning our own, we had trouble finding local venues that could accommodate our needs (interfaith wedding with a little over 250 people invited) that weren't completely overdone or unreasonably expensive. After one phone call and one site visit, it was a done deal; the Ybor City Museum Garden was perfect for us. It was equal parts unique, romantic, and practical, allowing my planners and me to create a classic, ethereal garden vibe, while offering room to add personal twists using eclectic details, industrial cityscapes, and local charm.

wedding sign

romantic wedding Chuppah wedding ceremony

eucalyptus wedding aisle decor reserved wedding seating sign

cute flower girl and ring bearer puffy little flower girl dress

outdoor wedding ceremony

jewish wedding ceremony

Always Have A Plan B

We rented an old-fashioned street car to do our first look on and to drive our wedding party around to some good photo opp spots. I was really looking forward to it and had most of my photo inspiration around that idea… plus Jimmy and I paid extra for a “bar setup” on the street can and purchased high-quality champagne to treat our wedding party to during a final toast before the ceremony. I had no idea the street car hadn’t arrived when I went down to get in place for our first look, but my wedding coordinators and photographers had been communicating… so they told me the street car was running late and Liz from Finny Hill Photography suggested we get some individual portraits of Jimmy and I.
After a few minutes, I had a gut feeling something was up and asked what was going on. Liz told me they tried to call the cell phone number of the driver we were given upon booking, and the number was disconnected. She told me to trust her and asked if I was ready for a plan B for our first look, and of course, I just went with it and truly brushed off the incident. I knew we’d get our money back and did trust our photographers… and can safely say, I’m not even sure our first look and wedding party portraits would have come out as incredible as they did if we HAD done it on the street car. So my advice is to anticipate any potential issues with plan B's and/or task your wedding coordinators with that, but don't let it consume you before, during, or after your wedding. If you're anything like me, you know you'll ensure the situation is made right after the fact

wedding seating assignment display

family style wedding reception seating hand painted tile place cards s shaped wedding table

simple and elegant centerpiece idea

wedding welcome mirror sign all green flower arrangement

sweetheart table

framed cocktail menu

Spend Time With The One You Love

I heard too many stories from couples tell me they barely got to see each other at the reception because each was so busy catching up with certain guests OR that they spent their entire wedding reception walking from table to table to see guests as a formality, barely getting to eat, drink, or dance. There was no way I was going to let that happen- click here to find out what their solution was!

Jimmy and I decided to host a welcome party the night before our wedding at a favorite Ybor City bar known for good beer and live music. We really encouraged our guests to meet us there, especially those coming in from out of town, so we could get more time in with them to hang out and have fun. This enabled us to really focus on having fun with each other the night of our wedding and I’m not only referring to the drinking, eating, and dancing; we were in awe of how everything looked and felt. We spent so much time talking about every single detail of our wedding, so to see our vendors’ services and hard work in action was surreal. At one point we just held hands and walked around and looked at everything… then we partied. all. night. Seriously. I don’t think we left the dance floor the entire night, which actually encouraged some guests who are not dancers to come join us and watch our antics. We know our guests had a great time at our wedding- the band was incredible and everyone was full of energy and dancing constantly… but NO ONE had more fun at our wedding than Jimmy and I… and that’s the way it’s supposed to be

mini donut bar and wall

mini donuts instead of wedding cake so many donuts let them eat donuts

caricature artist instead of a photo booth live wedding music

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things...

My other favorite aspects of our wedding include the caricature artists we hired instead of a photo booth...our guests loved it; including our dogs in our first look with the help of a special pet photographer (a portion of their fees benefitted a beloved local animal rescue); the linen used to cover the top of our Chuppah...it was my maternal grandmother's; trading wedding cake for mini doughnuts... My husband and I built the donut wall we used to display them; the 12-piece big band we splurged on, which played everything from Sinatra to Fetty Wap and had all 200+ people dancing the entire night; and finally, the surprise Star Wars themed sendoff I planned for my self-proclaimed nerdy husband, complete with a visit from Yoda himself.

light saber wedding exit light saber wedding exit with yoda