Tropical Wedding at Burroughs Home & Gardens, Fort Myers

Bride and bridesmaids in mint dresses, holding protea bouquets

Jodi has been a Florida native all her life, drawn to anything that has to do with salt water, sun, and bright colors. So she knew when wedding planning began, she wanted all of those things incorporated into their big day.

Their pretty as a pineapple wedding portrayed a tropical feel with pineapple centerpieces, exotic flowers, conch shells, palm fronds, bright colors of pinks, mint, gold and navy blue, and steel-drums to create the perfect island vibe. Get in on all of the fun ideas in the full gallery, photographed by Hunter Ryan Photo.

Elegant wedding invitation suite with pineapple details

Elegant wedding invitation with pineapple motif and flowers

Burroughs Home & Gardens

The first to-do on the wedding preparation check list was venue. We immediately fell in love with the Burroughs Home & Gardens. It was the perfect backdrop for our tropical wedding. The Burroughs Home is one of Fort Myers' oldest homes located right on the Caloosahatchee river.

Happy bride and groom embrace at their outdoor wedding

Bride groom and bridal party in mint and navy suits Groomsmen wearing celebrity portrait socks at wedding

Bridesmaid holding a protea flower bouquet wedding

River Sets The Scene

Surrounding the home is a vast array of green foliage, plants, and tall palm trees, This created the perfect tropical backdrops for our photos. The home features a beautiful new indoor/outdoor pavilion on the river for the reception area. I figured we could keep the retractable shutters open during the reception to allow the breeze off the river to flow giving life to our island theme. Once the venue was set, the details and planning began.

Welcome sign on rustic wood for Jodi and Gus wedding

Rustic wedding signpost: Ceremony, Cocktails, Reception

Pineapple Inspiration

For whatever reason, at this point in my life pineapples were a big thing. I loved drawing them, eating them, and buying pineapple decor-- needless to say, adding pineapples to the wedding was a must! Our invitations had pineapples on them. The groomsmen gifts included pineapple cuff links and the bridesmaid gifts included an Alex and Ani pineapple bracelet. Our centerpieces for cocktail and reception was a cored-out pineapple sitting atop a palm frond with various colorful flowers in the center along with mercury glass votives and a gold table number. We also used a whole pineapple atop a palm frond alongside a conch shell and mercury glass votives on every other table.

Jodi and Gus wedding program displayed among green leaves

Waterfront wedding ceremony setup with white chairs and floral arch Beach wedding arbor with exotic floral arrangement Tropical flower arrangement on wedding archway by the sea

Wedding ceremony: Bride and groom exchanging vows under arch

Tropical Flowers

Scattered throughout the wedding were various flower arrangements with palm fronds and vibrant ginger and banana leaves that definitely added to the tropical feel. The pink ginger flower was used as boutonnière's for the groomsmen on a light navy suit. The bridesmaid's each carried a single stem king Protea with gold ribbon while wearing a light mint green dress. The dresses were chiffon which flowed nicely in the breeze. The bride's bouquet was made up of 3 large king proteas. These flowers are so large, beautiful, and exotic they really helped in adding to the tropical feel.

Wedding table with pink ginger flower centerpiece and place cards

Wedding place cards with pineapple detail on gold cloth

Talented Family

I have to give a lot of credit to my parents. They are so talented and crafty. They played a huge part in making my visions come to life. My mom and her girlfriend's put together the wedding favors which was a sea salt hand scrub made up of sea salt, coconut oil, and essential oil's. I thought this would be fitting as many of our guests were from the north--so every time they washed their hands they would be reminded of sunny tropical Florida. My dad is a master woodworker. He made our gorgeous wedding arbor and our guest signature sign. His talent is incredible.

Elegant wedding table setting with floral pineapple centerpiece Table number twenty four with a floral centerpiece

Colorful flower arrangement in a pineapple vase centerpiece

Mr and Mrs sign on a gold sequin wedding sweetheart table Mrs chair decoration at wedding reception with foliage

An Island State Of Mind

For music, we had a guitar player for the ceremony followed by steel-drum and guitar for the cocktail hour. Listening to the sounds of the steel-drum really puts you in a island state of mind. At the Burroughs home, lights wrap the lower half's of the palm trees. So picture dancing outside under the moonlight with lights cascading down from the trees, a cool breeze off the river, and "Somewhere over the Rainbow" playing in the background. It just doesn't get any better than that. Our first dance was to Eric Clapton feat. Wyclef Jean- "Wonderful Tonight."

Dessert table with cake cupcakes and blue pink backdrop White ruffled cake on a mint green stand for a party Two tiered cake made of oreo cookies with pink flower

Wedding desserts with Mr and Mrs cake topper

Variety Of Desserts

We had a beautiful dessert table made up of an old barn door sitting atop two saw horses. Dessert's ranged from cake pops, to cookies, to key lime pie shooters.Wrapping the night up, we finished with a sparkler exit and a "one more song" chant. The wedding was absolutely perfect! I couldn't be more elated that our dream wedding became a reality!

We love the video below, filmed by Viral Media & Films, sit back and enjoy!

https://vimeo.com/163460688

View All Images