We're traveling to Naples today to share with you a lovely bayfront wedding captured by Joe Capasso. Brianna and Dylan were married overlooking the water at Dylan's family's stunning (and I mean, completely gorgeous and knock-your-socks-off stunning!) private home, then took the celebration over to the Naples Sailing and Yacht Club. And you won't want to miss the couple's adorable story!
Brianna is a graduate of the University of Iowa and a diehard Hawkeye fan - when the Hawkeyes won the bowl game a few weeks after their engagement, she decided on a black and yellow wedding theme (complete with an adorable polka dot pedicure).
The stories behind how the couple met and were engaged are so fun and sweet! I'll let Brianna take it from here...
"Dylan and I met in the lawn at a Jimmy Buffett concert in Tampa! When I told him I lived in Fort Myers and he told me he lived in Naples, we knew we would see each other again. Dylan called me and set up our 'first date' right away and we have been together ever since!
"Dylan and I went to look at engagement rings together months before we got engaged. His uncle is a jeweler and we knew we wanted him to make my ring. I was hoping we would be engaged before I went home for Christmas that year, but he told me that with it being the holidays, his uncle was swamped and wouldn't have the ring ready in time :( One Saturday in December, he told me one of his friends was bartending at a nice restaurant in downtown Naples, so we were just going to go see him since we hadn't seen him in a while. I had suspicions but he told me the ring wasn't ready so I really didn't think it would happen. I had also told him that I really didn't want him to propose in public! So while we were sitting at the bar, the thought crossed my mind, but I quickly pushed the thought away because I didn't want to get my hopes up. He did not propose at dinner. We then walked through the beautiful lights of downtown Naples at Christmas time, and once again I thought to myself, "Is he going to do it here?!" But he didn't. At that point, I was convinced that it was true, the ring wasn't ready and we were not getting engaged before I went home for Christmas.
"We had made plans to meet another couple for drinks after dinner, so Dylan told me he wanted to stop home and change out of our nice clothes before we met them for drinks. When he unlocked the front door, there was music blaring upstairs. I started freaking out thinking that we had intruders in the house and we had been robbed! Dylan said, 'I'll go check it out!' as he ran upstairs. Little did I know, he had the ring hidden at the top of the stairs. As I was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, I realized that the music playing upstairs was Jimmy Buffett and the house had been decorated with tiki type decorations... I thought, 'Wait a second...' So I made my way upstairs to find Dylan on one knee with THE biggest smile on his face. He asked me to marry him, and after the 'Oh my God! Baby' that came out of my mouth, he said, 'You have to say "Yes!"' Of course I did. After tears of excitement and phone calls to our parents, we set out to meet our friends that we originally had plans with. As we walked in the door, the next surprise Dylan had set up was 20 of our closest friends from Fort Myers and Naples there to congratulate us! He had planned such a fantastic evening! It was perfect!"
How gorgeous is this modern cake display? Brianna tells us the cakes tasted even better than they looked.
Brianna also shared her happiness on how everything came together on their big day:
"We were so fortunate to have our ceremony venue at Dylan's mom and step father's home. We have spent a lot of time there and we knew there was no where else on the planet that we would want to be married. It is an absolutely breathtaking home, overlooking Naples Bay. I didn't realize this until someone told us days later, but we actually had a crowd of boaters cheering for us as we said our vows!
"Every single vendor we worked with was AMAZING. We were so happy to have Paige Simpson from No Worries Events as a wedding planner. I enjoyed every second of planning our wedding. Joe Capasso and his team did such a wonderful job! I am fortunate to work with his special lady, Lauren, so I knew from the beginning I would love for him to be our photographer! My hair, along with my mother and bridal party's was done by one of my best friends from Iowa, Stacey Spillum. She is beyond amazing and there is no one else that I would have wanted to do my hair for our big day! Our flowers were done SO wonderfully by Kevin from Botanicals on the Gulf. Kevin was able to take the little bit of information I could give him and turn my vision into a reality. Manny and his team at the Naples Sailing & Yacht Club did such a fantastic job. Every table we stopped at had clean plates and no one could stop talking about, 'those sweet potatoes!' Chris Hogenson was our DJ for the evening and he kept the dance floor hopping all night! AnnMarie and Steven from iHeartfilms have such an artistic eye and we loved working with them.
"Lastly, I would just like to mention that we could not have had such an amazing wedding day without the love and support of our parents: Lonnie and Cindy Billings, Dr. Frederick Buechel, Sr. and Mrs. Caryn Hacker-Buechel, and Ed and Kate Hacker. They have taught us how to love and have been there for guidance and support every step of the way.
"There isn't one specific moment or memory from our wedding day that is my favorite because I am fortunate enough to look back on the WHOLE day and say it was the best day of my life. All of our friends and family were there to support us and I would do it ALL over again in a heartbeat."
Congrats, Brianna and Dylan! We hope you're enjoying these first few months as newlyweds. And many thanks to Joe Capasso for sharing his beautiful work with us.
VENUE/VENDOR INFORMATION:
Ceremony Venue: Private Home in Naples | Reception Venue: Naples Sailing and Yacht Club | Photography: Joe Capasso | Videography: iHEART Films | Event Coordination: No Worries Weddings & Events | Floral Design: Botanicals on the Gulf | Hair Styling: Stacey Spillum | Makeup: Gabriella from Salon Tease | DJ: Chris Hogenson | Gown: Loretta's Bridal | Cake: Mikkelsen's Pastry Shop | Submission: Two Bright Lights
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