Interview with the amazing Kathy + Pat:
HOW DID YOU MEET? We were introduced by friends (two of whom were in the wedding) and had hung out in similar circles before dating. About 4 years ago our mutual friend Mandy who was a bridesmaid and my roommate at the time had emergency surgery to have her appendix removed. Pat figured this would be the perfect time to call – “to check on Mandy”. After confirming Mandy was going to be ok, he asked me out on a date and here we are! 🙂
WHAT ATTRACTED YOU THE MOST TO YOUR HUSBAND/WIFE? Kathy – Well besides his fabulously good looks, from the day I met Pat I really did think he knew everything (and I still do, and so does he! ☺) In all seriousness, he makes me feel incredibly special and is such a kind and loving person. I love that I can call him not only my husband but also my best friend.
Pat – From the moment I scammed my first date (thanks Mandy!), I knew Kathy was the one. My feeling of friendship quickly blossomed into a deeply rooted love towards Kathy. She is truly the most interesting and smartest, not to mention prettiest person to ever put up with me! She makes me want to be a better person, no BS, and I love the way she makes me feel.
HOW DID HE PROPOSE? Ironically enough, it was Friday the 13th. His boss usually gives him off due to superstitions so he had been hounding me for a week to go to the beach with him. I kept telling him I had to work, and he said fine let’s go when you get off of work. Well I didn’t think he was serious (who wants to go to the beach at 6pm?) – I decided to go get my nails done and run some errands and he kept calling asking where I was because he was waiting for me to go to the beach. When I got home he was all ready in his board shorts and bag packed for the beach. I told him I would go with him but I wasn’t putting on a bathing suit because I didn’t want to get all sweaty. He laughed and said OK fine, let’s just go! We walked down to the beach and about 30 minutes later, I was sweating anyway because I was so excited he had just popped the question ☺ Whoever said Friday the 13th is bad luck???
WHAT INSPIRED YOUR VISION FOR YOUR WEDDING? We had always talked about having a laid back wedding where people could just relax, unwind and have fun. We knew the Florida Keys would be the perfect place for this and that people could make a vacation out of it if they wanted.
TELL US ABOUT FINDING YOUR VENUE: I did a lot of research online looking for places in the Keys. I fell in love with the Caribbean Resort the first time I saw it online. I convinced Pat and my parents to go down that following weekend to check out the property in person. Let’s just say everyone was blown away when we got there and we signed the contract within an hour!
WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST PLANNING CHALLENGE? Due to the nature of the location, at first it was logistically challenging coordinating everything but I would not change any of it for the world!
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE DESIGN ELEMENT OF YOUR WEDDING? We absolutely loved having the clear tent with the hanging lights, as well as the perimeter lighting for the dance floor. It looked absolutely amazing at night.
DID YOU HAVE ANY DIY DETAILS? Yes a lot! This was one of my favorite parts of planning the wedding! Like a lot of people do, we designed our own koozies. I also made signs for the front of the resort and throughout the reception area. In keeping up with our nautical theme, we ordered starfish and made the seating cards for everyone (Pat was a huge help with this!). Also – on each of the tables, Pat made monkey fist nautical rope knots to hold the table #s – I’m guessing people liked these because we only came home with 4 out of 16 of them!
WHAT WAS THE MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT OF YOUR WEDDING DAY? Seeing each other for the first time on the dock when we did our first look photos. It was so nice to be able to kiss and hug him and let a lot of the nerves go by seeing him for those 2 hours before the ceremony started.
DESCRIBE YOUR CAKE: Key Lime & Vanilla Cake with Fudge filling – SO DELICIOUS!
HOW WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER? AMAZING! Sara & Jason made us feel so comfortable. We don’t usually like to be the center of attention, but they were able to relax us and make us feel so incredibly special. They traveled all the way from Orlando and were so excited to be a part of our wedding day – you could feel it from the moment we met them. They were not only great photographers with creative ideas, but also such nice people to be around.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU AND YOUR HUSBAND AS A COUPLE? Thailand and Vietnam!!
CAN YOU PLEASE LIST YOUR VENDORS:
Event Coordinator – Kelly Fowler at Just Save the Date
DJ – Michael – DJ Innovations
Videographer – Bruce Ostrout – First Sight Pictures
Venue – The Caribbean Resort, Islamorada, FL
Florist – Floral Fantasy
Cake – Bobs Bunz
Makeup – Lindy Fialkin – Makeup by Lindy
Hair – Ciao Bella