High school sweethearts Jordyn and CJ celebrated their 11-year anniversary on their wedding day, and their long-awaited vows were nothing short of magical. Set at the elegant Adams Estate, their day blended timeless Southern charm with personal details that spoke to their story.
With Jordyn’s background in the bridal industry and role at White Magnolia Bridal, fashion was at the forefront. She chose not one but two custom gowns — a lace and hand-beaded Dany Tabet ceremony gown with detachable sleeves, followed by a sparkling Jane Hill one-shoulder reception dress. CJ matched her style with a bespoke suit from John Craig Clothiers, down to his name embroidered inside the jacket.
The design vision centered on classic white florals with soft blue accents, layered textures, and thoughtful details. From Arthur’s Catering’s flaming donuts and mini chicken-and-waffles late-night snacks, to a live painter capturing the celebration, to their beloved dog Maui stealing the spotlight with Fairytail Pet Care, every moment was crafted with joy and intention. Their planner, Events by Angela Smith, ensured that CJ’s one wish came true: the smoothest day ever.
“Our day was the smoothest day ever — full of joy, love, and all the details we dreamed of.”
Design vision from the planner: The vision for Jordyn and CJ’s wedding was to create a timeless and elegant celebration with a clean, classic design. Jordyn was drawn to white florals paired with soft blue accents and a variety of textures in linen, furniture and fashion, to add layer and depth to the design. The estate brought a touch of Southern charm, adding warmth and character to the day. Jordyn and CJ wanted everything to feel true to their style – simple aesthetics with small detailed elements that made an impact.
From Jordyn: Our vision for the day was a very classic and timeless day with dusty blue details. We are high school sweethearts and wedding day was our 11 year anniversary, so we wanted our love to show through all the details of the day. Not only did we wait a long time for the day, but all of our family and friends who have been there over the years had waited with us so we wanted to make it the best day ever for everyone. We loved our wedding planner Angela because when she asked CJ on our introduction call two years ago what was most important to us he said that it was just to be the smoothest day ever. One month after our wedding day I can happily say that it really was the smoothest day ever and we would not change a thing!
Proposal Story – From Jordyn: CJ and I met in middle school and had 7th grade reading class together. We “dated” in middle school but don’t really count that because it was just seeing each other at school or our parents taking us to the movies lol. We started seriously dating in 10th grade and have been together ever since 🙂
CJ’s proposal story: “When I started the planning process I knew I wanted it to be Jordyn’s dream proposal. To me, Jordyn is all things bright and sunshine, so I wanted that to show through the proposal. We love to spend time at the beach and on the water, so I decided to plan a surprise beach picnic. I did not plan ahead on what exactly I was going to say during the proposal, but I do remember I started with, ‘you’ve been waiting along time for this!’ One of my favorite parts of the proposal was her reaction when she saw all of our family pop out of the bushes to be there and celebrate with us! You also would never know that it poured all day long on the day of the proposal and there was no back up plan. I was prepared to have to propose in the rain and make the most of it, but luckily as we pulled up to the beach it was sunshine and blue skies.”
The Fashion: As someone who tries on wedding dresses for a living I always knew choosing my dress was going to be one of the hardest parts of wedding planning. Being in the bridal industry, I did lots of research in finding what designer and style I wanted to wear. I first saw my wedding dress on a model at New York Bridal Fashion Week and knew it was my dress. I stalked the designer on social media and as soon as it was able to try on I borrowed the runway sample and tried it on at Magnolia Laine Bridal in Tampa. I have tried on hundreds of dresses over the years and nothing compared to Dany Tabet Kara. My dress was an A-line gown with all over lace and hand beaded details. My favorite part about it was the crystal buttons we added in production, the eyelash lace and long train. In alterations, I did decide to make the off-the-shoulder sleeves detachable to have another look for cocktail hour! What made my dress so fun was that it was a brand new design and being one of the first brides to wear the gown was so special.
My goal for the reception dress was for it to be full sparkle and completely different from my ceremony dress and I definitely think I succeeded. I first spotted the Jane Hill Bridal gown on the designers website and loved it so much I almost ordered it without ever trying it on. But, The White Magnolia Bridal Tampa team made some magic and I was able to try it on and fell in love. Out of all of our 13 stores, we had no dress like it. It was a fully beaded one shoulder gown with an illusion bodice – the ultimate party dress. I knew I loved it before the wedding but seeing how it photographed and looked on the wedding night made me love it so much more. After the wedding, I learned that the Jane Hill gown was actually discontinued before I ordered it, but my White Magnolia girls were able to get the designer to approve one last gown. So, I was one of the last brides to wear my reception dress and one of the first to wear my ceremony dress.
Since I got to not only have one but two custom dresses, CJ deserved a custom suit too. We took a trip to Winter Park, FL and the team at John H. Craig Clothiers were the best. CJ got to go in and try on different designers, fabrics, and actually got to design every detail of his suit. They were great to work with and down to the measurements and his name embroidered inside the suit jacket, CJ had a custom suit made just for him. A fun fact is CJ actually did not show me his suit until our first look because he couldn’t see my dress until that day either!
Food & Drink: We went with Arthur’s Catering because every single person we heard talk about them raved about their food. From our food tasting, rehearsal dinner, to the wedding Arthur’s was so good – our guests are still raving about the food. When making decisions about our day we focused a lot on the guest experience which food has a big part of. So, we choose things that we know our guests would love like the grilled cheese and tomato soup shots during cocktail hour, the flaming donuts station, and mini chicken and waffles for a late night snack. We are very happy that we went with Arthur’s and did the upgrades like a plated dinner and enhancement stations to enhance the guest experience.
Florals & Decor: So much love went into our wedding day decor! I feel like we had the perfect mix of vendors and also some DIYs. We loved Adams Estate so much because we honestly felt like it did not need too many decorations because it was a naturally beautiful venue on its own, so we decided to just add decor that enhanced the venue. For example, the Oak and Ash lounge set on the brick terrace and the beautiful floral arrangement on the grand staircase. Thanks to our amazing wedding planner, Angela, I really trusted her with all of the details. We worked together for over two years and since she sent us our wedding mood board in the beginning she knew our exact vision and she brought everything to life. My sweet mom also put so much work into making my pinterest board dreams come true. She helped DIY our table numbers, seating chart, bookshelf decor, and more! Overall, if I had one tip for brides it would be to choose a venue you love on its own so all you have to do is focus on adding details and decor to make it special to you and your fiance!
Special Details/Memories: We always knew we wanted to include our dog Maui on our big day but it ended up being even better than we ever imagined thanks to Fairytail Pet Care. We did a first look with Maui which was so special, he got to greet guests as they arrived at the ceremony, and then mingled at cocktail hour. Not only was it our best day ever but I really think it was also Mauis best day ever. We highly recommend booking pet care for the day of, so that you can have your fur baby with you and it is not the responsibility of one of our family or friends.
Book the live painter! TashPaints was not only one of our favorite memories of the day, but it was also so cool for our guests to arrive at the ceremony and see her starting our wedding portrait to seeing her finish it at the reception. She is so talented and brought our day to life through a painting we get to keep forever. She even included special details like Maui and a hidden Mickey. Another great wedding idea to make the guests experience even better.
Team first look forever. Our day was the smoothest day ever because of our wedding day timeline and doing a first look. Having that private moment with CJ was so special and something I will remember forever. Not only did we get to spend so much time together on our day because of a first look, but we also got so many photos done before the ceremony so that we could enjoy more time with our guests at the cocktail hour and reception. We honestly had so much time that we got to hangout with our bridal party all together before the ceremony and take in all the finishing details before the guest arrived. Shoutout to Matlock and Kelly for working so hard on the wedding day photography timeline to help make it the best day ever!
Venue: Adams Estate / @adamsestate
Planning & Design: Events by Angela Smith / @eventsbyangelasmith
Photography: Matlock and Kelly Photography / @matlockandkelly
Cinematography: Torres Tribe Films / @torrestribefilms
Content Creation: It’s Giving Bride / @its_giving_bride
Floral: Petals, Presents and Parties / @petalspresentsandparties
Hair & Makeup: Before the Aisle Weddings / @beforetheaisleweddings
Stationery: Lana Dreams Weddings / @lana_dreams_weddings
Ceremony Dress: Dany Tabet / @danytabet
Ceremony Dress Boutique: Magnolia Laine Bridal / @magnolialainebridal
Reception Dress: Jane Hill / @janehillbridal
Reception Dress Boutique: White Magnolia Bridal / @whitemagnoliabridal
Groom’s Attire: John Craig Clothier / @johncraigclothier
Rentals: Oak and Ash Events / @oakandashevents
Rentals: Southern Chairs / @southernchairs
Cake: LuBelle’s Cakes / @lubellescakes
Linen: BBJ La Tavola / @bbjlatavola
DJ: Graingertainment / @graingertainment
Catering: Arthur’s Catering / @arthurscatering
Live Painter: Tash Paints / @tashpaints
Pet Care: Fairytail Pet Care / @fairytail_petcare
Publisher at The White Wren and Bajan Wed, Award Winning Photography + Videographer at Live View Studios, Dad, 80s music lover, crunchy health advocate
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