A Rustic Country Wedding at Isola Farms in Groveland, Florida

Debbie Brady (34 and a paramedic) and JR Smallwood (31 and an EMT) met through work and became engaged with the help of five children that would later be in their wedding party. JR surprised Debbie by having each person do a dance that ended with him down on one knee and “Will you marry me?” spelled out across their shirts. “I couldn’t even stand up to go over to him, I was so surprised!” says Debbie. Inspired by their love of the outdoors and everything country, the couple spent seven months planning a neutral rustic wedding with Nicole Squared events. “No detail was left untouched for our special day, down to the chalkboard place cards and menu,” says Debbie. Isola Farm’s canopy of oak trees became the site for their ceremony as Debbie and JR decorated the space with wooden barrels, a burlap runner, roses along wooden pews, baby’s breath in hanging mason jars and rows of burlap-covered hay bale seating. The couple had their first kiss under an archway of burlap fabric before joining their 225 guests for a cocktail hour complete with lawn games, custom rustic signs and an open bar accented with a wooden wheel. After finding their names listed on a vintage window, each guest took his or her seat in an open barn. String lighting was hung overhead, and family-style table were lined with burlap runners, white vintage china, mason jar glasses and bulb vases filled with either baby’s breath, roses or pink delphiniums. “We had tons of tiny little details and signs to mark everything,” says Debbie. The custom burlap and wooden signs led each guest to the couple’s photo booth, buffet dinner and five-tier white wedding cake accented with a wooden “S” topper and burlap flowers. Debbie and JR celebrated with their guests by dancing to a DJ before taking a sparkler exit into a lifted truck. For future couples, Debbie shares: "Don't stress and sweat the small stuff. Everything will work out perfectly."