A Simple Garden Wedding at Palma Sola Botanical Park in Bradenton, Florida

About a year and a half after Leeann Poulin (27 and a counselor) and Andrew Poulin (29 and a U.S. Coast Guard air mechanic) met line dancing at a bar, he popped the question on a weekend trip to St. Augustine, Florida. The couple was taking a picture at the top of a lighthouse when Andrew got down on one knee and proposed with a white gold princess-cut diamond ring. “I was in shock and all I could ask was, ‘What are you doing?’ He said something about how much he loved me and how he wanted me to be his wife. I said yes!” says Leeann. In just four months, the couple planned a simple white and red garden wedding at Palma Sola Botanical Park. Hanging frosted glass vases filled with white astilbe lined the aisle as white and red flower petals were spread across the ground. Leeann and Andrew said “I do” under a canopy of trees as their 97 guests watched from white chairs. The celebration then moved inside for an indoor and porch reception accented with white roses and red flowers along the railing. White rose centerpieces as well as red and silver linens were placed atop each round reception table. “There was plenty of room for people to roam around during the reception and it was nice not to be too crowded,” says Leeann. Those who stayed inside found their place listed on a garland-accented seating chart before the couple served Italian cuisine from a local restaurant and treated their guests to a three-tier red and white wedding cake baked by a friend. The rest of their night was spent on the dance floor. “There was a lot of fun dancing- like the line dancing we did when we first met- and people could hang out on the patio or join in,” says Leeann. “We tried to play songs that were fast, slow, old, and new so that everyone had something they could dance to.” Leeann and Andrew left the reception surrounded by friends and family members in a fun flower petal exit.