A Traditional, Destination Wedding at Sirata Beach Resort in St. Petersburg, Florida

Joshua Richards (22 and security professional) and Melissa Richards (22 and a respiratory therapist) met when Melissa was a freshman in high school and Josh was a sophomore. Without their drivers' licenses, Josh would sometimes ride his bicycle over 15 miles to see Melissa. After years of dating through high school and college, Josh and Melissa got engaged in February 2013. They knew right away that they wanted to have a destination wedding on the anniversary of when they started dating. They thought that Florida would be a nice getaway from their home state of Wisconsin and decided to get married in St. Petersburg, FL. Their ceremony was at St. Paul Catholic Church while their reception was at the Sirata Beach Resort. Despite the wedding being in the sunshine state, it ended up raining the entire day except for a couple of hours. Luckily, Josh and Melissa planned all of their wedding activities indoors. "The rained poured," Melissa says, "but all I can remember was the love and smiles from all our family and friends." Their color theme was purple and green with peacock feather accents. Flower arrangements were made mostly with roses, peonies, orchids and hyacinths. The reception was decorated with tall, purple centerpieces with peacock feathers that added even more height. Purple accent lighting continued the color palette throughout the room. Even with the rain, Josh and Melissa had their perfect destination wedding in Florida.