An Intimate Wedding at Kapok Special Events Center and Gardens in Clearwater, Florida

One year after Jillian Bellagamba (27 and a restaurant corporate trainer) and William (Bill) Henderson (37 and a restaurant and bar trainer) met through a mutual friend and they became engaged. The couple was on a New Year’s Eve bike ride through a local park when Bill stopped for a moment, got down on one knee and popped the question with a round-cut diamond ring. Within 11 months, the couple planned an intimate blush, copper and eggplant accented wedding in Clearwater, Florida. Jillian and Bill chose the Kapok Special Events Center and Gardens to house their wedding and selected their decor to complement its romantic old world atmosphere. The gold arched ceremony space was accented with eggplant and white fabric draped along the aisle, a bold “H” composed of flower petals and candles in tall white and caged lanterns. After Jillian and Bill said “I do,” their 60 guests flowed into the venue’s banquet hall and European-inspired gardens for a cocktail hour of passed hors d’oeuvres and a buffet style dinner. Each round reception table was accented with ivory and eggplant linens, gold chiavari chairs and tall floral centerpieces atop vintage iron candelabras. Each guest was treated to the couple’s three-tier blush wedding cake topped with figurines of a bride and groom on a bicycle before hitting the dance floor. “We danced the night away while enjoying the occasional photo in one of the biggest hits of the wedding, the photo booth from Left Turn Photo,” says Jillian. The couple ended their celebration with a festive sparkler exit.