Southwood House Wedding Ceremony Tallahassee Florida

On April 25, 2015 I had the honor of officiating Zach and Lauren’s Southwood House wedding ceremony in Tallahassee, Florida.

Me with the newly married Zach and Lauren at their Southwood House wedding ceremony in Tallahassee, FL

Zach and Lauren are an AWESOME, fun, loving couple. From the very moment Zach called me about my Tallahassee Officiating service I could tell they would be awesome to work with…and they were! After many emails, we came up with a ceremony that was perfect for them. It included a part where Lauren’s brother sang and their friend played guitar to the song, “All of Me.”

The day before their wedding we all met at The Southwood House for a quick rehearsal. They have a lot of family and friends so it was good to practice a few times.

On the day of their wedding it RAINED all day!!! But about 1 hour before the ceremony it stopped raining and actually became sunny!!

When I arrived at The Southwood House everyone was excited for the ceremony and reception. I always have fun when family, friends, and the couple are having fun with the experience! Zach’s Mom works at FSU and was able to coordinate a small band to play for the wedding ceremony; it was AWESOME!

Live band playing during the processional at Lauren and Zach’s Southwood House wedding ceremony in Tallahassee

Lauren’s Dad walked her down the aisle. He was very emotional; it was so sweet. He happily gave his daughter to Zach and I continued on with their ceremony. Zach’s Mom had made a beautiful heart with “Z & L” in the middle and hung it on the tree behind us. It was a really nice addition to the beautiful ceremony under the live oak tree in Southwood.

Southwood House wedding ceremony under the big live oak tree in the front of the house = beautiful

Another couple happily married by ME, Tallahassee Wedding Officiant 🙂

The ceremony is over and now everyone is HAPPY!!! This amazing moment was captured by Tai Nunez Photography

Photographer- Tai Nunez Photography

Venue- The Southwood House and Cottages

Fall Weddings in Tallahassee, FL Tips for Getting Married During Football Season

by Amanda Doumanian Reeves News

Football and Fall Weddings in Tallahassee, FL go hand-in-hand. Even though Tallahassee is North Florida it’s very SOUTH! Meaning it’s a football town. So with Florida State University being #1 in college football Tallahassee in the Fall is a bit…hmm, crazy.

BUT with all that being said the weather in Tallahassee during October, November, and early December is amazing. The colors are perfect for outdoor rustic weddings. I feel bad for couples who want to get married during the Fall because the football schedules are not released until late February and early March. Plus game times are not released until a couple weeks before the actual game. I got married in October so I know what’s it’s like to plan a wedding around a football season. Seems a bit crazy, but in Tallahassee, you got to do it!! Everything from hotels to restaurants get booked up quickly on big home games. And on the two weekends that are bye-weeks everyone wants to get married so you better book your favorite vendors FAST!

If you’re planning a Fall wedding in Tallahassee, FL you have two options- pick a date and hope it’s not a big home game day OR wait for the scheduled to be released and hope your dream venue is still available. If you do pick a date before the FSU football schedule being released and then your date falls on a big game day, you really don’t have many options. If it REALLY bothers you, and you can afford to change the date, you could do that OR more realistically you will just have to get over. You’re guests should be attending your wedding because they care about YOU and I would hope that your marriage is more important then any football game. So if your Fall weddings in Tallahassee, FL lands on a big game day and you think your guests are going to be distracted by needing to watch the game or knowing what is going on with the game you have a few options. Put a TV with the game on in the bar area, have your DJ make announcements with game score updates, project the game on a big screen in the reception room with no sound so everyone can dance and still watch a little, or kindly ask guests to refrain from football for one day.

Here’s a picture of me and Ryan on our wedding day. This is one way we embraced the fact that our wedding fell on the Clemson game. Go Noles 🙂

If you do decide to wait for the schedule to come out and you could plan all the aspects of Fall weddings in Tallahassee, FL that do not require a date. For example, your dress, bridesmaids dresses, groomsmen outfits, flowers, centerpieces, invitation design, save the date design, honeymoon ideas, and more. You could have your favorite venue, photographer, wedding officiant, caterer, and cake baker decided so as soon as the schedule is released you could start booking them as fast as possible.

Fall weddings in Tallahassee, FL are gorgeous. I’m bias, like I said, I got married in October. I don’t like football and I like October so that’s why we did our wedding when we did it. If you are planning a Fall wedding in Tallahassee a lot of people will give you their opinion about whhhyyy would you get married during football season etc. etc. But don’t listen to them. When planning your wedding it’s your wedding and you need to do what makes you happy. Not everyone in the world likes football and you’re wedding will be beautiful whether it’s on a big game day or a bye-week.

For more tips and ideas about Fall weddings in Tallahassee, FL please don’t hesitate to contact me: 850-322-0911 or amandad335@gmail.com

Wedding at Lichgate on High Rd Tallahassee

by Amanda Doumanian Reeves News

Lichgate on High Rd. is truly a beautiful hidden gem in Tallahassee.

This is all you see from High Rd so Lichgate can easily be missed. Photo provided by Anna Hall Photography

I’ve had the privilege of officiating many wedding ceremonies at Lichgate on High Rd. and have fallen in love with the place. Visitors walk down a wooded path and are greeted by a majestic live oak tree shading a soft lawn. Typically, the wedding ceremony is held underneath this majestic live oak tree.

Wedding ceremony at Lichgate on High Rd Photo provided by Ann Hall Photography

Wedding at Lichgate on High Rd Tallahassee Photo provided by Anna Hall Photography

There’s a small cottage for the bride to get ready in.

Cottage at Lichgate on High Rd. Photo by Anna Hall Photography

Weddings at Lichgate vary in size. I’ve officiated small intimate ceremony for a couple who wanted to do something a little nicer than the Court House, large weddings where tents and port-o-potties were set-up, and medium size weddings where the couple did everything themselves. It really doesn’t matter the size of the wedding because the atmosphere at Lichgate is special and will make for a wonderful wedding.

Tents, tables and chairs, and dance floor can be setup next to the tree for a wedding at Lichgate on High Rd Photo by Anna Hall Photogrpahy

On May 31st, I had the honor of officiating Gale and Kurtis’ wedding at Lichgate on High Rd Tallahassee. I had worked with Gale over email to create their short and sweet ceremony. On the day of the wedding the weather was hot, but the shade from the big tree made it wonderful! White ceremony chairs were setup under the tree and big white tents with tables and a dance floor were setup right in front of the cottage for the reception.

White ceremony chairs setup. Everyone getting ready for the wedding!

Gale and Kurtis’ wedding ceremony all setup. Photo by Anna Hall Photography.

Gale wore her mother’s wedding dress…and she looked gorgeous! Kurtis and his best man wore gray suites. Our friends at Amplify Entertainment, provided ceremony music as well as reception music. Ann Hall from Thomasville was the photographer.