I Do Downtown Bridal Crawl at Ceviche Tapas Bar and Restaurant, Orlando, Florida During the I Do Downtown Bridal Crawl

The “I Do Downtown Bridal Crawl” is an annual event where excited new brides get to explore some of the awesome and unique downtown venues to ensure that their special day is everything they could have ever imagined and more!

Everyone had a chance to dabble with the prospect of unique honeymoon destinations along with meeting photographers, videographers, DJs, and others! But, that’s not all! The “I Do Downtown Bridal Crawl” also had statement accessories on display for brides who are still looking for a little flair to compliment their gown! There were some gorgeous flower arrangements and wonderful melodies of Central Florida's musicians!




I would definitely recommend liking their Facebook page and checking out their website to find out when their next awesome event will be! Make sure to bring some comfy shoes and your best attitude to this event - it’s a ton of fun!
 

Check them out on their website or visit them on Facebook!

Superstar Pro List!

• Pilster Photography
• Ceviche Tapas Bar and Restaurant
• Raining Roses
• Weddings Only DJ
• LGCD Inc.
• Over the Top Rental Linens
• Luis Lefty Guitar
• La Salerita
• Cut the Cake
• RW Chocolate Fountain Rentals
• Eventfully Yours
• Forever Xpressions
• Quest Drape
• Kaleidoscope Event Lighting
• Chic Event Furniture Rental
• Key Moment Films
• Solutions Bridal

Outside the Ballroom: Chalet Suzanne

 Looking for a place to hold your wedding in Florida that's filled with imagination and possibilities, with food to die for?! Chalet Suzanne is a renowned restaurant and wedding venue. With third generation owners and eighteen years of success, the Chalet has a historic, enchanting, romantic ambiance, and literally defines eclecticism.


Beautiful stained glass windows give the restaurant character and sets it apart from other reception venues

As exciting as weddings are, by the time the reception rolls around the guests stomach's are most likely rumbling. What's more memorable than unexpected, refreshing, award winning food? With courses including: Their famous soups, chicken suzanne, or baked sugar-cured ham or king crab thermidor, two fresh vegetables, hot homemade potato rolls, and of course wedding cake, you can't go wrong! Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is. The five star, American cuisine, restaurant has been rated as Central Florida's Top 12 Romantic Restaurants by ZagutSurvey.


Reviews of the Chalet Suzanne describe it as an experience: amusing, quirky, and delicious all at once!




Although I could talk about how amazing the food is all day, let's take a look at the amazing decor and possibilities your wedding has at Chalet Suzanne.


With architecture and decor like this you can choose to add your own simple touches to accent the room or extravagant decorations to transform it

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The Chalet offers three venues for weddings including the Wedding Garden with an autographed tile wall (that you can personally add your tile to!), the gazebo overlooking Lake Suzanne, perfect for sunset weddings, and the Swiss Room enhanced with stained glass windows, for indoor options.




Everything you need to know to book the event of a lifetime at Chalet Suzanne:

Venue: Chalet Suzanne
Location: 3800 Chalet Suzanne Drive  Lake Wales, FL 33859
Phone: 863-676-6011 or sales department: 1-800-433-6011 Ext. 212.
Price Range: $$$
Ceremony Site: Yes
Outside Caterers Allowed: No, restaurant on-site
Parking Available: Private lot
Valet Parking: No
Outdoor Space: Yes
Overnight Accomodations: Yes
Capacity (throughout five dining rooms): 150
Styles: Banquet

Outside the Ballroom: This is a series about discovering other amazing venues that exist for weddings and other events, ranging from castles, to traditional antique ballrooms, to bed and breakfasts, to anything that cannot be classified as a modern ballroom or meeting room. We also want to hear from you about the venues you've discovered, so please submit them in comments or email them to info@pilsterphotography.net with Outside the Ballroom in the subject. For more information you can find it in the Introduction.

Outside the Ballroom: FAQ-Finding the Perfect Venue

Finding the perfect venue for your wedding can be tricky. You want it to reflect your personality and the theme you've chosen. Or if you love a venue that much it may determine the theme for you.

Before you chose a venue keep in mind the number of guests you plan on having. Lots of venues can accommodate a large guest list but some are geared toward smaller, more intimate events. You'll need to account for a dance floor, your DJ, a bar, eating area, etc. Everyone wants to have enough elbow room and plenty of space to show off their moves.

One of the most important things to do before choosing a venue is to do a site visit. It gives you a chance to picture where everything will go and make adjustments if necessary. When doing a site visit it's important to make note of things like columns around the room as they can obstruct your guests view. Also make sure there is plenty of seating for your guests. I've seen outdoor ceremonies where family was seated and friends had to stand in the back. It may work for some venues but I personally don't recommend asking people to stand during the entire ceremony.



Parks with gardens are one of my favorite types of venues but I don't feel comfortable with all the onlookers. The same goes for wedding on the beach. A lot of people don't mind the audience but that type of wedding is just not for me. Another thing about any type of outdoor wedding is weather. I attended a beach wedding last October and not only were there tons of beach goers but it was hot. Really hot. In a situation like that you should provide your guests with cold water and even a fan to keep cool with. Jess and Wade provided their guests with these super fun paper umbrellas to keep the sun off of them.





Timing is everything! If your having a sunset ceremony the beach would be a perfect place for the wedding. It's not too hot and you'll have a great view... just make sure you're on the right coast ;-) If you're not a big fan of the beach like me a lakeside wedding may be more appropriate for you. If you're having an indoor ceremony or reception during the day make sure there are plenty of windows to let in that natural light.



If you want a venue that's really outside the box head to local art galleries or restaurants and find out their policy for private events. Rix Lounge at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort is an awesome restaurant that can be rented out for private parties like weddings. The Orlando Science Center is also a great venue to check out.

Don't forget to check out our "Outside the Ballroom" feature for some of our favorite venues! You can also check out the Knot database to find other awesome venues. You can search across the country or locally. And be sure to read this article, also from The Knot, about finding the perfect venue.

Outside the Ballroom: Bok Tower Gardens, Lake Wales, Florida

There are so many outside the box venues that we've been really fortunate to shoot at. One of those is Bok Tower Gardens. From the amazing tower to the gorgeous reflection pool this venue truly feels like Wonderland. The tower is a very interesting work of art and totally intrigued me when I read about it. Here's a little snipet of how they describe it on the website: "Looking up at the 205 foot neo-Gothic and art deco Singing Tower carillon is an experience like no other. The scheme for the sculptures and grille work is mostly birds and plants with a few other forms of wildlife depicted. The Great Brass Door and wrought iron gates on the north side of the Tower depict the Book of Genesis, starting with the creation of light and ending with Adam and Eve being ousted from the Garden of Eden."



The Singing Tower was sited at the highest elevation south of the reflection pool, so the water reflects the tower's full image. It definitely makes a great place for photos ;-)





What you need to know about this venue:
Location: 1151 Tower Blvd. Lake Wales, FL
Price range: $$$
Ceremony site: Yes
Reception site: Yes
Outside caterer's allowed: Yes
Parking available: Yes
Valet: No
Outdoor space: Yes
Capacity (without a dance floor): 200
Styles: Museum/Art Gallery, Mansion/Historic Site

Outside the Ballroom: This is a series about discovering other amazing venues that exist for weddings and other events, ranging from castles, to traditional antique ballrooms, to bed and breakfasts, to anything that cannot be classified as a modern ballroom or meeting room. We also want to hear from you about the venues you've discovered, so please submit them in the comments or email them to info@pilsterphotography.net with Outside the Ballroom in the subject. For more info you can find it at the Introduction.

Outside the Ballroom: The Estate House at Cypress Grove; Orlando, Florida

This is one of those places that I dream about for my wedding. It's definitely fit for a southern belle, and although I may not be one, this venue sure fits the bill for a southern style wedding.

The Estate Houes at Cypress Grove is the true southern estate I've been dreaming of. From the orange groves and magnolia flanked gates to the oak tree lined boulevard this venue just screams southern elegance. Found on the shores of Lake Jessamine this is the perfect location to have a fairly large and fabulous wedding. They've got their own wedding team there to help you with anything you might need.



You can find an extensive list of preferred vendors along with menus from Arthur's Catering, Creative Cuisine, and Puff 'n Stuff on their website. There's everything from hors d'oeuvres to buffets to plated dinners!


(27 Miracles Wedding Consulting team)

The outdoor ceremony site overlooks the gorgeous Lake Jessamine.

They have lots of pricing info on their website along with rental info. They also have all you need to know about capacity for the different rooms at the venue. You can make an appointment with them to tour the facility. Something that I found to be pretty awesome is that they will provide standard tables and chairs to seat up to 100 guests. They'll also provide a 12' by 16' dance floor!



What you need to know about this venue:
Location: 290 Holden Avenue, Orlando, FL 32839
Price range: $$$
Ceremony site: Yes
Reception site: Yes
Outside caterer's allowed: No
Parking available: Yes
Valet: No
Outdoor space: Yes
Capacity (without a dance floor): 300
Styles: Historic Site, Museum

Outside the Ballroom: This is a series about discovering other amazing venues that exist for weddings and other events, ranging from castles, to traditional antique ballrooms, to bed and breakfasts, to anything that cannot be classified as a modern ballroom or meeting room. We also want to hear from you about the venues you've discovered, so please submit them in the comments or email them to info@pilsterphotography.net with Outside the Ballroom in the subject. For more info you can find it at the Introduction.

Outside the Ballroom: Columbia Centennial Museum

Chad was shocked that I had never heard of Ybor City before. He wouldn't tell me anything about it and henceforth had me venture off into cyberspace to learn about its rich culture and history. For those that don't know much about Ybor City here's what I've found. It was founded over 100 years ago by Vicente Martinez Ybor, a cigar manufacturer from Spain, and it is now considered a national historic landmark district. Immigrants came from countries like Cuba, Italy, Germany, and even China, just to name a few. During it's glory days in 1929 Ybor City produced about 500,000,000 cigars. But then the depression hit and many chose to leave Ybor city leaving most places shut down or out of business. But some places did remain, one of them being the Columbia Restaurant. It's the oldest Spanish restaurant in the US and in 2004 they opened the Columbia Centennial Museum to feature the restaurant's history. One extremely interesting tidbit I found is that the restaurant opened the same day the Wright brothers took flight on December 17, 1903!



Here you'll find everything from statues, to marble clocks, to amazing stained glass panels. Everything is quirky and unique making the museum the perfect backdrop for Jess and Wade's Alice in Wonderland themed wedding.





I love this awesome wall they have! It's got these neat cubby like cubes in it and they're perfect for personalizing the space. Jess and Wade put some teapots with flowers in them to go along with the Alice in Wonderland theme.

If you ever want to just check out the museum go ahead and stop by! Admission is free and they're open 7 days a week. You'll find them next door to the Centennial Restaurant. They've got a bit of info on their website including their contact info.

What you need to know about this venue:
Location: 2117 East 7th Avenue, Tampa FL 33605
Price range: $$$
Ceremony site: No
Reception site: Yes
Outside caterer's allowed: No
Parking available: Yes
Valet: No
Outdoor space: No
Styles: Historic Site, Museum

Outside the Ballroom: This is a series about discovering other amazing venues that exist for weddings and other events, ranging from castles, to traditional antique ballrooms, to bed and breakfasts, to anything that cannot be classified as a modern ballroom or meeting room. We also want to hear from you about the venues you've discovered, so please submit them in the comments or email them to info@pilsterphotography.net with Outside the Ballroom in the subject. For more info you can find it at the Introduction.

Outside the Ballroom: Bella Collina

After weaving and winding through hills and trees we saw a clearing up ahead. As we exited the canopy towards the sunlight, on a hilltop, there in front of us, was a gorgeous venue surrounded by scenery that's not typical of Florida. It was as if we had gone to another country!

Taking back roads in Florida can be exciting as there is so much to explore. One of Florida's secrets is that it has some gorgeous countryside and amazing rolling hills in the middle of it. Two little towns, Montverde and Clermont, are pretty well known for these.



Now I had seen photos of Bella Collina on their website but they just don't do it justice. I was at a total loss for words as Chad pulled off the road to get some quick shots of the venue. I couldn't believe that such a place existed in Florida. I'm so used to all the touristy stuff and little DeLand that finding a gem like this blew my mind!



Bella Collina is a fairly new venue having been constructed just 2 1/2 years ago. It is a Tuscan inspired country club featuring incredible design and stunning views. The main entrance has a gorgeous fountain and stunning view of the lake.

The "lobby" boasts a very intimate seating area for relaxing and a hallway that leads to the main dining room. Something we thought was totally awesome was the pizza oven they have. How much fun would it be to have gourmet pizza at your rehearsal dinner!







The amount of attendees you can have will depend on the site you choose. The grand lawn can accommodate up to 200 guests without a tent (130 with a tent) while other locations such as the valet circle seat about 90. When I say valet circle I do mean the place you go to have your car parked. The cool thing about this location is that the posts can be removed and you're left with a great site for your ceremony that has a gorgeous backdrop. Not only will you have a fountain behind you but also a view of the lake.





You'll also find some intimate seating areas nestled throughout the venue. Some have fire pits while others feature beautiful reflecting ponds.





They have this awesome bell tower that you can ring right after your ceremony. But I must warn you... you've got to be pretty strong to actually get it to ring as it's a lot harder than it looks! Someone who worked there saw Chad getting some shots of it and she tried to ring it for us. After quite a few tugs on the rope she was able to get it to ring... once ;-)



The wine room is perfect for a great rehearsal dinner or small cocktail party. It can accommodate about 20 people but if you want to open up the doors into the hallway you can have about 60 guests.



Bella Collina also has a beautiful on-site spa. The bride and her bridesmaids have the option of using their private rooms upstairs to get ready so that the groom won't get any peeks at the blushing bride. This awesome staircase leads to the private rooms.





What you need to know about this venue:
Location: 16355 Vetta Drive Montverde, FL
Price range: $$$$
Ceremony site: Yes

Reception site: Yes
Outside caterer's allowed: No
Parking Available: Yes
Valet: Yes
Outdoor space: Yes
Capacity (without a dance floor): up to 100 inside. 200 outside.
Styles: Banquet/Reception Hall, Restaurant, Country Club

Outside the Ballroom: This is a series about discovering other amazing venues that exist for weddings and other events, ranging from castles, to traditional antique ballrooms, to bed and breakfasts, to anything that cannot be classified as a modern ballroom or meeting room. We also want to hear from you about the venues you've discovered, so please submit them in the comments or email them to info@pilsterphotography.net with Outside the Ballroom in the subject. For more info you can find it at the Introduction.

Outside the Ballroom: Lakeridge Winery

I've never been to a winery seeing as I'm only 19 years old. So when Chad mentioned that he wanted to do a site visit at Lakeridge Winery I was super excited! It was also exciting to know that there's a winery just west of downtown Orlando. I've lived in Central Florida my entire life and I never knew it was there! Maybe it's because my parents aren't wine connoisseurs, or maybe it's because I just don't get out enough ;-)





Lakeridge Winery is nestled on 127 acres of beautiful, rolling land in Clermont, Florida. It was definitely an interesting ride to the location. Never have I ever seen hills like that in Florida! My stomach dropped a few times and I was nervous not being able to see what was on the other side of the hill but all that was totally worth it once we got to the venue. As soon as I stepped out of my car I could smell the fresh grapes which totally amazed me. We got to go on a tour where we were able to see where they fill the bottles and package everything up. They also showed us where they typically hold ceremonies and receptions.





One thing about the winery that I love is that when you rent it out for a private event you get the entire venue! They primarily do evening rentals because the winery is open 7 days a week until 5pm for complimentary tours and wine tastings. All of their packages are entirely customizable and you can move your ceremony indoors up to the day before the wedding in case of bad weather.





The upstairs has a unique u-shaped room that can accommodate up to 120 guests maximum but they like to cap it at 80 so there is plenty of leg room. They also have a great outdoor area that can accommodate up to 350 people if you'd rather have a larger wedding.



The best time to have a wedding here is in March or August when the vines are their greenest. Ceremonies will typically take place on the sides of the building so that you and your guests can be up close and personal with the vineyard. You can then head indoors for the reception or to the upstairs patio that overlooks the vineyard. From what we've heard the view of the sunset is perfect from the patio =)





What you need to know about this venue:
Location: 19239 US 27 South, Clermont, FL 34715
Price range: $$
Ceremony site: Yes
Reception site: Yes
Outside caterer's allowed: Yes
Parking available: Yes
Valet: No
Outdoor space: Yes
Capacity (without a dance floor): up to 350
Styles: unusual/alternative

Outside the Ballroom: This is a series about discovering other amazing venues that exist for weddings and other events, ranging from castles, to traditional antique ballrooms, to bed and breakfasts, to anything that cannot be classified as a modern ballroom or meeting room. We also want to hear from you about the venues you've discovered, so please submit them in the comments or email them to info@pilsterphotography.net with Outside the Ballroom in the subject. For more info you can find it at the Introduction.