Their Sarasota Wedding: Cody and Jana Stapleton at the South Florida Museum
Cody, an e-commerce specialist at Bealls Corporate, and Jana, now a stay-at-home mom, wed in April at the beautiful South Florida Museum.
What was your first date like?
We didn’t have a first official date; our relationship sort of casually evolved into a romantic one.
How did you choose your theme, colors and venue?
Cody suggested the South Florida Museum after having gone to another wedding there. We had visited a few other places that we thought were OK, but once we visited the museum, we knew that’s where we wanted to have the wedding. The theme and colors were very basic to complement the venue’s natural charm. I wanted something classic, rustic and elegant, so we had a lot of white--baby’s breath flowers, white lace linens and touches of silver accents.
How was the dress shopping experience for you?
It was fun to finally do something I’d always dreamed of doing. I went into it knowing what I wanted and ended up finding the perfect dress at the third store I went to.
Did your family play a large part in helping you to plan the wedding?
Yes! I couldn’t have done it without my mom. She helped call a lot of places for quotes, gave me a lot of ideas and ran a lot of errands for me.
Is there anything you wish you’d done differently during the planning process?
Not really. My sister had gotten married about a year before I started planning my wedding so I learned a lot from her.
Any fun or cute anecdotes about the two of you that you’d like to share?
When Cody and I first started talking, he asked me what I had gone to school for at USF. I told him, jokingly, that I had gone for my “MRS” degree. Little did we know that conversation would come back to mind once we got engaged.
Do you have any advice for brides-to-be?
Have fun with the planning process. It’s a lot of work and money, but when it comes down to the actual day, you want to be able to enjoy it. Let someone else worry about the details and spend your time celebrating each other.
Photography by Alexi Shields Photography
