Real Wedding: Christina + Gary at The Powel Crosley Estate

Christina and Gary were married at the First Presbyterian Church of Sarasota and celebrated at The Powel Crosley Estate. Food and event design were provided by Milan Catering. The florist was Flowers-by-Design.

Random stuff about us: We have been together nearly 7 years, aka FOREVER!, now that we have both graduated we decided to finally make it official. We both like to do outdoors things including camping, boating, going to the beach, and snorkeling. We like grilling out whenever we can and we love tailgating for football games (USF, UF, Miami Dolphins). We like to experience which ever city we live in by trying new restaurants and bars and going to festivals and such. We LOVE going to North Carolina, where Gary’s parents have a cabin. We love hiking to all the beautiful waterfalls and just sitting by the campfire. Gary is graduating May 29 and will be a veterinarian and I am an emergency medicine physician assistant (graduated nearly 2 years ago). We will be relocating from Gainesville to St Petersburg in June and are very excited to live near the water again.

This is the “Their story" section from our website:

Christina and Gary met at the University of South Florida. They were both lifeguards at the USF Recreation Center and became friends. They officially started dating on Christina's birthday, which also happens to be Valentine's day, almost 7 years ago. They both graduated from USF with Bachelor degrees in Science and hopes of a future in the medical field. As luck would have it, when they decided to pursue their graduate school dreams, they both were accepted into the University of Florida the very same year. Christina graduated from the UF Physician Assistant Program in 2008, and Gary will graduate from the UF College of Veterinary Medicine in May 2010

This is the “How he finally asked” story from our website:

It was November 2008, just before Thanksgiving, and Gary planned a camping trip for the both of us. I had been working a lot and had not helped with any of the preparations, so I really had no idea where or what we would be doing. It was supposed to be cold and rainy weather, but we thought we would go anyways. When we arrived, I realized we were camping on a peninsula in the beautiful panhandle of Florida. We packed our supplies into our canoe and paddled until we found the perfect beach front primative camping spot. The water was cold, but the view was amazing. We set up camp and went to explore the area. The water was beautifully crystal clear and the beach and hiking paths were natural and untouched. We quickly discovered that we were the only people on the entire peninsula. I guess the threat of bad weather scared others away; too bad, because the weather turned out to be perfect! The sand dunes were huge and I couldn't help but roll down them like a sugar cookie! During our hikes we came across an abandoned boat, lots of deer, and a bald eagle. In the mornings we awoke to deer standing in the ocean atop sand bars, sipping the water. On our second day, we went for another hike. We found this beautifully pristine look out area, I was standing atop a sand mound taking pictures when Gary said my name. I turned around to find him bent on one knee with a sparkling ring in his hand...he asked me to marry him...and of course, I choked up the word yes through my tears! I was so surprised and speechless for a good part of the rest of our hike. When we got back to our campsite, Gary pulled out a bottle of some of my favorite Champagne. We sat on the sand dune, looking over the water, secluded on this beautiful peninsula, with our champagne, as future husband and wife. It was perfect.