Don Cesar Wedding on Saint Pete Beach Florida

My photographer friend James Zambon provided me with the opportunity to photograph a wedding with him at at the historic Don Cesar Hotel on St Pete Beach FL in late April. I love photographing weddings at historic hotels, with the Brown Palace Hotel and Hotel Teatro my former wedding favorites when I lived in Denver for 18 years. Now that I have moved to sunny St Petersburg Florida, I am beyond pleased that historic hotels like the Don Cesar and Vinoy exist as elegant wedding venues.

The Don Cesar aka”Pink Lady” opened in 1928 during the jazz age and some it more notable guests from that era include F. Scott Fitzgerald, Al Capone, Lou Gehrig and Franklin D. Roosevelt. With the recent popularity of the 2013 Great Gatsby film, I envision a Gatsby themed wedding hosted at the Don Cesar. I would love to be the photographer!

Katie and David planned a beautifully simple late April wedding at the Don Cesar where they were able to enjoy the hotels amenities and ideal location on St Pete Beach. I photographed Katie and her bridesmaids getting ready in her balcony suite. James met up and photographed the groom David and his groomsmen in the lobby bar, while I started photographing Katie and the girls in a pretty hallway on the 5th Floor ballroom level.

Katie and David’s ceremony was at 6:30PM in the central Courtyard of the hotel, allowing guests a great vantage of the hotel point to view and hear their vows. After the ceremony we photographed Katie and David on the beach, along with the bridal party. While the sunset was disappointing this evening, the soft natural light on the beach worked well for photos. Their cocktail hour, dinner and recepetion was held in the North Terrace Ballroom.

Working with James is a pleasure, and we had a great time photographing Katie and David’s wedding. We both have been photographing weddings for a number of years, and its nice to work with a professional who understands how to photographically tell of the story for our clients wedding day.