CHERINE + DAN STEP INTO THE LIMELIGHT | THE FLORIDA AQUARIUM | TAMPA, FL

Cherine and Dan met when they both joined a social bowling league and were randomly assigned to the same team. They both signed up for the league thanks to Facebook ads. Cherine had just moved to Tampa and was hoping to make some friends in her new city. She was initially assigned to a different team, but a few days before the first game, they moved her to Dan's team instead. While the leader of the league did his best to encourage socializing among other teams, everyone pretty much stuck with their own group. If Cherine hadn't been moved to the new team, it's very likely they never would've actually met. In addition to bowling, each week they had to fill out a sheet of trivia questions. Dan and Cherine would immediately pounce on those, since they were both much better at trivia than at bowling. They realized they were both lefties, Ravenclaws, and pretty darn nerdy -- bonding over their mutual love of Jurassic Park, Stranger Things, Harry Potter, etc.

They were friends for about six months before their first date on January 4th, 2020, when they decided to go see "Jurassic World Alive" at Amalie Arena. Cherine now affectionately refers to this as "dinosaurs on ice" (even though there was no ice involved) because it was reminiscent of a "Disney on Ice" show -- in that it was definitely geared toward kids, cheesy dialogue and all. It felt like they were the only adults there without children.

They had taken a little getaway trip to St. Augustine just before Christmas, and walked by several weddings that weekend. On the drive back, it was storming pretty badly, so Cherine asked Dan to chat with her more to distract me from lightning as she drove (she is terrified of lightning!). They somehow started talking about when they were going to have kids, and Cherine said, “Perhaps we should talk about when we are going to get married first!” (She already had weddings on her mind from seeing several during our trip). The rest of the trip turned into them starting to plan our wedding! Cherine was excited about their conversation but didn't want to push it, but he brought it up again the next day and that's when they decided, “We're really doing this!!” They shopped for rings online together. Cherine was out with a friend when she got an email saying the ring had been delivered, so she checked the mailbox when she got home and saw it wasn't in there, but the rest of their mail was. The moment Cherine walked in the door, Dan ran toward her to try to get down on knee -- he had gotten the ring from the mailbox but left the rest of the mail in a (futile) attempt to surprise her. :)

It's just so easy when these two are together. In Cherine’s own words, “I love that I can completely be myself with him because we are so comfortable around each other. I never feel like I have to tone my personality down; I can act as strange as I want and he just goes along with it! He says he feels the same way, that we can just be our true selves with each other – and he added that he likes how I can get into giggle fits and be silly with him!:)”

They initially bonded over their love of certain pop culture things like Jurassic Park, Firefly, Harry Potter, etc. Together they love going to theme parks together (they have annual passes to Universal, Busch Gardens and Sea World), taking long walks by the Hillsborough River, and going out and exploring new places -- but they also really enjoy relaxing on the couch and binge-watching favorite shows too.

They wanted their wedding to be a reflection of who they are and what they love. They didn't want it to feel like just another generic wedding -- they wanted to have a unique, fun party that people would remember. They chose the Florida Aquarium as their venue because they love animals and really liked the idea of supporting a nonprofit instead of having their celebration in some hotel ballroom. Weddings are expensive, so at least their money is going to a good cause at the same time. Also, when they found out they could have penguins walk down the aisle at my ceremony, they were pretty much sold!

Cherine always wanted a dress that would look timeless, not something she would look back on in twenty years and have it feel dated. The bridesmaids' dresses were a dark teal color called "peacock" that went really well with the aquarium as well as their slight tropical décor. The blue ring Cherine wore on her right hand has her mom's ashes in it. Dan and his groomsmen wore dark grey suits with ties that match the bridesmaids’ dresses. Dan wore black and white cufflinks that have the Jurassic Park logo (the T-rex outline), and he and his groomsmen also wore socks with velociraptors on them. The groom’s wedding band is literally called "The Jurassic” -- made of agatized dinosaur bone, fossilized amber and ground meteorite.

Cherine and Dan both love Jurassic Park -- it's been Cherine’s favorite movie since she was a kid. They both even had Jurassic Park Trapper Keepers growing up (Cherine’s had the dilophosaurus on it)! So when Dan wore a Jurassic Park shirt (that said Isla Nublar on it) to bowling one night, Cherine just knew he was the right guy for her! Their very first date was seeing "Jurassic World Alive" at Amalie Arena, and during the pandemic, they went to the drive-in to watch the original Jurassic Park as well. So when it came to planning their wedding, they both knew pretty much immediately that they wanted that to be their theme. However, they didn't want it to be tacky or look like a 4-year-old's birthday party. So they instead opted for a "light" Jurassic Park theme with some tropical decor. But of course Cherine walked down the aisle to a piano version of the movie's theme song!

They were both so excited about seeing their "light Jurassic Park" vision come to fruition, and just overall really enjoyed having it be a fun day for themselves and their family and friends. They did not really want everything to be super serious, they wanted it to be a reflection of them.

They both love the aesthetic of the aquarium and how it'll be so different from any other wedding they have attended. Their ceremony will mainly be the same ceremony that Cherine’s mom used to perform. She was a wedding officiant for more than 30 years, and Cherine watched her do thousands of ceremonies. She passed away a few years ago, so Cherine absolutely wanted to have her ceremony on her wedding day.

Cherine and Dan made their own centerpieces. Instead of using flowers, they bought terrariums made of driftwood with glass bowls blown over the wood. Inside were pebbles, greenery, succulents, and small gold dinosaurs. Rather than using charger plates, they had monstera leaves at each place setting.

Their wedding was a fun, unique, and memorable experience. Cherine has a memorial table and an empty seat for her mom, since it is very important to her that she was honored during the ceremony. For the reception, they were so excited for their guests to see the centerpieces and the 3-D LED dance floor they rented along with a hologram message and cold spark fountains. And because music is really important to them, they wanted to be sure the party felt like a throwback to their late high school and early college years -- that meant plenty of late 90s and early 2000s music!

Lead Photographer | Natalia Fontes
Associate Photographer | Emma Hintz