WEDDINGS
Port St. Lucie Magazine 13
couple’s nuptials disappeared.
But the bride and groom
didn’t want the pandemic
to delay their wedding, so
they contacted Aligata, who
helped them come up with a
perfect location to meet not
only the couple’s vision but
adhere to the strict guidelines
in place during the pandemic
lockdown.
UP FOR A CHALLENGE
Aligata loves a challenge
almost as much as she loves
becoming an important part
of her clients’ lives, so she
met with the couple and gave
them a host of ideas for location.
Port St. Lucie Botanical Gardens was the final choice,
with its airy and open yet intimate feel.
“It was the first wedding that came through after the
COVID lockdown,” Aligata says. “There was something so
special about this couple and the way that Gustavo Morais
clearly adored his beloved bride-to-be. I wanted to be able to
help them create the wedding of their dreams.”
With the location chosen, Aligata rallied a dream team of
Sarah Schnitzius of Sarandipity Floral and Kathy Peterson of
Vintage Designs to make it happen.
Schnitzius created floral arrangements that only
complemented the raw beauty of the botanical garden
setting and Peterson designed and built backdrops and
arches to help set the tone for early evening nuptials.
Even the number of guests was limited because of the
events in the world at the time, and the couple pared
down their list of attendees to only 15.
“Because of the travel ban,” Aligata says, “Gustavo’s
family wasn’t going to be able to make it in person for
the wedding.”
STREAMLINE PLANNING
Aligata says that streamlining the event and being
able to let go of all the minutiae that so often accompanies
planning the perfect wedding was a blessing in
disguise, not just for the Moraises, but also for so many
of the weddings she has shot during the past two years.
“Because of the pandemic,” Aligata says, “nearly all
of those early events were moved outdoors, and in the
early days of the lockdown, even outdoor events were
limited to no more than 25 attendees, so people really
seemed to let go of the things that would have caused
additional stress and just kind of relaxed into embracing
the moment.”
The Moraises were no different, and eliminating all
those details that really didn’t matter anyway seemed
to allow the couple and their guests to be more present
>>
The newlyweds celebrated their first dance on a wooden platform that extends out into a lily pond at the botanical gardens.
Photographer Tina Fruscella Aligata,
owner of Inner Light Imagery,
helped the Moraises create the
wedding of their dreams despite
the global pandemic.