Lia and JR
October 21, 2011
Highland Manor, Apopka
Photographs by Derek Smith, Sunshine Photographics
Lia Stratford and Marshall ”JR” Eugene Brigner Jr. didn’t hear any music play when they first met at a friend’s house in 2007. They weren’t exactly each other’s type: She’s structured and organized, while he’s more carefree and flexible. But when they ran into each other a year later, they began to hear the sound of heartstrings. Each had bought a guitar and wanted to take lessons, a common interest that drew them together. Three years later, JR, 31, proposed at the very spot they would marry—Highland Manor in Apopka. “We were at dinner and just finishing our salads,” recalls Lia, 28. “JR couldn’t wait any longer, so he reached for my hand at the table and told me how happy he was and how much he loved me, and then asked if I would marry him. As all of the butterflies in my stomach started fluttering, I somehow was able to get out a ‘Yes!’” Lia, a wedding cake designer and pastry sous chef for the Waldorf Astoria, Orlando, made all four of the couple’s cakes, including three wedding cakes. She designed the groom’s cake to look like a spool of cable, representing JR’s career as owner of a low-voltage communications company. “Ironically, neither of us play guitar anymore, but they sit in our office more as a reminder of where we started,” says Lia.
-Lia
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| The couple exchange their vows under a giant live oak tree |
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| The wedding invitation |
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| The couple’s three wedding cakes |
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| Hydrangea with rose table centerpieces |
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| JR’s cable spool groom’s cake with the “HCT” company logo and remote |
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| The crystal ballroom set up for the reception |
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| A surprise choreographed dance performed by the couple |
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| Everyone “Shout”ing it up on the dance floor |
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| Lia and JR exit the festivities, hand-in-hand |
