December weddings in Florida are a bit of a cheat code. While most of the country is dealing with frozen everything, we get sixty five degrees, low light that lasts forever, and oak trees that never lost their leaves in the first place.

Oriana and Matthew got married at Mill Pond Estate in Seffner, about twenty minutes east of Tampa, and built the whole day around deep emerald green, white flowers, and a level of dance floor commitment I genuinely did not see coming. Here is how it went.

The Morning

Quiet start. Bridal suite, family close by, and that specific hush that happens right before somebody gets into a dress.

Bride being helped into her wedding dress by family in black and white — Getting into the dress, and a minute with the flowers.

Bride smiling framed by white roses and greenery from her bouquet — Getting into the dress, and a minute with the flowers.

Oriana's bouquet was all white roses and greenery, which against the emerald bridesmaid dresses ended up being the exact right call.

Bridesmaids in emerald green velvet dresses hugging the bride before the ceremony — Emerald velvet in December. Very good decision.

The Greenhouse

Mill Pond has a glass greenhouse tucked into the flower garden, and it is the kind of thing you see once on a venue tour and then think about for weeks. We took Oriana out there before the ceremony and let the dress do its thing.

Bride standing in the glass greenhouse doorway with her cathedral veil and train spread out at Mill Pond Estate — The greenhouse doorway. Twelve feet of train, fully deployed.

Bride standing under her veil in an open field at Mill Pond Estate — Out in the field before anybody needed her.

Black and white portrait of the bride beneath her veil holding her bouquet — Out in the field before anybody needed her.

Wedding party posing on the lawn at Mill Pond Estate with the greenhouse behind them — This group understood the assignment immediately.

The Ceremony

They got married under The Broken Oak. It is a massive live oak with limbs that run sideways as far as they run up, draped in Spanish moss, with a wooden deck built underneath it and guests seated on both sides. I have shot a lot of ceremony sites around Tampa. This one is in a category of its own.

Matthew, for the record, did not make it. He was gone well before she reached the front.

Emotional groom wiping away tears before the ceremony in black and white — Matthew, roughly ten seconds in.

Groom reading his vows to his bride under the live oak — Vows, written and read out loud, which is always the hard part.

Bride and groom exchanging vows in black and white — Vows, written and read out loud, which is always the hard part.

Wedding ceremony under The Broken Oak at Mill Pond Estate in Seffner Florida with guests seated on both sides — The Broken Oak, doing what it does.

Bride and groom share their first kiss under The Broken Oak — Married, and then petals.

Newlyweds walking back up the aisle through a shower of flower petals — Married, and then petals.

Champagne, Immediately

The second they were out of sight of the guests, somebody handed them a bottle. This is one of my favorite five minutes of any wedding day, because it is usually the first moment the two of them are actually alone.

Bride and groom spraying champagne in black and white — Zero hesitation from either of them.

Newlyweds celebrating with a champagne spray in the field — Zero hesitation from either of them.

Bride and groom kissing beneath her veil under the oak trees — Then things got quiet again for a bit.

Bride and groom walking the grounds at Mill Pond Estate in black and white — Then things got quiet again for a bit.

A Few Words About Mill Pond Estate

If you are here because you are considering this venue, here is the working photographer's version.

Mill Pond Estate sits on eighteen acres in Seffner, roughly twenty minutes east of Tampa, and it is genuinely rural in a way that a lot of "estate" venues are not. There are four distinct ceremony and reception sites. The Broken Oak is the one you have probably seen, that enormous mossy live oak with the deck underneath, seating around 150. The Lilly Pond gives you a grass meadow and a dock over the water, also around 150. The Flower Garden has winding paths, cut flower beds, two more big oaks, and the glass greenhouse I could not stop shooting. And the reception happens under sailcloth tents, which are the pale ivory kind that glow from the inside once the sun goes down.

Two practical notes. First, they run October through June, so this is not a July venue, which honestly is a feature in Florida. Second, because everything is outdoors and spread across the property, you want to build a little walking time into your timeline. Budget fifteen minutes more than you think and you will be fine.

Sailcloth tent glowing warm from the inside at dusk at Mill Pond Estate — This is the moment the tent earns its money.

Sailcloth tent reception setup with string lights and long wooden tables at Mill Pond Estate — Before anybody sat down, and Oriana getting the first look at it.

The Reception

Dinner, toasts, and then the part where I stopped being able to keep up.

Bride and groom sharing their first dance under a disco ball in the sailcloth tent — First dance, disco ball, exactly right.

Guests raising cocktails together at the reception — Drinks, and a cake with the good topper.

Bride and groom kissing after cutting their wedding cake in the tent — Drinks, and a cake with the good topper.

Then the chairs came out, and Matthew went up.

Groom lifted in a chair during the hora at the reception — Up he goes.

And then somebody brought out glow sticks, which turned a nice reception into whatever this was.

Packed dance floor lit by colorful LED batons at the reception — I have no notes.

Bride and groom dancing with glow sticks and novelty sunglasses — I have no notes.

Sailcloth tents lit up under the moon at the end of the night at Mill Pond Estate — Goodnight, Seffner.

Planning Something Out Here?

Oriana and Matthew, thank you for a day that was equal parts sweet and completely unhinged. Both halves were great.

If you are looking at Mill Pond Estate, or anywhere around Tampa, Seffner, Brandon, or Plant City, I would love to hear what you are putting together. There is more of my work on the portfolio, and you can reach out here. I answer every message myself.

Oriana and Matthew's Wedding at Mill Pond Estate in Seffner, Florida