You might have heard that Sarah and I did a thing a couple of weekends ago. It’s true — we’re now newlyweds, and we helped raise a lot of donations to Presents In Paradise and the Rotary Club of Marathon’s scholarship fund. And we couldn’t have done it without a whole lot of help.
First of all, we have to thank Matt Sexton, Karen Thurman, Corinne Dean and the entire staff at Grassy Flats and Bongos. Not only did they provide the perfect island wedding location, they took super good care of us and created amazing dishes for our little after-party. It’s fun to see Karen playing Wendy to all the Lost Boys of Grassy Flats!
Sarah would especially like to thank her Bridal Posse: Sara Matthis (also our wonderful officiant who wrote a beautiful ceremony), Brandi Card, Patty Childress, Elynn Eiss, Mary Ann Royse, Kathi Venier, and Karen Thurman. They helped her have a blast and remain sane at the same time.
Sarah would also like to thank Rachel Wagner, Astrid Flores, and Judy from Oasis Nails for helping her look her best.
We are so glad for our family and wedding party. Sarah’s Maid of Honor Synthia Robles and my Best Man Dakota Mertyris are our Take Stock in Children mentees, and they both stood up for us perfectly. My sisters Cecilia and Carol, my stepmom Linda, and Sarah’s giver-away Elynn all helped make the day so special. Special thanks to Danielle from Flowers by J&J for the beautiful blooms, and our wedding day chauffers, Dusty and Linda Durst. And we can’t forget our Flower Girls, Kristina Helms and Mike Puto — they added so much to the procession, even if Mike did try and steal Kristina’s petals from her basket.
There are quite a few people and groups who made our event logistically possible. We’d like to recognize George Garrett and the City of Marathon, Paul Davis and the City’s Parks and Rec Department, Chief John Johnson, Mike Card, Chris Cameron, and Marathon Fire Rescue and the Fire Academy. Sheriff Rick Ramsay, Captain Don Hiller, and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office kept all the wild wedding partiers in line. And President Duane Webster and the Rotary Club of Marathon provided insurance and volunteers, and Presents In Paradise board members Kristina Helms, Erika Goodman, Tami Wires, and Natalie and Bill Danko offered valuable help. And our sincere gratitude to President Leo Volchek and the Marathon High School Interact Club, as well as Allie Brabenec — thank you all!
What would a wedding celebration be without music? I’d personally like to thank Adrienne Z for her beautiful musical contribution to our wedding, and Tony Napoli and Those Guys for rocking the big reception. You were all great, and Dakota sounded really good jamming with Those Guys!
Now on to the food. I mentioned the Bongos staff earlier; it bears repeating just how good it was. Big Mouth Eatery catered our rehearsal dinner with the best sandwiches in town. Florida Keys BrewBQ champion Chris Still outdid himself with savory pork sliders prepared in his secret recipe smokers. Chef Jamie Pruitt, courtesy of the Marathon Yacht Club, prepared the best swordfish I ever had — and the presentation was simply amazing. Cassandra Kwiatt brought her soon-to-be-famous multi-tier charcuterie board full of yummy delights. Specialty dishes were donated by Tony at Driftwood Pizza, Ali and Andy at Key Colony Inn, Leigh Ann from Clouds in my Coffee, John and Jeb at Sunset Grille, Elise at Brutus Seafood — and special thanks to Simone at Dockside for saving our butts more than a few times!
Those with a sweet tooth were in luck — thanks to key lime pies from Joe at Cracked Conch, and Kate from Sweet Savannah’s who baked cake and our beautiful wedding cake.
Huge thanks to Pete and Shirley from Herbie’s who supplied the beer, and Lavarski from Coca-Cola for the water and sodas. Katy Kennedy and Cornelia Hoover ran the bar flawlessly, with ice from Keys Fisheries.
Huge thanks go out to Ashley Keeney for herding the cats and coordinating our big reception party at the park. We couldn’t have done this without her — seriously.
A very special thank you goes out to the Glunz and Bischoff families from Glunz Resort and Havana Jack’s for their unflinching support and generosity. You guys are the best!
Finally, we’d like to thank our entire community for coming out to support our local children. It sometimes does take a village, and we are so happy and lucky that our little town turned out in droves to help the next generation.
– Catch John Mondays at Boondocks, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the Key Colony Inn, Thursday at Sparky’s Landing, and Saturday afternoon and Sunday night back at Boondocks. www.johnbartus.com
