Mary Elyse Bellinger was just 17 when she met Peter Bellini on Clearwater Beach in Florida. She was enjoying spring break with her family, who was visiting from Michigan. Peter was a Tampa native with an easy confidence and a sense of purpose well beyond his years. As she walked past, he struck up a conversation and asked her to meet him the next day for a walk along the boardwalk. She agreed. It was spontaneous, youthful, and sweet – and just as quickly, it was over.

Though they kept in occasional contact through Facebook, for 12 years, that beach remained a memory. Mary went on to attend DePaul University in Chicago and later moved to Tampa for work. She was unaware that the company she had joined was once owned by Peter’s family. When Peter saw the update on social media, he decided to send her a message. They reconnected at a conference, then dinner, and the chemistry was immediate. “It felt like no time had passed,” Mary admits. “But we were both exactly where we were supposed to be.”

By their third date, Peter knew. “She was everything I had been looking for, even when I didn’t know I was looking,” he confides. He proposed one year later, taking Mary back to the exact stretch of Clearwater Beach where they had met as teenagers. After dinner, they walked the same boardwalk, and in the same place he first introduced himself, Peter got down on one knee in a romantic grand gesture that left Mary filled with pure joy. “After 12 years, he proposed in the same place he first introduced himself.”

The betrothed settled on a luxury hotel chosen for its enduring elegance and its promise as a place they could return to again and again. “My family had stayed there before,” Mary shares of The Breakers in Palm Beach, “and when we walked through it as a possible venue, we knew instantly. It is timeless.”

A stunning ceremony décor scheme was arranged in the Circle Ballroom, just after sunset, which made all of the gilded elements sparkle perfectly so that the room was filled with a warm ambience. Mary envisioned a candlelit setting with dramatic gold candelabras lining the aisle, and her wedding planner, Heather Lowenthal of Posh Parties, and her floral designers at Xquisite Events truly brought a dramatic, chic vision to fruition.

The bride made her grand entrance in a custom strapless silk-satin gown with pearl embellishments. Its structured silhouette and long, fluid train echoed the old-world glamour of The Breakers without veering into nostalgia. Six flower girls led the procession, each carrying a delicate pomander of ivory roses tied with satin ribbon. The ring bearers carried the same ring pillow used by Mary’s parents at their wedding nearly 40 years earlier as a sentimental nod quietly woven into the ceremony details.

“After 12 years, he proposed in the same place he first introduced himself.”

Following the vows, guests moved into the Mediterranean Ballroom, where the couple’s wedding team had transformed the space into a candlelit garden. Tables were dressed in soft neutral linens and topped with a mix of tall candelabras and lush, low florals – showcasing roses, hydrangeas, sweet peas, and ranunculuses all in shades of cream and blush. Two 12-foot flowering trees anchored the room on either side, framing the dance floor and creating an atmosphere that felt intimate.

The menu was served as a formal, multi-course dinner, selected during a tasting Peter had been particularly involved in. “My parents threw us the wedding of our dreams, and my mom and I did most of the planning,” Mary smiles, “but like most grooms, Peter’s favorite part was the menu tasting.” A live band played a mix of classics from both their parents’ generation and their own, filling the night with familiar energy and a full dance floor.

Personal details were layered throughout the celebration. Guests were greeted at cocktail hour with Bellinis – a playful nod to the groom’s last name – and a cigar roller offered custom-wrapped cigars alongside Jordan almonds, a tradition in Mary’s family symbolizing health, wealth, happiness, family, and a long life. A display of family wedding portraits in antique gold frames stood near the bar, bridging generations of love stories.

One of Mary’s favorite moments happened during cocktail hour. She tossed her bouquet from a balcony to the six flower girls gathered below. It landed, unexpectedly, in the courtyard fountain. Without hesitation, one of the girls retrieved it and distributed a rose to each of the others. “It was completely unplanned and so pure,” she remembers. “The photos are priceless.”

They ended the night dancing to Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” After years apart and one perfect full-circle proposal, Mary and Peter finally walked the boardwalk again – this time, hand in hand, as husband and wife.

This real wedding was originally published in the Fall 2025 issue of Inside Weddings magazine. 

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