A romantic garden wedding deserves Tampa Bay wedding rentals that feel just as considered as the venue itself. When Ashlyn and Rhett said “I do” at Hardeman’s Secret Garden in Dover, Florida, they built their day around a classic, elegant greenhouse aesthetic — and turned to Gabro Event Services to bring it to life. This celebration was originally featured on Marry Me Tampa Bay.
What we love about this wedding is how few pieces it actually took. There was no need to fill the space — the venue already did that. The rentals had one job: give the garden a frame, and then get out of its way. Below is a walk through the pieces that did the work, and why each one was chosen.
A Classic, Elegant Garden Ceremony in Dover
Hardeman’s Secret Garden is one of those Tampa Bay venues that arrives mostly finished. Mature landscaping, layered greenery and a working greenhouse mean the setting carries the design on its own. The temptation at a venue like this is to add more. The better instinct is to edit.
For the ceremony, that meant keeping the structure simple and letting the garden do the talking. When a couple is working with a green, living backdrop, we usually steer them toward clean lines and a restrained palette — white, ivory, soft green, and one metallic. Anything busier competes with the venue instead of complementing it.
It is also worth thinking about the ground before anything else. Garden ceremonies in Florida mean uneven turf, morning dew and the occasional soft patch after rain. Leveling, flooring and seating layout are the unglamorous decisions that make the pretty ones possible, and they are the first thing we talk through on a site visit.
Seating was the other quiet decision. The ceremony used clear ghost chairs set in gentle curved rows across the lawn. Acrylic reads almost invisible against grass, so the rows frame the aisle without competing with the garden or blocking anyone’s view of the couple. They also hold up well in full afternoon sun, which is no small thing for a Florida ceremony.
Shop this look
The Champagne Wall: A Statement Welcome
A champagne wall does something a passed tray cannot. It gives guests a destination the moment they arrive, creates a natural gathering point, and doubles as a photo moment without needing a separate installation. For a cocktail hour in a garden, it is one of the highest-impact pieces you can bring in.
Our wedding walls and backdrops collection includes champagne walls in both freestanding and hedge styles — the hedge version reads especially well outdoors, where the greenery ties back into the landscape instead of standing apart from it.
The bar was styled alongside it with a custom menu and back shelving. From our bars and barbacks range, a white bar back with gold shelving gives bartenders real working storage while keeping the display intentional. A bar back is one of those rentals couples forget until the week of — and then very much notice when the bottles have nowhere to go.
One practical note: champagne walls need a level, stable surface and a plan for restocking. We talk through placement early so the wall lands somewhere with both good sightlines and back-of-house access.
Shop this look
Charger Plates That Finish the Tablescape
Charger plates are the least expensive way to make a table look finished. They add a layer under the dinner plate, define each place setting, and pick up light — which matters enormously in a greenhouse where the light shifts from golden to candlelit over the course of an evening.
Our wedding tableware selection carries chargers by the lot in clear and hammered glass, with gold, silver and black rims. For a warm, garden-toned palette, a gold rim is usually the safer choice; silver tends to read cooler and pairs better with a grey or blue-leaning scheme.
Chargers also work hardest when the layers underneath are right. A charger over a bare table reads unfinished. Our wedding linens range covers tablecloths, overlays, runners and napkins, and the combination of a textured base linen with a simple napkin fold does more for a photograph than almost any other tabletop upgrade.
Shop this look
A Dance Floor Built for an Unforgettable Reception
The black-and-white checkered floor is the piece that changed the room. A greenhouse is a beautiful space and an acoustically live one, and it does not naturally read as a reception venue after dark. Dropping in a defined dance floor gave the evening a center of gravity — a clear edge between dinner and dancing.
Checkered floors are having a moment, and for good reason: the pattern photographs well, holds up in low light, and gives a garden wedding a slightly vintage, ballroom-adjacent feel without tipping into theme. We stock checkered wedding dance floors in a wide range of sizes, including large-format layouts built for bigger guest counts, along with solid finishes for couples who want something quieter underfoot.
The band setup was raised on staging, which is a detail worth stealing. A riser lifts the performers above eye level so guests at the back of the room can actually see them, and it visually anchors that end of the space. Our stages and risers come in configurable heights, so the platform can be matched to ceiling clearance — a real consideration under greenhouse glass.
Shop this look
Choosing the Right Dance Floor
Our dance floor inventory runs large, so guest count is rarely the constraint — the more useful question is how the floor sits inside the room. We look at where dinner tables end, where the band or DJ is set up, and how guests move between the two. Get that right and the floor pulls people onto it all night.
One thing worth knowing: an oversized floor with a thin crowd reads empty, and empty floors discourage people from stepping on. A floor that fills up looks alive in photographs and keeps the energy concentrated. We would rather size it to how your group actually celebrates than default to the biggest option, and that is a conversation we have on the site visit.
Designing With Rentals, Not Around Them
The thread running through this wedding is restraint. A champagne wall, gold-rimmed chargers, a checkered floor and a riser — four decisions, each doing real work. Nothing was added to fill space, and nothing fought the garden for attention.
When couples come to us early, we can help sequence those decisions in the order that matters: floors and structure first, because they dictate layout; then tabletop and linens, because they set the palette; then the statement pieces like walls and backdrops, which are easier to choose once everything around them is settled. Working in that order tends to save money, because the big pieces stop being guesses.
Planning a Garden Wedding in Tampa Bay?
Whether you are hosting at Hardeman’s Secret Garden or another Tampa Bay venue, the right rentals turn a beautiful space into an unforgettable one. Gabro Event Services offers dance floors, bars and champagne walls, chargers and tabletop, linens, furniture, tents and draping for weddings across Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Sarasota and beyond.
Contact our team to talk through your venue and guest count, or browse the full wedding rental catalog to start building your list.
Wedding Credits
Venue: Hardeman’s Secret Garden · Photography: Cornelia Zaiss Photography · Rentals: Gabro Event Services · Originally featured on Marry Me Tampa Bay.