On Location: Anna Maria
Anna Maria weddings tend to be barefoot and unhurried: a beach house taken for the week, a ceremony on the sand, dinner somewhere you can walk to. Anie comes to the house.
She Comes To You
On Anna Maria, getting ready happens wherever the wedding party is staying for the week (a rental in Holmes Beach, a house on Bradenton Beach), and that is exactly where Anie's kit goes, rather than the other way around. There is no studio address to plan a wedding morning around; the room with the best light becomes the room she works in. Everything that comes with hair and makeup is on the bridal page.
Anna Maria
The island runs through three small cities: Anna Maria at the north end, Holmes Beach in the middle, and Bradenton Beach to the south, and the weddings here are usually the relaxed, whole-week kind rather than the ballroom kind. A great many receptions happen in the backyard of the rental itself.
The Sandbar and its Grand Pavilion, and the Sunset Deck at the Beach House Waterfront Restaurant on Bradenton Beach, are two of the island's best-known ceremony spots. The Anna Maria Island Inn and Bali Hai Beach Resort also host weddings.
Getting ready in a rental is the norm here rather than the exception, and it suits an on-location artist. Anie sets up wherever the light is best.
The Fox Mercantile in Cortez sits a few minutes over the bridge and hosts weddings for couples who want the island without the sand.
The island spans three cities, and permitting can differ between them; the marriage licence itself comes from the Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court.
Anna Maria is the farthest of the barrier islands from Downtown Sarasota: figure on roughly 45 minutes north through Bradenton, crossing either the Anna Maria Island Bridge or the Cortez Bridge depending on which end of the island you're headed to. Anie builds that drive into the schedule the moment a date is confirmed.
A free island trolley runs the length of Anna Maria, useful if the wedding party is split between a rental house and a ceremony site and would rather not shuffle cars on the morning of.
Pine Avenue in the city of Anna Maria is the island's main street: the Historic Green Village, Ginny's & Jane E's for breakfast, and the City Pier at the end of it, being rebuilt after the 2024 hurricanes. The Rod & Reel Pier is a few streets north, and Bean Point, at the very tip, is where the sunset photos happen.
Bridge Street in Bradenton Beach has the Bridge Tender Inn, the pier and the trolley stop, with Coquina Beach and its Australian pines just south. For getting ready, Waterline Villas & Marina and the Mainsail Beach Inn in Holmes Beach are the two properties most wedding parties book.
Bridal Pricing
Bridesmaid makeup is $150 per person, or $120 each once six or more are having makeup done. Full pricing lives on the services page.
What Every Bride Gets
Stephanie is AMAZING! She gave me a beautiful updo for a wedding I was attending. Will definitely be scheduling with her for any future events🫶🏽
Alexis P. · August 2026
Built For The Day
Island days are long and warm from the start. Anie plans the morning around when you actually need to be ready, uses long-wear products meant to hold through heat and humidity, and leaves you with a touch-up kit for the hours after she goes.
The Morning
Anie builds the wedding-morning timeline with you before the day, working backwards from your ceremony: who is in the chair when, how long each person takes, and when the bride is finished. The bride goes last, closest to the ceremony. Start times before 7 AM are never a problem; they simply carry a $50 early-start fee.
Getting ready on Longboat Key instead? See bridal hair and makeup on Longboat Key.
