Meet Our Staff:
Jeff & Claire
Jeff and Claire Copeland are the owners and founders of Simple Weddings. They started Simple Weddings as an offshoot of Claire's photography business, Simple Treasures, in 2007. Claire's artistic vision combined with Jeff's business and marketing acumen have resulted in Simple Weddings quickly becoming the premier wedding planning and photography company on Florida's west coast.
Claire is originally from South Wales in the United Kingdom, and moved to Florida in 1996 to work as an occupational therapist. She met Jeff and never looked back! They had a small outdoor wedding at the Vinoy Resort in St Petersburg in 1999 and now have two sons, ages 8 and 10.
Claire has always served as our lead wedding photographer, but as the business has grown, she has found herself more involved with planning and coordination of our clients' weddings. Whether planning or photographing, she brings unparalelled passion, creativity, style, and a fun, lighthearted attitude to all of her weddings!
Jeff grew up in Florida and has always had a knack for business and marketing. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1994 to 2006, and then held an executive management position with a local government. He left his 'day job' in 2011 to devote more time to management consulting and to handling the marketing and sales for Simple Weddings.
Jeff is also an experienced wedding officiant, and has performed hundreds of wedding ceremonies for couples from all over the world.
Christine
Christine Ferkile is our Office Manager and Lead Wedding Coordinator. She has been with Simple Weddings since 2009 and knows all the ins-and-outs of our weddings, venues, vendors, and decor. Christine is a Florida native; She grew up and Clearwater and has lived in the area all her life, so she knows all the great places to visit, stay, and eat - and she loves sharing this knowledge with our clients!
Christine is most likely the person you'll talk to when it comes time to finalize your timeline, color scheme, head count, and other details as your wedding date draws closer, and she also serves as the day-of coordinator for many of our weddings.
Kelly
Kelly Manke is our Sales Assistant and has been with Simple Wedding since 2010 as a Wedding Coordinator. She started working in the office as our Sales Assistant in 2011. Kelly is also a true "local" and grew up right here in St Petersburg, so she is a great resource!
You may hear from Kelly in response to an inquiry, or speak to her when you call the office. She also provides day-of coordination for many of our weddings.
April
April Kelley is the Director of our Southwest Florida office in Fort Myers, which serves Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel & Captiva Islands, Naples, and Marco Island. If your wedding is in one of these areas, you will probably be working with April every step of the way, and you'll be in good hands!
April is originally from Alabama, and served in the Navy which is what brought her to Florida eleven years ago. In her spare time she designs custom wedding and pageant dresses for Julie-Ann Originals and is also a hair and makeup artist for pageants and weddings.
April is a Certified Wedding Planner and has been officiating and planning weddings for over eight years. She prides herself on doing whatever it takes to make a bride's day as perfect and stress free as possible!