ABOUT
UNIQUE Weddings + Events is a design-first Tampa wedding planner and creative director for couples who want a wedding that feels personal, polished, and fully considered from start to finish.
We don’t follow templates or recreate weddings that already exist. Every event is built around your style, your priorities, your guest experience, and how you want the day to feel. Design is not just flowers and pretty linens. It is layout, lighting, movement, timing, hospitality, and making sure the entire experience works without you having to manage it. That’s the part we obsess over...so you don’t have to.
As your planner and creative director, we guide the decisions, shape the design, and handle the logistics so you can actually experience your wedding instead of running it.
Based in Tampa Bay and serving St. Petersburg, Clearwater, and beyond, we create weddings that feel cohesive, immersive, well-executed, and deeply reflective of the people at the center of them.
Design-first planning for weddings that need more than just a pretty room
Tampa Bay wedding planner, wedding designer, creative director, and
the person making sure your wedding doesn’t just look good...it actually works.
Meet the creative director behind unique weddings + events - staci mandikas
🎭 Born & Raised in New Orleans - I grew up around bold celebrations, brass bands, and environments that actually feel like something. That influence shows up in every wedding I design - layered, energetic, and never forgettable.
🎨 Design is Literally My Job (and My Brain) - I’m a Tampa Bay wedding planner and wedding designer with a background in Interior Design, which means I don’t just focus on how your wedding looks - I focus on how it works. Scale, flow, guest experience, and execution are built into every decision from the start.
🔮 I See it Before it Exists - Before anything is ordered or installed, I already know how it’s going to come together. You’re not guessing your way through decisions - you’re guided through them with clarity and confidence.
🗣️ Blunt Honesty? - I’ll tell you what works, what doesn’t, and where your money actually makes an impact. No fluff, no sugarcoating - unless we’re talking cake.
🌅 Morning Person Energy - Fully caffeinated and already three steps ahead before most people have opened their inbox. Timelines, logistics, and details are handled early...not last minute.
🎯 Calm in the Chaos - Packed timelines, room flips, last-minute changes - this is where I thrive. While everything is happening around you, I’m the one making sure it all stays on track.
🖤Design Meets Real Life - I love a strong statement moment, but it still has to function. If it looks incredible but doesn’t work for your guests, it doesn’t make the cut.
✨ Favorite Wedding Moment? - That split second when my couple walks into their reception and says, “Wait… this is ours?” That reaction is the goal every single time.
🤝 Who I Work Best With - Couples who want something different. People who care about design, trust the process, and aren’t afraid to make bold decisions.
🥂 And, Yes... - I will absolutely tear up at your wedding - while still running the entire day like clockwork.
🎨 Design is Literally My Job (and My Brain) - I’m a Tampa Bay wedding planner and wedding designer with a background in Interior Design, which means I don’t just focus on how your wedding looks - I focus on how it works. Scale, flow, guest experience, and execution are built into every decision from the start.
🔮 I See it Before it Exists - Before anything is ordered or installed, I already know how it’s going to come together. You’re not guessing your way through decisions - you’re guided through them with clarity and confidence.
🗣️ Blunt Honesty? - I’ll tell you what works, what doesn’t, and where your money actually makes an impact. No fluff, no sugarcoating - unless we’re talking cake.
🌅 Morning Person Energy - Fully caffeinated and already three steps ahead before most people have opened their inbox. Timelines, logistics, and details are handled early...not last minute.
🎯 Calm in the Chaos - Packed timelines, room flips, last-minute changes - this is where I thrive. While everything is happening around you, I’m the one making sure it all stays on track.
🖤Design Meets Real Life - I love a strong statement moment, but it still has to function. If it looks incredible but doesn’t work for your guests, it doesn’t make the cut.
✨ Favorite Wedding Moment? - That split second when my couple walks into their reception and says, “Wait… this is ours?” That reaction is the goal every single time.
🤝 Who I Work Best With - Couples who want something different. People who care about design, trust the process, and aren’t afraid to make bold decisions.
🥂 And, Yes... - I will absolutely tear up at your wedding - while still running the entire day like clockwork.
What It’s Like to Work With Me...
EXPERIENCE THAT KNOWS WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Founded in 2008, UNIQUE Weddings + Events has planned more than 400 weddings across Tampa Bay and beyond. That experience matters because wedding planning is not just about knowing what looks good. It's knowing what breaks, what gets overlooked, what slows down a timeline, what affects guest comfort, and what decisions cost more than couples expect.
We combine creative direction with practical execution, so your wedding is not only personal and well-designed, but also functional, organized, and supported from the first conversation through the final send-off.
Why couples hire unique?
- Not interested in cookie-cutter weddings. Never have been. Never will be.
- Best fit for couples who value expertise, trust the process, and want a wedding with personality, not a template.
- From $5K backyard celebrations to $300K ballroom blowouts, we approach every event with the same goal: creating an experience that feels authentic, thoughtful, and uniquely yours.
- From intimate dinners for 8 to celebrations for 400+, every wedding gets the same level of attention and care.
- From private estates and backyard transformations to some of Tampa Bay's most recognizable venues, we've probably planned something similar. And if we haven't, we're excited about that.
- Licensed, insured, and unapologetically type-A. Timelines, vendor wrangling, backup plans, and logistics are our love language.
- We don't start with trends. We start with you. Every design decision is filtered through your personality, priorities, and how you want the day to feel.
- We intentionally limit the number of weddings we take each year because great work requires time, attention, and creative energy.
- Yes, we've handled family dynamics, last-minute surprises, weather pivots, timeline meltdowns, and that one aunt who thinks she's running the show.
