RESTAURANTS

Artists’ Guild offering its latest class

The Anna Maria Island Artists’ Guild Gallery is offering a fourhour, online watercolor Zoom class with artist Cheryl Jorgensen. The class will be held on March 21 and March 22 and the fee is $56. The class will focus on colorful leaves and how shadows can liven up the composition. Jorgensen will be painting in mostly oranges and browns. Those unable to attend the day of the class will still get all materials and access to the class recording, which is available for 30 days following completion. Visit www.amiartistsguildgallery.com.

Trolley advertising now available

The Anna Maria Island trolley has advertising opportunities available for both inside and outside the trolley busses. Trolley advertising is available for all budgets starting at $150. With 311,000 riders in 2020, your ad will be seen by locals and visitors. Contact Terri at terri@amichamber.org for more information.

Top real estate producers for February 2022

A PARADISE Kathy Nunnally - Listing Quinton Talbert - Selling

AN ISLAND PLACE REALTY Sue Carlson - Listing Tanya McCormick - Selling MICHAEL SAUNDERS Kathy Harman - Listing Hannah Hillyard - Selling

MIKE NORMAN Carla Beddow - Listing Chet Coleman – Selling

DUNCAN REAL ESTATE Cindy Jones – Listing Robyn Hawk - Selling

EDGEWATER REAL ESTATE Lynn Zemmer - Listing & Selling

FRAN MAXON Stephanie Bell – Listing & Selling

ISLAND REAL ESTATE Alan Galletto - Listing Kathleen White and Erin Leathem – Selling

PREMIER SOTHEBY Lisa Rooks Morris - Selling

REMAX ALLIANCE GROUP Christine Kourik – Listing & Selling

SALTY MERMAID REAL ESTATE Liz Blandford – Listing & Selling

SATO REAL ESTATE Jason Sato – Listing & Selling

WAGNER REAL ESTATE Carmen Pedota - Selling

KRISTIN SWAIN | SUN Subway is out and Los Chiludos is coming in with a planned opening in late May or June.

New restaurant comes to Holmes Beach

If you’ve been over to the Anna Maria Island Shops on East Bay Drive in Holmes Beach, you may have noticed a change happening. The Subway sandwich shop previously located in the center shuttered its storefront at the end of February without fanfare or even an announcement. The space won’t stay vacant, though, as Los Chiludos Mexican Restaurant and Catering was announced as the new tenant for the space March 1. With a planned opening in late May or early June, the restaurant will be a quick service spot with fresh ingredients and all of your Mexican dish favorites rotating through the menu. Los Chiludos will be located at 3232 East Bay Drive in Holmes Beach.

TIME TO O

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TYING THE KNOT IN PARADISE

Spring is in the air and that brings destination weddings and their guests to the Island. On any given day, beach walks turn into impromptu wedding sightings. Everything from barefoot walks down the aisle to more traditional, formal weddings can be found on this destination wedding hotspot. As the pandemic subsides, wedding experts and bloggers are predicting this will be the biggest wedding year to date. Many Island businesses specialize in planning and hosting tropical paradise weddings, anniversary celebrations and vow renewals. The Sandbar in Anna Maria and the Beach House in Bradenton Beach are at the top of the list when it comes to toes in the sand, waterfront nuptials. Outdoor venues are perfect for anyone with COVID-cautious guests. Open air ceremonies and receptions are increasingly popular right now as guests can spread out and access fresh air. Molly Powers, the Event Sales Director for Anna Maria Island Venues organizes events at The Sandbar Restaurant and The Beach House and says that couples are eager to make reservations again for the wedding of their dreams and has seen some noteworthy trends that have come from the pandemic. Shorter lead times are needed this year and key dates are still available as people begin to feel comfortable with travel again. Currently, couples are organizing a wedding in six months or less. Summer weddings are always a good choice on the Island. There’s a beautiful Gulf breeze, the reasonably priced accommodations. Organizers are also seeing a trend with venue and reception combination packages. Brides are choosing to get married and have the reception at the same location, eliminating the need for third party transportation. Catering agreements with the reception venue are also trending, eliminating the need for an outside food vendor. Fewer vendors make the event organization smoother and speedier.

Another wedding tip for 2022 is to schedule the rehearsal dinner and farewell brunch at the same time as scheduling the wedding. Venues book up with wedding dates so it’s important to go ahead and reserve the supporting event locations as well.

Boho weddings continue to be popular, natural beauty of a beach wedding often means de expensive features of an indoor wedding. Natural décor such as seashells photograph well and set the stage for a gorgeous wedding day. The attentive events team at Anna Maria Island Venues specialize in long distance planning and personalized care. In fact, Molly, the Event Director was married at the Sandbar in 2005, and Shawn Rhoton, Catering Sales Manager was married at the Beach House in 2006!