What is it about a giant pink bow that gets me every time? And this is one big, beautiful bow. Attached to an equally gorgeous dress. Adorned by an even more breathtaking bride. In an absolutely swoon-worthy Coconut Grove wedding by Michelle Turner Photography. Everything about this elegant soiree screams fairy tale fit for a princess. One lucky, lucky princess. Click here to see even more!
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From The Bride... I envisioned an intimate old-world romantic wedding. I wasn’t attached to a particular color scheme; I just wanted everything to be soft and pretty. I went to Saks Fifth Avenue in New York to visit the Oscar de la Renta trunk show that June. I fell in love with and bought the first dress I tried on! It was everything I had ever dreamed of- beautiful guipure lace with beading and a blush pink taffeta bow for the train!
I didn’t know where I wanted to have my wedding, but I knew I wanted everything about it to be intimate and unique. After 4 months of searching South Florida I found Villa Woodbine in Coconut Grove. It’s a 1920’s Mediterranean-Renaissance historic mansion. The Bay of Pigs invasion was planned there, the doorways were arched, there was wrought iron on the entranceway to the garden and it had the most gorgeous Cuban hand painted tiles throughout. I then found a church equally beautiful- Plymouth Congregational Church, also in Coconut Grove. The church was founded in 1897 and looks like a castle with ivy growing on the walls!
At Plymouth Congregational Church I placed 2 cherry blossom arrangements at the altar in remembrance of Joe’s mother and my mother who have both passed away. I carried our tribute to them at the reception with a memorial candle and an 8x10 framed picture of each of them at a special table so family and friends could feel their presence on our day.
I love details and my wedding was full of them! Joe and I love to travel so I chose table names (in lieu of numbers) and each table was named after a place we had visited together along with a picture of us from the vacation. We had the “Safina Smash” as our specialty cocktail- Grey Goose, muddled cucumber, lime juice and mint leaves. I wanted my guests to be comfortable so I ordered 150 pairs of flip flops and tied each pair together with personalized ribbon and framed a cute poem next to them- the ladies loved them and there wasn’t a pair left at the end of the night! I also had a photo booth- our guests had a great time in the photo booth and took some very interesting pictures towards the end of the night!! Also, I had the attendant collect 1 of the 2 prints and he would then ask the guests to sign the guest book next to their photo- I love, love that I did this because I have their comment next to a picture of them from our wedding day.
The week of the wedding Joe assembled a double Adirondack rocking chair that we took down to the Villa and set out front with a mason jar full of Sharpies and a poem asking the guests to sign the chair. I now have that chair full of our family and friends’ love on our dock where Joe proposed to me.
Joe is in the music industry and gave everyone the best wedding day surprise…a performance from the famous hip-hop artist Fat Joe! It was so amazing- he did a 20-minute set and performed several of his Billboard hits. The best was that even our older guests who didn’t know who he was enjoyed his performance- it really kicked off the night. Oh, and the Patron shot girls my husband hired helped too. They walked around with bottles of Patron during and after the performance and really turned the party up a notch!
Towards the end of the party we had late night snacks of grilled cheese and truffle French fries passed around. I wanted our favors to reflect Miami so we did mini Key Lime cupcakes and put a sticker of our wedding monogram on the box. Joe and I made a sparkler exit and drove off in our 1964 Lincoln Continental he had custom built a few years back!
One piece of advice I received before my wedding was to "make sure you and your husband get some time alone during the reception- even if its just 5 minutes 2 or 3 times throughout the wedding, make sure you can get away from everything and be together and live in the moment." I am so happy I received this advice and listened to it because it was so magical to be alone with Joe for those few minutes. Taking a break from the party allowed us to breathe from the excitement and feel our love and happiness and most importantly, just be.
Wedding Photography: Michelle Turner Photography / Cinematography: Artistic Film Productions / Hair & Makeup: Hot Pink / Floral Design: Parrish Designs / Linens: Over the Top Linens / Photo Booth: ShutterBox / Event Planning: Leah Michelle / Wedding Ceremony Location: Plymouth Congregational Church / Wedding Reception Location: Villa Woodbine / Catering: Bill Hansen Catering / Bride's Shoes: Miu Miu / Wedding Dress: Oscar de la Renta / Bridesmaid Dresses: Laundry / DJ: Mark Leventhal / Wedding Invitations: Ceci New York / Wedding Cake & Cupcake Favors: Filled & Frosted / Accommodations & Preparations: Mayfair Hotel & Spa