Why a Destination Wedding?
When you don’t live in your home town and everyone is flying in for your dream wedding, why not turn it into a fabulous destination wedding? After all, there’s not much difference for guests who are already traveling, to book Miami as their last stop rather than Texas. This was the case for Gabrielle and Ben who reside in Dallas: “Ben and I both grew up in different places, and Ben also lived on all three coasts in his 26 years, so it made sense to us to do a destination because all of our guests would be traveling for the most part,” explains Gabrielle.
Why Miami?
We can name 50 reasons why Miami is a spectacular destination, including a diverse selection of world class venues, extraordinary event industry professionals, great hotels, fabulous weather, turquoise ocean ...... and the list goes on. In addition to these reasons, Gabrielle and Ben are inspired by the influences of Latin culture in Miami.
A fun fact: Gabrielle & Ben met through mutual friends while watching game 7 of the NBA finals. “Ironically, it was between the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat. Miami won that year which was only the first time Miami would be significant for us!”
Choosing the Wedding Planner
After deciding on Miami as the destination, Gabrielle first travelled here for a quick trip to hire a wedding planner.
“I think I met with 7 or 8, BUT when I met Mayrelis, we just clicked. I knew I could trust her from Texas to execute my vision.”
Mayrellis, owner of ELITE PLANNING FIRM, made a call and quickly got them an appointment to meet with the events coordinator at Vizcaya, but there were no dates available. Then, a rare occurrence, and surely a sign: they got a call that a November date (11-11) had opened up and the rest is history!
The Food
They say that wedding guests always remember the food, no matter what. Everyone we discuss this with pretty much confirms that no matter how spectacular the venue or over the top the entertainment or décor, the food is one of the main things that ultimately affects the lasting impression guests have of the event:
“Thierry’s was an easy choice because they absolutely blew us away when we flew in for the tasting. I have never had a more satisfying but incredibly beautiful meal in my life. Knowing many of our friends are foodies, I knew that I had to REALLY impress them. We didn’t do anything super custom but the late-night chicken & waffles are still one of my favorites, as well as the coconut shrimp! I still crave it! Three months later and all my guests can talk about are the food and how flawlessly the event team flipped our wedding. ABSOLUTE PROFESSIONALS!”
When the Bride is also a Designer!
When we learned that Gabrielle is an art director and that she designed her own stationery, we were blown away! She has her own design company in Dallas, TX, called Cazadora Creative Co, and you’ll definitely want to check out her work here: www.cazadoracreative.com
“It was a labor of love and I worked on it for months. My inspiration for the wedding was romantic meets edgy, tropical meets secret garden, art deco meets timeless. That’s just the feeling I wanted my guests to get when they opened up their invitations.”
The Importance of Choosing the Right Team
Of course, most brides know how they want everything to look and be on their big day. Being a creative person though, Gabrielle had an especially distinct vision for what she wanted aesthetically, both in terms of the décor and her own hair, make up and attire.
She admits that the secret to the success of a beautiful wedding is choosing a team that you trust and letting them run with it. This is also of utmost importance for a destination wedding.
Perfectly Imperfect!
As Gabrielle describes it, their dream wedding was “perfectly imperfect!” This is often the best kind of perfect. The ceremony was outside on the mound in Vizcaya’s gardens with the reception planned for the East Terrace overlooking the bay.
“We had planned an outside ceremony on the mound in the gardens with a reception on the east terrace. “However, I could not imagine putting a tent out there,” says Gabrielle, “ and against my planner’s advice we went without the tent. As soon as we were pronounced husband and wife, it started to drizzle. There was a downpour for about 10 minutes, at which the team decided to move the reception inside. This ended up being a blessing in disguise because I loved it more than the original plan. The dance floor on the marble inside Vizcaya was absolutely magical. The weather cleared up and the rest of the night was an absolute dream.”
"The Night Was An Absolute Dream"
The Dream Team:
venue: Vizcaya Museum and Gardens
photography: Lauren Apel Photo
florals: Anthology Co.
planning: Elite Planning Firm
catering & event services: Thierry Isambert Culinary & Event Design
videography: McDuff Productions
stationery: Cazadora Creative Co.
dress: Martina Liana
cake: Earth and Sugar
hair & makeup: Hair and Makeup by Sydney Sydney Ann Lopez
videography: McDuff Productions
stationery: Cazadora Creative Co.
dress: Martina Liana
cake: Earth and Sugar
hair & makeup: Hair and Makeup by Sydney Sydney Ann Lopez