When Taking a Risk With Bold Wedding Colors Pay Off in a Major Way at Faena Miami Beach

[section title=”The Planning”]
[field title=”Wedding Colors”]Pink, Orange, Emerald Green[/field]
[field title=”Design / Vibe / Vision”]

Our wedding day was bright, fun, and bold. We wanted it to feel like you were in a tropical location, on vacation, but still have an elegant flair to it. We took a risk with the bright pink and orange colors, but we felt it worked perfectly for a destination such as Miami Beach. Our venue had a Latin flair to it, as it is designed by an Argentinian hotelier, and therefore, we wanted to work off this vibe. I wanted our guests to come to Miami and celebrate and party for an entire weekend. I wanted them to feel like they were on vacation and not feel obligated to come to “yet another wedding”. We personalized each detail of our event, from hand-written cards in our welcome bags to customized hats and accessories. While it was truly one of the most fun weekends of our lives, we also wanted it to be elegant and classy and for us to maintain certain traditions, which included our Catholic mass and our cultural dances.

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[field title=”Proposal Story”]

Since my father’s side is from Greece, Patrick and I have spent many summers vacationing there. It has now become our favorite place in the world. I had a feeling the proposal was coming, but truly had NO idea when, so I decided to wear white for most of the summer, expecting it to happen “any day”. On the ONE day, I decided to not wear white, and black instead, Pat popped the question. He tricked me into going to Athens to a hotel my sister always raved about, and planned for us to go to a fun club on the beach. I dressed the part, in heels and all, only to be completely fooled and brought on a helicopter ride, overlooking the iconic Athens Riviera. Most people know I am terrified of flying, so I knew Patrick wouldn’t dare to propose to me during this activity. I still had no idea what was to come until we landed at the Four Seasons Astir Palace. We took a golf cart to a gorgeous cliff where champagne was waiting, nd Patrick popped the question. Hiding in the bushes were our friends from our village in Greece, who are professional photographers. They captured the most amazing photos, and then my family and some friends met us for the most beautiful sunset dinner at the famous Matsuhisa. In true Greek fashion, we then ended the night on the beach at a nightclub on the Rivieraallee, Island, and we danced until sunrise. It was the most magical surprise of my life.

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[board_carousel title=”Getting Ready”]

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[board_carousel title=”Bridal Portraits”]

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[board_carousel title=”Flat Lays”]

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[board_carousel title=”First Look”]

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[section title=”The Fashion”]
[field title=”Wedding Gown”]

The name of my wedding dress was Versailles by Monique Lhuillier. It was purchased in New Jersey at White House Bridal. I am very indecisive, and I had tried on almost 40 dresses at that point. I was the last of three sisters to get married, and both my sisters wore custom Christian Siriano dresses and looked stunning. I knew I wanted something elegant, timeless, and ballgown, but with an extra “something”. Versailles was exactly that; with the applique handsewn floral designs and the corset top, it felt just right. Once the owner Stacey, brought out the gloves to go with it, I knew it was perfect for me. I wore a custom Monique royal veil in the church, and then after my first dance and my father-daughter dance, I took the gloves off so I could feel comfortable.

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[field title=”Bridesmaid Dresses”]

Thankfully, I listened to my Mom when she told me to go bold. I was apprehensive at first to have my girls wearing bright pinks and oranges, mainly because there were 16 of them, but they looked incredible. I gave the bridesmaids options of 4-5 dresses and randomly chose their color of either pink or orange. I chose their dresses from Miss Circle, which is located in Soho, NYC, and also online. My two sisters were my Matrons of Honor, and they wore custom Fuschia ball gowns. Everyone looked so gorgeous.

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[field title=”Groomsman Attire”]

The wedding day was black tie, and therefore, all of the men wore black tuxedos. They used a company called The Black Tux. This website also had in-person stores in NYC and allowed the guys to rent or buy their tuxes. They all looked amazing! My husband’s look was from Suit Supply. He wore a black tuxedo and Tom Ford shoes that I bought him for the special day. He customized his tux by putting our wedding date on the inside collar of the tux jacket.

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[board_carousel title=”Wedding Party”]

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[board_carousel title=”Ceremony”]

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[board_carousel title=”Cocktail Hour”]

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[section title=”The Details”]
[field title=”Food & Drink”]

My family is Greek and Italian, and we are from the NYC area, therefore, food is EVERYTHING at the wedding. We started the cocktail hour with a raw bar, which included lobster, oysters, clams, shrimp, and mussels. We also had a sushi station, which had a variety of our favorite rolls. We had a carving station with delicious prime rib. We then had a pasta station, with our take of Carbone’s spicy rigatoni, as well as a pesto selection. We had an antipasti and charcuterie station with delicious meats and cheese selections. In addition to a Dim Sum and buns station. For the passed Hors d’oeuvres, we had Spicy Tuna, Yuzu Tobiko with Spicy Aioli on a Taro Chip, a New Zealand Lamb Chop, Short Rib Mini Tacos with Avocado Salsa Verde, Pickled Red Onions, and Short Rib Empanadas with Chimichurri Aioli. We had a full ultra premium bar from the start of cocktail hour through our after party. This included our signature drinks of a Dirty Martini and a spicy Margarita, as well as Espresso martinis. We then proceeded to the main event, where the guests were greeted with glasses of champagne as they found their seats. We started the evening with Local Farmed Wild Arugula, Strawberries with Marcona Almonds, Organic Parmesan, and Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette. Our next dish was an Italian Porcini Risotto. Followed by an entree choice of Chicken Breast with Yucca Puree, Black Bean Relish and a Cilantro Emulsion, Braised Galbi Short Ribs with Garlic Mashed Whipped Potato, Broccolini, and a Natural Jus Reduction or a Branzino a la Plancha with White Bean Ragout, with Artichoke Olive Barigoule, Chorizo, and Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette. We then had our 7-tier cake, which was Cookies and Cream with Blackout Chocolate Cake, White Chocolate Mousse, and Cookie crumbles. And addition, we had a Venetian hour, which included cookies, cakes, macarons, and ice cream. Once the main party was over, we walked over to the Amphitheater of our venue and parted after. We had McDonald’s Big Macs, fries, and chicken nuggets passed out, as this is my favorite fast food ever. In addition, we had flatbread pizzas, mini truffle sliders, grilled cheese, chicken, and waffles. We ended up extending the after party to go until 4:00 am!!!

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[field title=”Florals & Decor”]

We knew that we had a blank canvas to work with at the Faena Forum. It is essentially a white space with really high ceilings. We worked with the best Miami floral design team, Petal Production, who was highly recommended by our wedding planner, Mayrelis from Elite Planning. We customized each aspect of the wedding, from the cocktail hour bar and gold high top “tables” to the greenery and bright boxes topped with floral arrangements, where our seating arrangements were. We didn’t want anything to be “typical”. Instead of a place card, we had each name written on colorful boxes, where ballerinas danced and a violinist and harpist played, as guests looked for their name. They were then led up a floral-wrapped staircase into the Forum. We then had our focal point be the “Tree of Life”, which was a giant floral tree that was in the center of our wrap around, green velvet bar. This was my favorite part of the room. This split the room from where the guests ate to the dance floor. We opted to have a circular green dance floor, which I did not expect to look as good as it did. I thank Brittany from Petal Production for convincing me to step out of my comfort zone here. We had over 325 guests and therefore had to mix round tables with two large, long royal tables. The Royal tables had green table tops, which matched the dancefloor, and had a long cascade of floral arrangements which wont down the center and draped to the floor. The chairs were green velvet with gold. On the round tables, our centerpieces varied from high, bright florals to low, clear vases with individual bright flowers. It was incredible. We then had florals that projected onto the wall, which somehow matched the florals of my dress. We had satellite bars in the back corners of the ro so that no one had to ever wait for a drink.

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[field title=”Wedding Cake”]

Our wedding planner, Mayrelis of Elite Planning, knew Miami best and led us in the right direction with Gabriela Bergoderi, who made the most amazing sweets. We had Aroma Espresso of Miami set up the entire night with an espresso and cappuccino station, they also made the espresso martinis. We then had treats which included pistachio cannolis, alfajores, brownies, macarons, and cookies, amongst other treats,

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[field title=”Readings, Ceremony Music, Reception Songs”]

We wanted to have many people feel included in our wedding events, and we knew we wanted there to be many toasts and speeches. Throughout the three days, we had various people speak. On our first night, our welcome party, Pat’s dad gave a toast to us, which was both heartfelt and funny. On day two, we wanted it to be more of a “roast” and asked some of our best friends to speak. I asked four of my girlfriends, who came up with an incredible roast for both of us. Pat asked two of his three best men to do the same. One of his best me does stand-up comedy for fun and truly had the crowd in tears. For our wedding ceremony, we wanted to include two readings that meant something to us. We chose Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Song of Solomon 8:6-7 “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it.” My cousin Samantha and Patrick’s close family friend Brint read these at the church. During our wedding, my dad gave his last Father of the Bride speech, which had us all in tears, and then both of my sisters gave Matron of Honor Speeches. Patrick’s third Best Man, who came from Australia, gave the final speech of the night. We were very particular about the music we chose, as we both LOVE music. For the ceremony, I walked down the aisle with my father to the traditional Bridal chorus. We then chose to have a string quarter play “Always” by Gavin James as our guests were receiving communion. This song had us both in tears. We had the most incredible live group, called Songs from Space, perform during our cocktail hour. This included a singer, violin, guitar, and piano. They played remixes of some of our favorites, which included “Paradise”, “Tennessee Whiskey”, “Wake Me Up”, and “Higher Love”. Guests loved hearing these remixes. After the cocktail hour, guests entered into the forum where they were greeted by a 12 piece band. I am so happy that we went with Tropics Entertainment, Remix the band. They brought down the house. They nailed every single song, and we were very specific about do’s and don’ts. We did not want any top 100 Bruno Mars or Taylor Swift songs to be played at the wedding. But instead include favorites of our familie, such as Prince, Meatloaf and Celine Dion. Patrick and I did a non-traditional first dance to Vivir Mi Vida by Marc Anthony, and we invited the crowd to join in. We had the sax, the trumpet, and he drums, and it was the best way to start the night. I then danced with my dad to the same song, we danced at my communion party and sweet 16, which is Elvis Presley’s “Falling in Love”. The entire room was in tears. It was a very emotional moment. Patrick then danced with his mom to Coldplay’s Yellow, and it was absolutely beautiful. We ended the night with a DJ for the afterparty, and it felt like being in Mykonos. The DJ was Event Factor, and they were incredible, allowing my brother-in-law, who DJs part-time in NYC, to join in with them. We had the most epic night.

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[field title=”Special Detail #1″]

We wanted to have three days of events, that were all different from each other, but brought together all of our guests, who came from over 10 different countries. We started the weekend with a Cuban themed welcome party, with a latin trio, cuban cigar rollers, fedoras and an Hora Loca hour.

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[field title=”Special Detail #2″]

Instead of a Sunday morning brunch, which we knew we wouldn’t wake up for after our wedding, we opted for a beach party. I think this was Patrick’s favorite event. Petal Production set up an incredible customized beach set. We had oyster shuckers, mixologists, a DJ booth made of beach balls, a lifeguard stand made of palm leaves. We had the best weather that day and couldn’t have asked for a more fun crew. Our wedding was the best weekend of our lives, and it couldn’t have been possible without our family and friends who traveled so far for us. Being the last of three sisters to get married, I had big shoes to fill, and Patrick was the first of four to get married. This was such a special moment for us and both of our families. We are so grateful to our parents, siblings, and vendors for this weekend. The Lockharts captured every single detail so perfectly, I often find myself looking back on photos and just smiling from ear to ear.

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[field title=”Special Detail #3″][/field]
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[board_carousel title=”Couple Portraits”]

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[board_carousel title=”Reception”]

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[board_carousel title=”Wedding Weekend Events”]

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