Get ready for utter romance with this stunning Miami garden wedding from Kaity Brawley Photography! From the illustrated table numbers to the calligraphy ribboned cake to the blush gown and veil, each detail evokes European elegance and charm. There is so much to love about this wedding, but our favorite detail has to be the tattoo the bride got in honor of her late grandmother to have her close on her wedding day.
Blake and I wanted something in the middle of our hometowns of Key West and Naples, so a destination wedding in Miami seemed like the natural choice. We knew we wanted a venue that was historic, outdoors, and somewhat unexpected. I work in the wedding industry and have always had a soft spot for Villa Woodbine. After seeing it in person, we knew it was the one! My vision for the wedding was a classic and neutral color palette, with organic touches of floral and greenery. Villa Woodbine has an expansive front lawn, so I also wanted it to feel like a big intimate dinner party.
I work at Carol Hannah, so I didn’t go dress shopping anywhere else. I knew two things: I wanted a ball gown, and I didn’t want white. I ended up falling in love with the bodice of one style and the skirt of another, so the team combined them to create a custom blush gown just for me. I loved how the architectural elements balanced out the classic shape, and the blush veil was my pièce de résistance. Historically, bridesmaids wore white to protect the bride and ward off evil spirits, and I have always loved this tradition! I asked each bridesmaid to wear a white floor length gown of her choosing. Blake wore a navy tux, which subtly set him apart from his groomsmen, who wore black tuxes. We loved how our wedding party was a sly nod to traditional wedding attire: white dresses and black tuxes!
I lost my grandmother in 2014, and she was a big part of my life. She was named after the lotus flower, so I got a lotus flower tattoo in her memory on my left arm (They say the left arm is directly connected to the heart.). It meant so much that she was able to “walk down” the aisle with me. A few months before the wedding, Blake’s mom gifted me with sapphire marquise earrings. They were earrings that his dad had given her when they first started dating, and she was passing them on to me. The marquise shape represented my engagement ring, and the sapphires represented my birthday. They were dainty and absolutely perfect with my dress!
I loved our ceremony. We’ve been to so many weddings, and it was important that our ceremony feel like an extension of our relationship. We wanted the officiant to be someone we knew, and after our first officiant fell through, my friend Bailey stepped right in. We wrote the ceremony with her, and she was eloquent, elegant and funny. The words just felt more meaningful coming from her.
Blake and I love to travel, so we wanted to incorporate this into our wedding details. After some research on seating chart banners, I found Ettie Kim and her landmark illustrations. It was a lightbulb moment, and I reached out to see if she could illustrate our favorite destinations to use as table numbers. We loved her Villa Woodbine illustration so much that we used it in several iterations, including the seating chart! The rest of our wedding came together thanks to our wedding designer, Felicia. She worked tirelessly to ensure that every detail was executed to perfection, including hand-dying cheesecloth for our ceremony chairs the week before the wedding! When we had to make a rain call, Felicia sprung into action and redesigned our entire ceremony around the tent. I truly don’t know what we would have done without her.
Our wedding details were a group effort! Blake and I did a lot of the paper details ourselves. We collected vintage stamps, assembled our invitations, and glued ribbons and wax seals to each place card. We printed the table numbers and signage on handmade paper. Blake’s mom cut cheesecloth into napkins for all the place settings. We also made our cake stands by hammering apart existing ones.
Our wedding cake was vanilla and dulce de leche. We’re not really wedding cake people, so I liked the idea of deconstructing the layers. One of our biggest relationship inside jokes is Blake’s love for the Baha Men. He introduced me to their song “Sunflower” in college, which we often dance to when he’s trying to cheer me up. Felicia had the great idea to surprise Blake with the lyrics on our cake ribbon, and it was one of my favorite wedding day details!
Photography: Kaity Brawley Photography | Venue: Villa Woodbine | Planning: Avec M.O.I Event Planning & Design | Florals: Ever After Event and Floral Design | Day-of Coordination: Bustled by Christina Nicole | Cake: Earth and Sugar | Hair and Makeup: Bellelite | Stationery: Jen Simpson Design | Seating Chart and Table Numbers: Ettie Kim | Escort Cards: Lock and Keep | Vintage Car: American Dream Tour Miami | Photo Booth: Photogbooth | Entertainment: AA Musicians Quartet | Dress and Veil: Carol Hannah | Bride’s Shoes: Alexandre Birman | Headpiece: Tania Maras | Groomsmen Attire: The Black Tux | Officiant: Bailey Smith Events | Submitted via Matchology
