I’m so excited to finally give this post a little update and share more from one of the best days of my life, our wedding day! Also known as our Alanis Fiesta 💃🏼🕺🏻 Our rustic Miami wedding was everything we hoped it would be, and looking back through these photos still makes me so happy.
Jerry and I got married at Redland Farm Life in Miami, and looking back through these photos still brings me right back to that day. We wanted our wedding to feel intimate and romantic, with a rustic setting, lots of greenery and flowers, and little details that felt like us.
Our photographer, Sarah Ormiston, was absolutely AMAZING and I’m still so glad she was the one to capture our day. She was such a calm presence in the middle of all the wedding day chaos, not to mention one of the sweetest people ever. Jerry and I will cherish these photos forever, and I’m so thankful to have all of these moments to look back on.
There are way too many photos from our wedding to fit into one post, so I’m sharing some of my favorites here and breaking a few of the details into their own posts too.
All of our wedding vendors and sources are listed at the bottom!
Our Rustic Miami Wedding at Redland Farm Life
If you’ve ever been to Miami, or South Florida in general, you probably know that “rustic” isn’t exactly the first word that comes to mind when you think about the area. 😂 I knew the kind of vibe I wanted for our rustic Miami wedding, and every venue we looked at just…wasn’t it. They were beautiful, but none of them felt like us.
Then I found Redland Farm Life.
I pretty much knew immediately that this was going to be our venue. Redland Farm Life felt like such a hidden gem tucked away in Miami, with all of the lush greenery, wood details, and rustic charm I had been looking for. We honestly felt like we’d stumbled onto this little pocket of Miami that was completely different from everything else we’d seen.
It was the exact backdrop I had pictured in my head for our Alanis Fiesta, and looking back at these photos now, I’m still so happy we chose it.
The Details
One thing that was really important to us was finding ways to incorporate both of our cultures into the wedding. For Jerry, that meant wearing a traditional Mexican traje, and for me, it meant little nods to my Lebanese heritage throughout the day.
The traje actually turned into a bit of an adventure. 😂 We knew exactly what we had in mind, but I couldn’t find anything like it locally, and even finding one online was surprisingly difficult. Eventually, I stumbled across a website for a shop in California that claimed to make custom trajes.
Coco had just come out around that time, and I found out that the owner had actually created suits for the movie’s red carpet premiere. For whatever reason, that was enough for me. I just had a good feeling about it!
There was only one small problem…the shop was all the way in California.
At that point, it was either take a chance or give up on the idea altogether. Luckily, Jerry has family near where the shop was located, so he planned a visit with his uncle and aunt and went to check it out in person.
He got there and it turned out to be this tiny hole-in-the-wall shop with a very boisterous man as the owner 😂 and, well…the rest is history.
The custom traje turned out better than I could have imagined, and I’m SO glad we took the chance because it ended up being one of our favorite details from our wedding.
My Non-Traditional Bridal Look
For my own look, I knew pretty early on that I didn’t want to wear a veil. I wanted something different, and I kept coming back to Frida Kahlo and her iconic flowers.
So…why not a giant flower crown? 😂
Our florist, Shelley, completely brought the idea to life. She told me it was one of the most fun pieces she’d ever gotten to work on, and she absolutely knocked it out of the park!
It was definitely a statement piece, which was pretty obvious from everyone’s reactions when they saw it for the first time. And now, looking back at our wedding photos, I’m so glad I went for it. It photographed beautifully and ended up becoming such a memorable part of my whole bridal look.
I wanted my Lebanese heritage represented in the day too, so we incorporated Middle Eastern-inspired lanterns into our reception tables. They worked so beautifully with the rustic feel of the wedding while still having a little more meaning behind them.
All of these little details came together even better than I could have pictured.
I love looking back and seeing all of these little pieces together. These weren’t just details we chose because they looked pretty. They each had a little story behind them, and I think that’s part of what made the whole day feel so much more special.
Getting Ready
Our wedding morning started a little differently for Jerry and me. While I was at the venue getting ready with the girls, Jerry was taking an EXAM. 😂
He was finishing his bachelor’s degree at the time and somehow had an exam scheduled for the morning of our wedding. As if that wasn’t crazy enough, he didn’t even tell his professor he was getting married that day until after he finished it.
Apparently he turned in his exam, raised his hand, and asked if he could leave because he had to go get married. 😂 His professor basically yelled, “OF COURSE, GO!”
Thankfully, he still made it to the venue with plenty of time to get ready, because I think that story would be a lot less funny if he’d actually been late to our wedding.
Meanwhile, the girls and I were getting ready in the bridal suite, and I remember feeling almost eerily calm. I really thought I’d be a nervous wreck that morning, but somehow…I wasn’t. We were getting our hair and makeup done, laughing while reading a book of advice for wives from 1913, and everything just felt surprisingly relaxed.
Cheeseburgers Before “I Do”
And at some point between finishing his exam and getting ready to marry me, Jerry also managed to make a McDonald’s run for everyone. 😂
This is actually a tradition of his. Whenever he’s part of a wedding, he shows up with a bunch of cheeseburgers and fries for the bridal party. It started because everyone has to get to the venue SO early for hair, makeup, getting ready, photos, and everything else, and by the time the wedding actually starts, everyone is starving.
So naturally, he had to do it for his own wedding too.
And honestly, there’s something very fitting about one of my memories from getting ready for our wedding being a bridal suite full of hair and makeup, wedding dresses…and McDonald’s cheeseburgers. 😂
Our Bridal Party
We had such a fun bridal party, and ours looked a little different because Jerry had a groomswoman standing on his side!
I already shared a whole post with more photos and details from our bridal party, including what everyone wore and how we incorporated a groomswoman into the group.
You can see more photos and read all about our bridal party and groomswoman in the full post.
A Few Favorites From Our Wedding Day
It’s almost impossible to narrow down my favorite photos from the day, but these are a few that I always come back to.
I love the beautiful portraits, of course, but I think I love the candid ones even more. The laughing, the in-between moments, and all of the things Sarah captured when we weren’t necessarily paying attention to the camera.
Those are the photos that feel the most like us.
And everyone tells you your wedding day goes by fast, but they aren’t kidding. There are little moments in these photos that I had completely forgotten about until I saw them again.
I’m so glad we have them.
Our Miami Wedding Vendors
We had so many wonderful people help bring our wedding together, and I’m still incredibly grateful for all of them.
Venue – Redland Farm Life
Photography – Sarah Ormiston Photography
Videography – Dana Lynn Photography
Wedding dress – Tara Lauren @ Lovely Bride Miami
Custom Mexican Traje – La Casa del Mariachi
Hair & Makeup – Sissi Hair & Makeup
Florals – Blooming Romance Floral Design
Wedding planner – Ana Vina
If you see something in one of our wedding photos that I haven’t listed, feel free to ask! I’ll do my best to find the source for you.
More From Our Wedding
I originally shared this post as just a little glimpse into our wedding day, but there are so many photos and details I’ve wanted to share over the years.
You can already take a peek at our bridal party details featuring our groomswoman, and I’ll be sharing more from our wedding decor, Redland Farm Life, and the other little details from our Alanis Fiesta too.
For now, I’ll leave you with some of my favorite photos from one of my very favorite days. 🤍
PIN TO PINTEREST TO SAVE FOR LATER!
1 Comments
Comments are closed.