Wed: Christina & Hans at Vizcaya Museum & Gardens

It is usually a guarantee that when I receive an email from Cengiz at Adagion Studio I will completely fall in love with the wedding and instantly share it with Laura and Desiree that I MUST post it soon! This wedding at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens was the same as all of the other emails that Cengiz has sent me - stunning!

Christina and Hans met during college at Georgetown University. Though the couple often debates about their actual first time meeting, they do agree that Hans first set eyes on Christina in economics class during their Freshman year. Christina sat in the front row and Hans sat in the back, however, they do not think they ever spoke! Senior year came around and when they had a few classes together, Hans finally broke the ice. The couple started hanging out, but never expected the relationship to move much further since they were both graduating soon. Well, it lasted! Christina and Hans both moved to New York City in 2003 and have been together ever since!

Hans had asked Christina's parents for her hand in marriage but waited until December to surprise the bride to be. The couple was relaxing in their teeny Upper West Side in Manhattan and Christina had just woken up. As she walked through their apartment she passed their cat Jake and he was wearing a T-shirt that read something along the lines, "Congrats on the Ring". Christina freaked out, woke up Hans, and he insisted she continue on to the bathroom where she was faced with a HUGE collage of photos that spelled out "Will You Marry Me?". All of the photos were photos of just the two of them over the past 8 years. In the soap dish was the engagement ring, and the tub was filled with roses. Hans got down on one knee and the rest was history. WOW! What an engagement! Hans then surprised Christina with a weekend getaway in the Catskill Mountains!

Christina and Hans were looking for a wedding location that was a mini-destination for most of the guests. Christina has very close family from Peru, so Miami was an easy place for them to travel. Christina's parents also live in Miami, so it was wonderful to have someone local to help them do some planning research! From the bride: Vizcaya was one of those magical places that I thought would be the most amazing place to get married, but I never thought that would become a reality. I had my parents running around town considering loft spaces, museums, beach fronts, and even parking garages but because our wedding was going to be at the end of March, we finally decided a place that could showcase the beauty of Miami would be ideal. My family and Hans decided there was nothing like Vizcaya: It suited our vision, had different spaces around the property we could use, and it's open until 1am (which is rare for an outside venue!), so we booked it. In the end, the venue was beyond what we ever imagined and I would recommend it to any bride – remember, you don't need to go overboard with decorations! The place is already beautiful!"

I can't agree more with Christina, Vizcaya is a stunning breathtaking venue in Miami!

The number one goal was for our wedding to be fun! With everything we did, we tried to infuse a bit of fun and care-free attitude into the wedding. Most of our friends and family weren't from Miami so we wanted the setting to be warmth and easy-breezy as the backbone to our wedding. I think it's very easy to get sucked into the formalities of the wedding, especially at a place like Vizcaya, and so whenever possible, both Hans and I kept things light. If I had to define a broader design theme to the wedding, I would say vintage glam Hollywood meets shabby chic with Miami/Latin flare. There were touches that took me back to the 1930's but then there were other things that were from Etsy that kept things playful and easy.

We were so excited to share our wedding with everyone! When we set out to plan the wedding, we really wanted to add some special touches that made the wedding memorable. We had a lot of big ideas at the beginning but were able to maintain a few key elements like an interactive ceremony, a candy bar, a photo booth, and Hora Loca that really MADE the wedding! We also loved having a photo booth. I was initially worried that having a photobooth on-site would be a conflict of interest, it wasn't the case. The photographer and photobooth didn't get in the way of each other (as I had imagined) and guests liked activities and little mementos they could take home. Cengiz our photographer and crew even did a session with us within the photo booth!

Planning her wedding from NYC was a bit stressful at first but Christina gives other brides some great advice of how she begin to enjoy the process: I couldn’t have been able to navigate the complexity and bargaining with all the Floridian vendors without my wedding planner. Vanessa was able to come back to me with a handful of options for each vendor close to my budget and although I had to ultimately pick which one, it made things much easier vs. doing it myself... especially from afar. The other nice thing was because we got along so well, if I didn't agree with her design aesthetic or had another vendor to throw into the mix, it was totally ok and most of the time, made our collective vision for the wedding even better.

I was inspired by my close friend's wedding in Costa Rica to incorporate a Hora Loca when the clock struck 11pm, we had a ton of "mardi gras" type costumes handed out to all the guests, a bongo drummer joined the DJ's ensemble and with this, the energy level went up 200%. The costumes, masks, props, etc. were nothing fancy but they let people dress up in ridiculous things and be goofy. The photos that stemmed from the time (yes, we even had antlers) are some of the best.

VENUE/VENDOR INFORMATION:

Ceremony & Reception Venue: Vizcaya Museum & Gardens | Photography: Cengiz at Adagion Studio| Event Coordination: Karma Goddess | Floral Design: Karma Goddess | Catering: Bill Hansen Catering | Hair Styling & Makeup: Susana Betancourt | DJ: Ross with Rock With U | Lounge Furniture: Ronen Bar & Furniture Rental | Wedding Dress: The Eden Dress by Jenny Packham purchased at Chic Parisien | Veil: Brendas Bridal Veils | Ceremony Music: Master Musicians | Photo Booth: Peekaboo Photo Booth

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