Category Archives: WEDDING

March 7, 2014

Wedding Week: Favorite Moments

To say that I have “favorite moments” is pretty hard to pin…because really, the whole night was my favorite. But there are certain things that just made my smile even bigger. You know, it’s the little things that usually get you..and most of these moments were some of the behind the scenes/ “little things” throughout the day.

For example, finally arriving to the Cooper Estate. My nerves kicked in high gear, I couldn’t stop pacing….while rushing to get ready. I was nervous, but out of pure excitement. My arrival meant two things. 1) This is so real right now, I can’t believe I’m here. 2) I’m about to see Adrian in just a few minutes…IMSOEXCITEDOHMYGOODNESS. Seriously, that’s what was going through my head.. silly.

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Adrian and I decided to go for a First Look – for the benefit of some alone time before the night’s festivities to calm our nerves and be together – we also wanted to be able to enjoy the cocktail hour and socialize with all our guests. We are also photo freaks, so choosing a first look was heaven for Shea because it only meant grabbing the best lighting ever for all our portraits.

First Look isn’t for everyone. I had always been anti-first look because I always wanted to get the “Groom is crying” picture while I’d be walking in…but I was promised that feeling would still be as overwhelming after a first look. Plus, I really wanted that element of surprise. But with seeing Adrian before, I was able to go through all those experiences together, in a more intimate and private manner….and still got it during the ceremony. I’m so thankful for Kasey (our wedding coordinator) winning me over on this idea.

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Is it ok if I put all the portrait and ceremony pictures? Cause they’re all my favorite…. haha

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Whenever there’s an accomplishment, whether big or small…Adrian and I always make a way to celebrate, with a toast. I guess it’s the winos in us. But I always say there’s always a reason to celebrate…and to celebrate with champagne.

We purchased a special bottle for just the two of us, as this the greatest accomplishment in our lives thus far. We stepped outside, sat on a bench while everyone started to make their way into the reception. It was relaxing and perfect.

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Being formally introduced as Mr & Mrs Artidiello…..AWESOME!!!!!

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Our first dance. We laughed, we just gazed at each other, we kissed…I sang…it was romantic, because it was us.

I always tried to picture what our first dance would look like. Even our dances with our Dad and Mom. It was so organic and filled with joy. I love looking back at all the pictures. Shea caught all our emotions more than anything.

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My Dad’s Speech.

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The Sparkler Send Off!

There are obviously so many other special memories that fill this night, but too many to fill in one post…cause that would only mean I’d have to put ALL the pictures.

I’m hoping you enjoyed all the photos from our wedding and getting into all the details with me. I’m hoping to have inspired many and put smiles on faces. This was an important part of our lives and I’m elated to have shared this with all of you to see.

That’s it…for now. I can’t wait until we receive our Wedding Video!

Photography by Shea Christine

Wedding Coordination by Kasey D Weddings

Location by The Cooper Estate

Dress by Rosa Clara

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March 6, 2014

Wedding Week: Details & Decor

Photography by Shea Christine
Wedding Coordination by Kasey D Weddings
Florals by Julia Rohde Designs
Vintage Couch Rentals by The Salvage Snob
DIY Projects by Me!

Details_Florals

I ultimately wanted florals that were very rustic, filled with herbs and not your ordinary wedding bouquet. Julia Rohde and her team took my inspirations and ideas and blew me out of the water. Our florals consisted of succulents, mint, spray roses, peonies, dahlias, eucalyptus, rosemary, olive tree branches, quince tree branches…the list goes on and on.. It looked gorgeous and smelled AMAZING.

As you’ve noticed, my bouquet has a hanging cross which I purchased around the same time as the bridesmaids earrings. I wanted to start off a tradition within the family and friends & hopefully be able to pass it down the years.

Details_Wedding Party

All my bridesmaids are actually wearing the same dress. I’m one of those “alien” brides (as someone called me during the process) where I allowed my girls’ personalities to shine through and decide how they wanted to wear there dress. Let’s be honest…not everyone looks good in a strapless number or a halter top. So i wanted them to be as comfortable as possible and create something in which they might’ve worn/purchased on their own.

Adrian and I wanted to keep a very elegant theme so we decided to use black & white as a basis for majority of the attire choices.

For the groomsmen, Adrian adapted that same concept with the bow ties. From afar, it looks like they’re all just wearing black bow ties…which they are, but all of them have a different pattern or material.

After seeing it all put together, I’m so happy with how everything came together. I loved seeing all the court looking fancy and sleek in black.

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For my additional “something blue” Adrian’s parents gifted me a vintage sapphire ring that belonged to a great aunt. It was such an honor to be able to wear this ring, besides the fact that it’s beautiful.

Majority (basically all) of the handwriting you’ve seen throughout this week has all been hand drawn by moi. On top of the elegant look I wanted to bring to the rustic scenario, I wanted to make the details “homey”. Hence the chalkboard elements, vintage couch rentals and not over the top decor.

Once the party got started, we handed out custom made sunglasses that read “A&A 02.15.14” as party favors. I love that it got everyone in more of a party mode and in all our pictures, you see EVERYONE wearing them. I’m pretty sure that most of our guests are still wearing them. It’s a fun reminder of the wedding.

This was such a fun DIY! I’m a sucker for pictures so I wanted to create a different guestbook element for the wedding. I was able to use a vintage frame that used to belong to the family & I knew exactly what I wanted to make of it.

I bought some burlap fabric, chicken fencing wire and some gold spray paint. From there it was as simple as staple-gunning all the pieces together and adding some final details and viola!

I was afraid that some of the guests would understand the idea behind the polaroids, but to my surprise, the frame was FILLED by the end of the evening. Adrian and I enjoyed so much looking at all the pictures and all the silly faces everyone captured. So worth it!

Obsessed with our Invitation Suite! We custom made them at Smitten on Paper & Also purchased our chalkboard inspired guestbook here.

Details_Drinks

Adrian & I wanted more of our personalities shown throughout all the wedding, so we went for His and Hers cocktails to be passed before the reception. I purchased black and white striped straws (believe it or not, at Kmart) & personalized napkins (purchased at HomeGoods).

His Drink : Old Fashioned // Her Drink : Passion Pop

Custom Drink Stirrers w/ Flags purchased here.

Hoping you’ve enjoyed the details of the wedding! If you have any questions about anything, feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected] or comment on this post. I’ll help you out to the best of my ability! xx

Next up on Wedding Week : Our Favorite Moments!

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March 5, 2014

Wedding Week: The Reception

We chose to keep our wedding at one location, well because – this location is that awesome. We went for that concept because we wanted our wedding to feel very intimate, quaint and simple. Everything the Cooper Estate has to offer is just what we were looking for. The earthy/rustic vibe with the amenities and opportunity to keep everything in one place. Dream.Come.True. (So is Regina, the owner! love her!)

Wow…I can’t believe how fast this day went. But I’ve got to be honest, this was one of the funnest parties I’ve ever been to. (I may be biased, but you can ask the guests) The cocktail hour was perfect weather during sunset time, live music from a string quartet, signature drinks being passed…It was nice to see everyone! During this time, Adrian and I took our portraits and spent some time enjoying and catching up from all the days festivities while sipping our special bottle of champagne we save for this day. Once the day settled, we all made our way inside the reception area and I was blown away. To see all our ideas and concepts and sleepless DIY nights come to fruition was breathtaking. It came all together so beautifully thanks to my team!

The food was amazing, the cake – I need more of that in my life, and the music…..none of us wanted it to stop! we literally danced the entire night, it was awesome. (music by DJ Hurricane Rey)

If there is one piece of advice I can offer to anyone – is enjoy every single moment. be excited. be happy. have fun.

I seriously cannot stress enough how I wish I could do this day all over again, it was the best day of my life.

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(our first dance was to John Legend’s “All of Me”)

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(cake by Ana Paz)

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(framing this one)

photography | Shea Christine

wedding coordinator | Kasey D Weddings

florals | Julia Rohde Designs

location | The Cooper Estate

Next up on Wedding Week : The Decor & Details!

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March 4, 2014

Wedding Week: The Ceremony

It’s funny to see that amongst all the nerves, the moment I was walking down the aisle with my dad the only thing that my mind and heart where focused on was Adrian. (and the occasional – “I hope I don’t fall”). What also struck me mid-aisle, I couldn’t believe I was actually in this moment with my dad on my arm and it was really about to happen. I was about to marry the man of my dreams….and then nervousness quickly turned into uncontrollable excitement.

We wanted our ceremony to be a few things : simple, brief, and all about us. We were beyond thrilled when our good friend and mentor, George Cuevas, agreed to do our ceremony with us! We really wanted an officiant who knew both Adrian and I – so it could be really heartfelt – and someone who was part of our church, Calvary Chapel Kendall. There was no better fit.

There was crying, laughter, nerves and the presence of love in all places. Adrian and I chose to write our own vows, something that had me so nervous (yet, really excited). Adrian is a master of words and well, me, I’m not. I never submit anything without having him read it over first and this was the first time I didn’t have anyone read until it was read that day.

I’m so happy we were able to share this moment together, because it brought us to an (awesome) vulnerable state that really let out our innermost feelings for each other & it screamed our personalities. I highly suggest it to anyone who is about to get married!

The ceremony was beautiful! I mean, look at the location. The Cooper Estate has a grotto area filled with trees and a few small waterfalls at the end. Looks like a “forest jungle” – that was the phrase of the night. There wasn’t even much decorations needed, but the few that we did…made the ceremony spectacular!

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(my dad seeing me in my dress for the first time. his smile was extremely contagious.)

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huge thanks to…

> George for an amazing ceremony – you’re the best!

> Shea Christine for the amazing photography & all the beautiful emotions she captured

> Julia Rohde Designs for my fabulous bouquet & the sweet details throughout the aisle

> Kasey, our wedding coordinator from Kasey D Weddings, for keeping us sane/upbeat/loving every moment

Next up on Wedding Week : The Reception

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March 3, 2014

Wedding Week: Our Look

I’ve been so flattered by all of the interest in our wedding and I’m so excited to be sharing with everyone a few of the moments that made up our special day. I’ll be covering all details this week including all links to vendors hired & certain tips and tricks I know you’ll be wanting. This was the most amazing day in my life and I can’t stop smiling going back and reliving these moments (I seriously wish I can do it all over again).

It was a perfect day in February, where the weather was crisp and cool and the happiness radiated in all places.

Our photographer, Shea Christine, captured this day in better ways that we could ever imagine. She’s a dream to work with and I hope to be able to work with her again. I’m already planning and scheming a way to make it happen, ha! Learn more about this unforgettable event!

There are so many amazing pictures, you can only imagine how difficult it is for Adrian and I to choose a specific amount to not overwhelm you. Hope you enjoy!

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(my something blue)

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(my nail polish is by Orly “Pure Porcelain”)

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(the dress and veil were made up of tiny beads & rhinestones. so intricate and delicate.)

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(oh, that smile…)

Location, Location, Location. This was a back and forth for Adrian and I because we wanted something that didn’t resemble “Miami” too much – in the sense that it wasn’t a beach or hotel venue. We wanted something rustic, forest-y and Mediterranean…aka…what reminded us of Spain (where he proposed!). We visited a few venues but after finding out about The Cooper Estate in Homestead, Fl – it was a dream come true. Wait until you see what’s coming this week to understand my feelings for this location.

Dress shopping for me did not take long, at all. I didn’t even wait to know where our wedding would be, I always knew the type of dress I’d want to be wearing. My list of requirements were simple: I wanted to be comfortable – so that I could eat, dance, and breathe and I wanted to feel gorgeous. I also did not want something that was “poofy”, princessy, or cupcakey. The concept I had in mind was an etheral/vintage vibe that had a pinch of gatsby with a fit that complimented by figure without being over the top. This was the only dress I had planned to try on and I didn’t even hesitate to move to another store to continue dress trying. Once it was zipped, that was it. Game over. I literally bought it that day, no questions asked. The ladies at Rosa Clara were amazing and the experience was absolutely amazing!

For my overall hair and makeup look, I wanted to feel as natural as possible but with enough umph to leave Adrian speechless…and he indeed was! For my hair, I wanted something my hair down and natural with a style that kept hair away from my face but complimented the theme of our wedding. Georgette knew exactly what to do and I let her have free reign with the style. She kept my hair with a natural wave and added a waterfall braid that lead to a rose-like bun & wow, she left me (and everyone) speechless with her creation. She’s awesome! Anais added a dramatic tone to my eyes by adding eyeliner on both top and bottom lids, which was a nice touch to the neutral tones of the rest of my makeup look.

Hair by Georgette, Miami Beauty Agency

Makeup by Anais Guerra, Makeup by Anais

Photography by Shea Christine

Florals by Julia Rohdes Designs

Adrian’s Look: Custom Made Shirt & Tuxedo | Custom Made Bow Tie by Isa Alessandra, Beaux | Shoes by Hugo Boss | Watch by Stuhrling

Next up “Wedding Week: The Ceremony”

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