Here at Wedding Ideas we love seeing real weddings from home and abroad, and when this stunning rustic American wedding landed in our inbox, we just had to share it with you. We’ll hand over to the photographer Natasha from Tasharazzi Photography to find out more about this beautiful big day in Florida…
Keri Short and Gregg Smith first connected through a mutual friend. They initially fell in love after an instant connection and prior to an engagement, they shared three years together enjoying a passion for antiques and music.
On 30th September 2012, Gregg proposed to Keri at the Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros concert. When the band played the song, ‘Home’, Gregg got down on one knee asked her to “come home with him forever and Keri’s breath was taken away.
A year later, on 2nd November 2013, the couple wed at an elegant celebration at Estancia Culinaria, a ten-acre family-owned organic avocado farm in Homestead, Florida. The Gambino family welcomes its guest with open arms to their farm and makes you feel like you are part of their family.
Prior to friends and family arriving to the farm, guests were transported from the Mayfair Hotel and Spa in Miami, Florida via private buses from Corporate Coaches to Estancia Culinaria due to the remote of the venue. The Farm makes you feel like you are not in Florida but somewhere up north and that was the feel the bride and groom were looking for.
At the farm, wedding guests were welcomed with strawberry basil lemonade cocktails and escorted up the path with lights to be seated outdoors for the Jewish ceremony among more than 800 majestic trees all lit with Christmas lights.
The bride arrived with her mother in a horse-drawn carriage to the ceremony. Music is huge to us as a couple and every song was chosen for a reason. The Bride walked down the aisle to, Oh Monsters and Men-Dirty Paws (Piano version) and when the Rabbi announced the couple as husband and wife they walked off merrily to GroupLove’s ‘You’re Such a Lovely Cup’.
For the reception, guests were asked to sign the couple’s wooden pallet with love notes and to find their seats on the handwritten seating chart on glass pain windows. In the distance, a white covered tent, elegantly draped with chandeliers and gorgeous up-lighting seated over 110 guests that held gourmet food stations such as a Gourmet Burger Bar, Taco Bar and a Mediterranean Station.
Wedding desserts included S’mores on a stick, Chocolate Chip Cookie and Milk and a Peanut Butter and Jelly Pound Cake as well as the couple’s favorite doughnut from a local doughnut shop.
Keri and Gregg’s love journey was embedded throughout the farm by homemade rustic and vintage DIY details that the bride and groom created themselves. These details included a wooden chuppah designed by the groom and his father; a vintage garland designed by the bride; wood pallets for guests to sign; bird feeders as thank you gifts; and tables runners created by the mother of the bride.
Keri wore a Jim Hjelm blush, lace wedding gown purchased from Daysi Tarsi in Coral Gables, Florida. She also wore cowboy boots under her dress to add to the rustic feel of her outfit.
The groom wore a purchased linen suit made by Calvin Klein from Men’s Wear House and wore shoes created by the groom through Nike ID. Gregg made each groomsmen their own customized pair of Nike ID with their nicknames – a fabulous personalised touch for the guys.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better day,” says bride Keri. “All of my dreams came true that night. As my husband has said, “As a boy you don’t dream of your wedding day and all the details that go into it but this day all my dreams came true without knowing what they were.”
How amazing is that? Thank you Natasha and to Illuminated Design Photography for sharing this amazing real wedding story with us. To see more fabulous big days from real brides, check out our Real Wedding section right now! And if you like this theme, you’ll love these rustic and festival ideas.
