Florida Wedding at Parkland Golf and Country Club in Miami, FL
It’s another two-in-one over here on the blog today! Sonia and Troy’s Florida wedding included two equally stunning ceremonies. So much so, that it’s going to take two posts to cover it all! Today we’ll take a look at Hindu ceremony, or as I’m calling it — the color, color, color ceremony. Their stunning ceremony at Parkland Golf & Country Club wedding venue in Boca Raton, Florida was perfect for their big day! Take a few minutes to bask in the jewels, flowers and rich fabrics! (pssst -If you want a sneak peek at the Christian ceremony check out the gallery!) These gorgeous wedding photographs are from Jessica Bordner Photography, a Miami FL wedding photographer.
Can you give us an overview of the event? Our wedding was held at the Parkland Golf and Country Club in Parkland, Florida. We needed to find a place to get married that felt like a “dream wedding” location for both us – he loves golf and I love the Italian countryside. By complete coincidence, we stumbled upon a Tuscan-inspired golf club in South Florida (where we moved to only 1 month before he proposed). It couldn’t have been more perfect for the two of us! To add, we needed a place that had a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces to keep our guests entertained for the 12-hour wedding day that we had planned for them.
Was there a specific theme or style? Yes, there was definitely a theme. We had a fusion wedding day, which included a traditional Hindu ceremony, followed by a traditional Christian ceremony, and a perfect blend of the two cultures for our reception.
What inspired the theme or style? We come from two very different backgrounds, and we wanted to showcase both of them, as well as show how they can fuse together. My family was born and raised in India, and I am the first person to be born in the US. Troy was born and raised in and around Chicago, and his family is the epitome of a Midwestern family. We both wanted to stay true to our upbringings by getting married in a way that honored both of our families’ traditions.
What were the playful twists that made your event unique? We had fun sneaking in a couple of surprises into our wedding day of things we loved! For starters, Troy put a modern twist on the traditional groom’s arrival for the Hindu ceremony by coming to the wedding in a vintage convertible sports car instead of the traditional horse or elephant. Then, during our cocktail hour, we decided to hire a Spanish guitarist (flamenco music is our favorite!) to serenade our guests as the sun set. During the reception, we also surprised guests by offering a stellar buffet combining Indian cuisine on one side with Mexican cuisine on the other (both of our favorite types of food!). We had to top of the reception and the multi-flavored wedding cake (butter cream, red velvet, and lemon) with another of our favorite desserts – we offered our guests a fully stocked, open ice cream bar.
Did you DIY the details? There was definitely a lot of DIY aspects to our wedding! We basically planned the entire wedding ourselves, since we were the only 2 people from both sides of our family to live in Florida. Three things stand out most from our wedding that were DIY. My mom, mother-in-law, and I actually made my veil together. I wanted a simple veil, so we purchased a pre-made veil cut out from Michael’s and added our own crystals to it. My dress was also a partial DIY venture – as I purchased it (it was one of kind by a local designer) as a MUCH larger dress. I went to a seamstress who cut the dress down to my size and length (I’m not the tallest girl) and then I purchased a hand-designed beaded sash online that was also added to the dress to cinch my waist. The biggest DIY project was our centerpieces. We considered traditional flower settings, but our budget didn’t allow for the type of flower displays we would have wanted. So, we decided to be a little creative and purchased white Moroccan style lanterns of different heights to place in the center of the tables. We also scattered dark pink and coral petals around the lanterns, which really created a beautiful look with the perfect mood lighting. Having these lanterns instead of flowers alone literally cut our budget for centerpieces in more than half!
What was the most memorable moment? I think both of us agree the most memorable moment actually came at the beginning of the Hindu ceremony. We kept with old Indian traditions by having a symbolic cloth raised in front of Troy as I entered the room. Then, after a few blessings are made, the cloth is slowly lowered and Troy got to see me (in all of my jewels and Indian attire) for the first time. The excitement the two us had during that moment was truly unforgettable. We’re so lucky to have a photo capture that moment!
What kind of energy did your entertainment give? Our entertainment consisted of a Spanish guitarist for the cocktail hour, and he brought a very relaxing mood to the event. And our DJ/MC was the entertainment for our reception, and he did a great job of playing the right music at all of the right times to keep everyone dancing. We hand-selected our entire playlist. And, with our extremely diverse taste in music (from big band music to salsa to Bollywood to Bon Jovi!), it was our DJ’s job to find a way to mix everything together and keep the dance floor full! He did a good job of keeping the whole night fun.
If there was one thing you could change, what would it be? It is difficult to say that we would change anything. The day turned out 100 times better than what we had imagined. However, if we could have changed anything, we probably would have liked to make a bigger ordeal out of cutting our cake. We were so busy having fun, that we did it so fast, and no one saw it. And, because we had so much fun dancing with everyone, it would have been great to have even more time on the dance floor with each other and all of our guests.
