Real Bride Amanda In Lazaro Will Make Your Heart Flutter
Tell us your love story! How did you meet and how did you get to a proposal?
Joche and I met while we were both first year graduate students at Harvard Business School in 2019. Joche was surprised to find out that one of his classmates was the family behind his local favorite ice cream store back in Miami, Whip ’N Dip Ice Cream Shoppe. That was enough to peak his interests.
It wasn’t until we both returned home to Florida to finish out our second semester of business school remotely due to the pandemic, where our love story really got sweeter ;). A few trips to the most remote of locations, mixed with surprise plant and ice cream deliveries, not even a year later Joche got down on one knee in front of the place that brought us together, Whip ’N Dip, and asked me to marry him the morning of a party we had planned for our joint graduation from business school.
All of our family and close friends were coming in town for the party. It was extra special to share this moment with everyone. We quickly forgot that we were graduating and the party turned into an engagement party surrounded by our closest family and friends.
How did you decide on the location?
At the start of wedding planning, Joche and I thought we wanted a destination wedding. We looked into a few locations, including Harbor Island in the Bahamas, Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic, and Steamboat Springs in Colorado. We even set a date in one of these locations for September of 2023, which would have led to a year and a half engagement. A few weeks after making that decision, we decided that life was too short and precious to not get married sooner.
The location that felt most like “Joche and I” was right in front of us, in the backyard of Joche’s parents house, in beautiful Coral Gables, Florida. We cut our engagement time in half, called Elle from Events by Elle, and before we knew it, we were getting married in 6 short months.
When you started planning your wedding what did you envision? How close did the actual wedding get to that vision?
With little time to waste, we immediately threw ourselves into wedding planning. We envisioned an intimate, romantic, and whimsical backyard wedding celebration. The final result was more than we could have ever imagined.
At the center of it all was the butterfly, which we featured little hints of throughout the night. We wanted our guests to feel like they were transported to a charming and magical garden. To complement the butterflies, we went with white and blush florals that had splashes of deeper peach and coral tones. We then balanced our florals with the natural beauty of South Florida vegetation. We had a clear tent that was surrounded by palms, monsterras, golden photos, and bouganvillias. At the center of the tent was a circular bar where we hung an installation of butterflies intertwined with greenery, which when combined with the twinkling of the butterfly and bistro lights lining the top of the tent, gave an illusion of dining under the stars in a butterfly greenhouse. Towards the end of the night, we surprised our guests during the la Hora Loca, or “the crazy hour”, with confetti in the shape of butterflies. It was simply magical.
What were a few things that were important to you as a couple to include (or not include) in the wedding?
Butterflies. Butterflies have always been special to me. My grandmother had everything you could imagine in some butterfly form, be it earrings, broches, purses, linens, or art. We wanted butterflies to be subtly present throughout the wedding to represent her and all the other family members who were no longer with us to celebrate. Butterflies also carry this symbol of transformation, rebirth, and change. They are a reminder of how delicate and short life is. Joche and I are constantly reminding ourselves of this and it was for this reason that we decided to push our wedding up by almost a year.
We of course had to include the thing that brought us together in the first place, Whip ‘N Dip ice cream, in our wedding celebration. Whip ‘N Dip holds a special place in my family's heart and it was so fun to share it on our wedding day with so many friends and family who grew up going to this ice cream store. We served two special flavors for the wedding, a ‘his’ and ‘her’ favorite. I chose a chocolate based ice cream, with strawberry and fudge swirled throughout. My favorite. For Joche’s ice cream, we served “Cookies and Dreams”, which was our take on cookies and cream ice cream but with marshmallows added.
Let's talk dress! Give us all the deets!
I always imagined the dress I would wear would be very simple, with no lace, jewels, or embellishments. I knew I wanted a ball gown or A-line silhouette, with a long train and cathedral style veil that would fill Epiphany Church as I walked down the aisle. I also wanted to find a dress and add a slight twist to it to make it my own.
Little by little, I started falling in love with the delicateness of floral appliques on the dresses I was seeing. It was the second dress that I tried on at Chic Parisien when I got the feeling that everyone says you get when you find your dress.
When I tried on the Lazaro Estee dress, it was everything I imagined and more. The Estee dress felt delicate and dainty with floral appliques covering the dress from the corset top all the way down its long ball gown skirt and train. It had a peplum style skirt overlay that was made entirely of tulle and organza, giving it a ton of movement and volume.
The dress had one section of the front skirt that fell below the peplum overlay, that had no appliques. It was an empty space of tulle that felt like an open canvas. To make it my own, we worked with the team at Chic Parisien to cut out and hand sew individual appliques of extra fabric we ordered from Lazaro, to the entire bottom of the dress to fill what was the empty tulle portion of the skirt. The floral qpplique looked as if it was climbing up the dress and disappeared under the peplum overlay.
I can’t thank the Chic Parisien team enough for helping me make this dress a one of a kind.
I wore a headpiece as my “something borrowed” that was designed for my husband’s cousin for her wedding by Eva Hidalgo. The headpiece had three flowers made with crystals that sat right over my low, rose-shaped ballerina bun. This was a last-minute addition that ended up bringing the entire dress and jewelry together. It was simply perfect.
For jewelry, as my “something old”, I wore my husband's grandmother's diamond and pearl drop earrings. I chose to wear no necklace since the earrings were large and the dress was so intricate. Instead, I wore a very dainty Tiffany bracelet that my husband gifted me on our wedding day. It held two Tiffany “T’s” that formed the shape of a cross, symbolizing our desire to put God at the center of our marriage and the start of my journey as a new Catholic.
How did your family, friends, etc play into your wedding planning and wedding day?
I could never thank my family and friends enough for all their love and support throughout the wedding planning! From my sister planning the most spectacular bachelorette party in Casa de Campo, to my now aunt throwing an “Almalfi Coast” style bridal shower, to my other Aunt who planned a rager of a tropical welcome party the night before the wedding, to my mom traveling back and forth to attend all of my fittings and listening to my frantic wedding phone calls every night, all the way to my mother-in-law who graciously helped me through every minor detail of the planning with open arms, I would do it all again and again in a heartbeat. I feel like the luckiest girl to be surrounded by the best family and friends!
What's one specific memory you have from your wedding day that you don't think you'll ever forget.
Oh my, there are so many memories. I will never forget the moments leading up to walking through the church doors with my dad. Elle, our wedding planner, was in front of me awaiting to open the doors to the church. She turned to me and said “From this moment on, the night will fly by. Take it in.” And from there, the doors opened, my dad was on my right arm, and the light casting over us felt magical. I saw Joche at the end of the aisle, and suddenly nothing else mattered.
How did you decide on your hair and makeup look?
Daniela Gozlan and Duber made choosing my makeup and hair easy. I do not usually wear a lot of make-up, so I wanted very natural, champagne, and light tones around my eyes. For hair, Duber took my ballerina bun to the next level, twisting and pinning my hair into the shape of a rose that really couldn’t have been more unique and perfect for the dress and headpiece. Daniela is the coolest and sweetest artist around, and her entire team is so talented.
Was there one vendor you used that you wish everyone knew about?
Oh my, this is hard. I loved them all. Our wedding wouldn’t have turned out the way it did without the Events by Elle team. They worked with us day in and day out to pull our wedding together on a very short timeline. They are more than a wedding planning team, they are family. I miss them dearly now that wedding planning is over.
Merari, our photographer, was one of the best decisions we made for the wedding. She is so talented at what she does. Both my husband and I are camera shy, but she makes you feel so comfortable and confident. She effortlessly captures the tone of the wedding. Looking through our photos takes me right back to that day. I still remember her arriving to the house the morning of the wedding and giving me the biggest hug. My nerves for the day ahead instantly vanished.
I also can’t thank Mary Gonzalez enough for all she did for me that day! She stayed by my side the entire day and night, ensuring that my dress was always looking its best and that my nerves were put aside. There was one moment when I accidentally stepped on my dress and with my other foot managed to punch a hole through the front of the dress before the ceremony had even started. Minutes before the ceremony, Mary was there with me and my dad in the bridal car, sewing up the hole. She seamlessly sewed it back to where you would never know that I had put a hole in the dress.
Where did you go on your honeymoon and what was the best part?
Joche and I did the best of both worlds for our honeymoon. We spent the first half skiing in Jackson Hole. We stayed at the Amangiri, which provided us with equal parts adventure and pamper. We skiied, snowmobiled, fat tire biked, and saw all sorts of wildlife, including Big Horn Sheep and Moose. For the second part of the honeymoon, we adventured south to Mexico! We stayed at Rosewood’s Las Ventanas al Paraiso in San Jose del Cabo. We ate some of the best food, hiked the desert, lay on the beach, and adventured up the coast to Todos Santos, where we stayed on a farm for a few evenings. It was spectacular.
Credits
Wedding Planner: Events by Elle
Photographer: Merari
Videographer: PS Photo & Films
Hair and Makeup: Daniela Gozlan
Wedding Dress Bouqitue: Chic Parisien
Wedding Dress Designer: Lazaro
Second Dress Designer: Filomena Fernandez
Florals: A Lavish Design
Catering: Mena Catering
Invites and Stationary: After Awhile Crocodile
Band/DJ: Tropics Entertainment