Unforgettable Jungle Island Wedding in Miami Beach | Nancy + Uriel
When your wedding takes place in a tropical venue full of primates and parrots, you know you’re in for an unforgettable celebration! Add in a wedding party full of joyful friends and family, and it’s clear that Nancy and Uriel’s wedding in Miami Beach was seriously amazing! Check out their custom WeddingMix wedding trailer video to see all the lush Florida scenery, fun-filled hora dance, and Moroccan henna ceremony — all filmed by the bride and groom’s loved ones!
It all started in 7th grade band class. We sat next to each other playing first string clarinet. Apparently, we were good friends. I say apparently, because although we have no recollections of each other from that time, we have yearbook notes to prove it. We later went to high school and graduated in the same class. And again we have very little recollection of each other despite having many friends in common.
Fast forward 25 years later, and here we are getting married in our hometown, Miami Beach, Florida.
Our vintage inspired wedding was held at the popular Miami attraction, Jungle Island. With the luscious greenery, flamingos, parrots, waterfall backdrop, and bay views…we only needed small touches to make our wedding unforgettable.
But it was these small touches we were most proud of; birdcage centerpieces that doubled for lining our ceremony aisle, antique keys for escort cards pinned on a homemade lacy picture frame, homemade metal rose decorations as favors (handmade by my talented mom), antique tiny frames of pictures of our lost brothers and his dad, and more…
Even our attire was inspired by this timeless, vintage look. I’ll let the pictures do the talking:
My best friend, Brian Brunette officiated the wedding with his notary stamp, the first and only time it was ever used. His wife and my good friend, Jillian Brunette, and I went shopping at second hand vintage stores for my wedding dress. We ended up buying an old-school conservative lace dress from the 70’s and she reinvented and created a masterpiece. This dress belongs in a magazine! Our bridal party included our three amazing sons, our brothers, our brothers from other mothers, cousins, friends, nieces, and sister in law. We were surrounded by love!
Our reception started out with one of my favorite parts of the day; when we rapped our way into the reception room to Beastie Boys last verse of the song “The New Style.” It was a hit! Our first dance was to Dave Mathews Band, “You & Me.” Our lively day was packed with the traditional hora chair lift, the Jewish mash pit dancing, and the traditional Moroccan henna ceremony.
When we first found WeddingMix, we put it on the back of the list as a maybe. Our budget did not afford for a professional videographer, but this was definitely an affordable option. My only concern was how well this would work with our guests. I mean after all, this idea only works if your guests participate. In hindsight, it was probably one of our cheapest but most valuable wedding expenses. Thanks to our guests, we have over 100 video uploads to go through. The WeddingMix app was used not just on our wedding day, but at our rehearsal dinner too. We were so pleasantly surprised. I cannot explain how happy I am to have captured our most treasured moments on video. Truly a memory to keep forever.
Thank you WeddingMix! And thank you to our awesome wedding guests!
Special credits to our photographer, Gil Bitton.
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