Elegant Boca Raton Wedding with Sparkle Everywhere

strapless embellished wedding dress and white groom tux

If you love the feel of Old Florida romance, then today’s Boca Raton wedding just might tickle your fancy! From this debonair groom’s white tux and the twinkle lights to the courtyard ceremony and harbor view, Lauren and Bradley’s union is quite the elegant affair. Let’s dive into these super sweet photos!

Shea Christine Photography captures all the happy in this long-distance couple’s day planned by Izzey Design and Event Management.

From the bride, Lauren: From meeting each other in dental school in Boston, to getting engaged in Paris, to spending the past one and a half years wedding planning while maintaining a long-distance relationship, the love story that Bradley and I have cultivated has been anything but ordinary. Thus, when my now-husband and I started looking for a wedding venue, we knew we wanted somewhere unique, meaningful and stunning which would allow us to maximize time with each other and allow our guests a warm-weather retreat.

After a whirlwind trip to Florida where we toured venues from West Palm Beach to Miami, Bradley and I flew back to Philadelphia and Boston, respectively, to continue our dental residency programs. We spent a few days separately reflecting on the gorgeous locals we had visited and then mutually decided that The Addison in Boca Raton best suited our vision. The grandeur of the 1920’s garden estate featuring 100+ year old Banyan trees, the lush sunken courtyard with a cascading fountain, and the terra cotta tile roofs would really transport our guests back to the old-Florida style we were hoping to evoke.

Isn’t Lauren’s strapless, embellished Anne Barge gown just the dreamiest? The pink and patterned bridesmaid ensembles by Hayley Paige are pretty swell too.

All the heart eyes for this Tiffany & Co. engagement ring and embossed invitation suite by Bella Figura!

Once we had our venue locked down, our vision became much more concrete, and Bradley and I utilized several online resources to curate a selection of vendors in the Southeastern Florida area who most closely matched our esthetic. We were absolutely blessed to find Shea Christine, our photographer, the earliest in our planning process. Not only is she incredibly talented, but her photographic style helped to further define the essence of our wedding. If I could give any advice to engaged couples, it would definitely be to find a photographer who you would want to be best friends with! They are capturing one of the most intimate days of our lives, and you will treasure their work for years to come.

Lavish blooms from Julia Rohde Designs bedeck the ceremony beneath century-old Banyan trees.

During our planning process, we quickly realized that food and music topped Bradley’s list of priorities, while decor/florals and stationary topped mine. Breaking down the duties made long-distance wedding planning so much more manageable and enjoyable because we each focused on items that were most important to us as a couple, but also allowed us to express our individuality.

After a stressful wedding week of cancelled travel plans, planes, trains and rent automobiles, Bradley and I finally made it back to Boca Raton. Seeing all of the details we had stressed over for months come to life and bring smiles to our beloved guest’s faces made the weekend an absolute dream. Most importantly, Brad and I really felt that our special day not only incorporated our personalities but also featured a blending of our cultures. As Bradley is Jewish, and I am Catholic, it was very important that we respect and honor traditions from both religions. Our ceremony was predominantly Jewish, but we also featured a beautiful new testament reading from my aunt and we used our Ketubah (a Jewish marriage contract) as a stand-in for the Catholic unity candle tradition by asking both mothers to sign as witnesses. Our wonderful fusion DJ/band, Rock With U, also helped our guests participate in the melding of cultures. From leading the Hora and Hava Nagalia to playing Shipping Up to Boston and Galway Girl (where two guests broke out into a traditional Irish Step Dance routine), the fusion band had everyone, young and old, Jewish and Catholic up on the dance floor until the evening’s end.

My husband and I could not have dreamed of a better wedding day experience. As stressful as planning from afar and apart was, everything came together so beautifully and we were just blown away by the outpouring of love and happiness. We are so excited that this beautiful event helped to kick off the start of our married life, so perfectly embodied our relationship and vision, and allowed our guests to enjoy such gorgeous evening in an elegant Floridian garden. In a few short months, I will be completing my residency and moving to Philadelphia to re-join my husband. We cannot wait to decorate our home with the precious photographs capture on our wedding day.