Busy Bees Events, a Florida-based wedding planning and design company, teamed up with a group of talented vendors to create this cosmopolitan beach styled shoot, which showcases a natural glam aesthetic. Here is what Bettina Benizri of Busy Bee Events and J. Morgan Florals had to say about this culturally exotic styled shoot:
“When the new Conrad Hotel opened in Fort Lauderdale Beach, I automatically had a vision of a wedding I wanted to create after seeing the spectacular view of the Atlantic Ocean from the deck. The hotel has a modern understated elegance, and my design was meant to complement that perfectly with touches of the tropical aura that this location exudes. I envisioned a mix of gold spheres, tropical monstera leaves and cascading, delicate white phalaenopsis orchids; so of course, I started to pull the look together with my amazing team of vendors to help bring this vision to life. For the bride and groom, I knew I wanted Doreen and her fiance as I’m working with them to design their wedding in the summer time. They are both from Africa and moved to the states for college. And then they fell in love and stayed, just like me!
With our gorgeous couple from Cameroon Africa, a place that heralds the most exquisite emeralds, our vision was fast to follow. We wanted to show a modern tropical wedding that showcased the couple and the venue rather than distract from them. We used monstera leaves that we painted with gold veins to add personality to them and a touch of glamour, as well as a plethora of white orchids. For the bride’s bouquet, we used a gold hoop as our base and entrusted it with the emerald green leaves and orchids, which created an unexpected twist. The table we used added some height with its tall centerpieces, which drew attention to the landscape’s stunning views and varied, simply lined containers intermixed with hand-painted candles.”
Shane is from Galway, Ireland and I am actually a south Florida native, having grown up in West Palm Beach. We chose Islamorada for a few reasons–we both have a love of south Florida, where our relationship began and flourished. We thought the Florida Keys would be an ideal location for our wedding, not only because the scenery if so beautiful, but also because it was easily accessible to Julia’s family and friends. We also knew that Shane’s family and friends in Ireland would jump at the chance to take a trip to south Florida and escape the cold and rain of Ireland!
My favorite elements without a doubt was all of the lush greenery. It was so important to me to create that natural feel. I knew strongly that I didn’t want the tropical flower explosion that many beach weddings have. Peggy and her team really put that together in a beautiful way. I also LOOOOOVED my shell chandeliers! It really topped off the bohemian feel that I so strongly resonate with. We have shell chandeliers all over our house!
Thank you very much to all the vendors involved to make this Kate and Laurence ‘s wedding such a pretty event. To see more please visit Destinatio I Do magazine
Besides adding some fun to their wedding, which every wedding should have, the couple had other reasons for choosing to have a destination wedding in Key West. “We chose Key West because I wanted a destination that felt like a tropical getaway, but was still in the United States, so guests wouldn’t have to worry about international travel or needing passports to attend,” says the bride. “The funny thing is, I had actually never even been to Key West before I booked everything. I made my decision because Lyle had spent a lot of time there and he loved it. Lyle was a little nervous that I wouldn’t like it because he feared it might be different than I was picturing, which was that it’s a lay-on-the-beach type place, but I instantly fell in love when we went there for the first time for a planning trip.”
For guests, they were excited to travel to Key West for the couple’s big day. Many of the guests had never been to Key West before and had always wanted to go, while others had been to the location and couldn’t wait to go back. “Others that didn’t really know what to expect had a great time, so it was a great mix,” says Heidi. “There were some that couldn’t attend because it was far for them to travel, but they also wouldn’t have been able to make it if we had it in our hometown, so although we missed them greatly, we didn’t regret our decision in the slightest.”
This wedding was such a pleasure to capture, the couple married on the beach of Danielle’s parents home in Islamorada Florida. “We wanted to embrace the natural beauty of the Florida Keys, wit a formal yet fun feeling to it all” Danielle said. Bromelias, air plants driftwood and fresh flowers all added to they decor, and the menu featured fresh local fish. One of our favorite guest was ‘Solo” Danielle and Mitch beautiful pet.
