We had our wedding in early March at Redland Farmlife. My husband and I are out of towners, currently living in Virginia, and we had limited opportunities to come to South Florida during the wedding planning process. But, we are both originally... from Miami, and it was very important to us to come home to get married.
Since the time I was engaged, I knew I wanted a rustic, farm-style chic wedding venue. In Miami, these venues are few and far between. We searched for many months, making trips as far South as the Keys and as far north as Plantation. Finally, after months of searching, we decided to visit Redland Farmlife. We had known of it for months, but deemed it out of our price range and overlooked it for a time. However, after visiting venues that would pile on fee after fee, and given the vendor situation, would not it make feasible to plan a wedding from four states away. Redland Farmlife’s “all-inclusive” style made it a one stop shop for us, and they best possible route we could have taken.
Ana, our wedding coordinator, met with my parents and I first, as my husband was working in VA. We toured the grounds, and I knew it was exactly as I had imagined. Ana showed my photographs of prior weddings, the decor, furniture, landscaping, and overall feel was what I always wanted, and I could tell there was so much attention to detail in what was being done.
We booked the venue, Ana assured us that everything can be taken care of virtually, and we would not need to be making frequent trips to ensure everything was going according to plan. It was sometimes difficult to communicate with her by phone or email on weekends, but she would follow up come the start of the week. During one of our trips home, only three months away from the big day, I felt that we were very close to the date and I didn’t feel like I was doing enough of the wedding planning. Ana met with my husband and I at the venue and eased our minds by tying up all of the lose ends we had left, florals, our cake and catering tastings, bridal party information, etc. and I left feeling much more relieved.
The week of the wedding finally arrived. We had the rehearsal scheduled to begin at 4:00PM on Friday afternoon, the date before the ceremony. Ana quickly ran through the procession, ceremony, recession, and explained the transitions and other bridal party-relevant information that was needed for the following day. It was a smooth and easy rehearsal and I felt confident everything would go as planned the next day.
The day of our wedding, I had planned to arrive at 10:00AM with my mom, mother-in-law, and bridesmaids. We arrived and Ana was there to greet us. Our florist and photographer were also present throughout the day, and we were extremely happy with them!
Since I requested not to be seen until I walked down the aisle, my bridesmaids and myself needed to trade rooms with my husband and his groomsmen. They arrived later that afternoon, to get ready and take photos in the “Cracker House”. I was up in the Bridal loft with my girls, and would have to be taken downstairs to await the ceremony time.
The ceremony was perfect. Everything was timed to the tee, was smooth, and beautiful. After the ceremony, the guests were ushered into the reception space and my husband and I remained for photos. We took a few more pictures with our bridal party, and later some on our own, heading back to the upstairs loft to await our announcement at the reception. This time alone together was precious. With all the craziness of that day, it was truly special to have that time together to relish the moment and to be thankful. Ana brought us up a full plate of hors d’oeuvres, the ones that were being served during our cocktail hour and we had no idea that we’d be able to try. It was perfect to have that, since the nerves had faded and we were starving. After our announcement and our first dance, we walked over to our table, shared with our bridal party. An adorable place setting was set just for the two of us, and we were each brought a full plate in minutes. We were so thankful to be able to eat our own food, as so many friends had told us we wouldn’t have had time to eat.
After dinner, the DJ started playing our party playlist. We and our guests danced the night away. Ana checked in with me 30 minutes before scheduled end time, asking if I would like an extra hour. We decided to extend, not wanting the fun to end just yet.
For our send off, we lit Chinese lanterns and set them off into the sky. I had wanted this for so long and it was the only venue we visited that allowed the lanterns.
It was a gorgeous evening and the most wonderful day of our lives. We cannot be any more thankful to Redland Farmlife for
making our wedding better than we ever could have imagined.
Thank you all so much!
The Mullins