Briza on the Bay

Wedding Day

Ceremony

Reception

Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay

Farewell Breakfast

Our Wedding

It all started at Post Hyde Park in Tampa, the year was 2013 and Gina was studying exercise physiology at the pool while listening to latin music. All of a sudden Gina hears a deep male voice say “Do you speak Spanish” and she looks up to see the most handsome man she has ever seen. She was a deer in headlights - she said nothing for so long that Brandon thought perhaps she doesn't speak English and therefore didn’t understand the question (lol).&nbsp;She eventually mustered up the courage to say “No, I don’t speak Spanish,” and from that moment on, whenever they were at the pool they would have long&nbsp;in-depth conversations with each other.&nbsp;Although there were hours of conversation, phone numbers were never exchanged. Gina started to work as a ballroom instructor at Arthur Murray and no longer studied at the pool and never saw Brandon in Tampa again, thinking they just no longer crossed paths with their current schedules. Then, Gina moved to Miami in 2016 to get her Doctorate Degree at the University of Miami. Fast Forward to April 2017, and Gina receive a message on Facebook from who other than BRANDON, he found her on Facebook and messaged her saying he saw her walking by a Publix in Miami and wondered if she was in town. IT TURNS OUT THEY BOTH MOVED TO MIAMI AND LIVED A BLOCK AWAY FROM EACH OTHER! They went on their first date in June 2017 and were inseparable after that!&nbsp;From 2017 through 2021, Gina and Brandon had many drastic life changes, from dealing with rare medical conditions to career transitions— but the one thing that remained constant was how much they loved each other and enjoyed being together despite any obstacle.&nbsp;In October of this year, Brandon took Gina to a Delray Beach resort to celebrate his Birthday (or so she thought) but he actually proposed to her and even surprised her by having her parents fly down from New York to be there and stay at resort with them!!! Gina couldn’t of been any happier with the surprise proposal and is ecstatic to spend forever with her best-friend/life-coach/future-husband!!!&nbsp;

Our Story

Guest Accommodations

Address: 1633 N Bayshore Dr, Miami, FL 33132Phone: (305) 374-3900

Rate: $129/night

*PLEASE REFERENCE ZITO- FRAZIER WEDDING ROOM BLOCK * or you can use the link provided <a href="https://book.passkey.com/e/50269189" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a> which leads you to reserve a room via the room block.

With an incredible downtown location, Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay offers a welcoming atmosphere along the waterfront. During your visit for the wedding, discover an array of attractions near this hotel, including the American Airlines Arena, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performance Arts and legendary South Beach. There is also plenty of shopping at both the Bayfront Market and Brickell City Center around the area! The hotel rooms have spacious floor plans, modern amenities, work desks, high-speed Wi-Fi and stunning views of Biscayne Bay and the downtown cityscape. **PLEASE NOTE- THE POOL WILL UNFORTUNATELY BE CLOSED DUE TO CONSTRUCTION**- if a pool is important to you, please book the DoubleTree Hilton!! If you plan to spend time on the colorful beach front of Miami’s South Beach, Complimentary Beach Chairs are available (2) per room.

DoubleTree by Hilton Grand Hotel Biscayne Bay

Address: 1717 North Bayshore Drive, Miami, Florida, 33132

Rate: $167/night

You can use the link provided&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hilton.com/en/book/reservation/deeplink/?ctyhocn=MIABSDT&amp;corporateCode=0003010338" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>&nbsp;which leads you to reserve a room at special "Briza on the Bay" rate . Overlooking the Atlantic, this hotel is next to Sea Isle Marina, home of the Miami International Boat Show. The DoubleTree Hilton is only a mile from Bayside Marketplace, American Airlines Arena, and the Port of Miami. Explore downtown and South Beach from the free Metromover, which stops right outside. Enjoy the hotel's spa and salon, outdoor pool, and a warm DoubleTree cookie when you arrive.

Jen is Gina’s cousin by blood, but has always been a sister by heart. Ever since Jen graced the world seven months after Gina was born they did everything together- A majority of Gina’s memories include Jen. Growing up, Jen and Gina got to experience so many things together: trips with the Grandparents (The fish hatchery and Nathans was always a fan favorite), camping in the summer (while singing “In the Jungle” way too loud on our hikes), lots of pool time,  boat time, beach time, absolute yoga with “Shiv”, kick-line dance team, house parties, holidays, sleepovers (even sometimes on a school day!), vacations (including Knoebel’s, Villa Roma, and Disney World), secret “Suga Booga” Clubs, and embarrassing questionable acts that the world doesn’t need to know about lol. Even 1200 miles apart, they remain sister-status close with daily phone calls and messages. Gina considers herself so blessed to have Jen through all walks of life, from going through childhood to adulthood together and now going through the huge milestone of marriage together- it makes her heart so happy that her sister/best-friend/cousin will be at her side on the special day.

Jen Gelormino

Ally is the best friend (and best baker) in the world. Their friendship started in kindergarten so there are so many memories to recall of the two together, countless shopping sessions, an absurd amount of bagel boss food and late night Dunkin donut’s drinks, lunch dates, house parties, fun times on the boat and at the beach, taking college-leveled anatomy together and “butchering” the dissection of a cow’s eye. Gina couldn’t imagine life without Ally, although distance may weaken some relationships, the distance did not phase how close they are. Ally and Gina spend hours on the phone, talking about everything and nothing. Gina can always count on Ally to be there for her: from listening to Gina complain about the chronicles of the miserable life of a PhD, or sending homemade delicious cookies on Gina’s birthday (the secret ingredient is love- or olive oil depending on who you ask), or dressing Gina with elegant hand-me downs (we all know Gina would wear the same floral-printed summer dress and nothing else without Ally’s charity!) 

Ally Drayer 

Jeanna is Gina’s soul sister. Although Jeanna and Gina always joke that their undergraduate degree from the University of Tampa (UT) is not very useful, the degree truly has priceless value because UT is where they became best friends. Jeanna is the only person that can match Gina’s bubbly-ness, enthusiasm, and unwavering love for absurdly long walks near water and the beach. Jeanna and Gina have every interest in common (expect for TV, which is so sad because Jeanna doesn’t understand all of Gina’s Seinfeld, Office and HIMYM references). From Rock Climbing, Soap Opera-status drama at Lightening Games, apartment hunting on the fly when Gina learned her apartment was going to be bulldozed, it was always a fun adventure when the two were together. The duo spent everyday of their college summer at St Petersburg beach and walking bayshore blvd every night, sometimes observing homeless LED light parades.  Gina still considers her “homeless, toothless, heartless” summer with Jeanna some of the best days of her life.  

Jeanna Marcinczyk

 It is impossible for Gina to think about anything of her childhood without Kristin being in the memory. Kristin is truly like a sister, they basically grew up in the same household (between living next door to each other and the amount of sleepovers/hangouts they had).  From boat/beach days, movie nights, weekends in the Hamptons, getting pre-diabetic with the amount of candy and ice cream they would get from Mark, blockbuster movie nights, good Charlotte concerts, high school shenanigans, and walking the full parameter of Hicksville (and walking around our neighborhood about a billion times), there is nothing the duo didn’t do together! In high school, they always had so much fun in class, it is no wonder that the only bad mark Gina ever got on a progress report was “Easily distracted” when she was in class with Kristin!! Gina is glad that when she got stuck in a rip tide and almost drowned,  it would have been with Kristin  drowning with her (luckily the boats that picks up fecal matter saved them, which seems appropriate). From kindergarten to supporting each other through their first heart breaks (and all the heartbreaks that came after), there are so many loving memories. Even though Kristin is a living her best life all the way in Alaska, when the two finally get to be together, it seems like there was never any time lapsed of them being apart. 

Kristin Sargoy 

Laur-Laur is Gina’s big cousin that she has always admired and looked up to as a big sister. Growing up, Gina knew that whenever she was with Lauren she was going to have a super fun time. Of course there were family vacations, the infamous Knoebel Groves being the highlight of every year! (Specifically going on the Phoenix, log flume, eating all the food, and doing the plays together)- but Lauren made every single Sunday so special. The two cousins would play for hours and hours at Nanni and Poppi’s together. They would spend the days in the pool, putting on plays for the family’s entertainment (or suffering depending on who you ask lol), and they would spend hours playing with their cabbage patch dolls Robbie and Sara.  Gina loved watching Lauren at her dance recitals and going out to eat afterwards, she also loved always getting the hand-me down costumes and Lauren's clothes- it always made Gina feel cool to be wearing her older cousin’s stuff! 

Lauren Popp

Gina has known Ruth since she moved to Miami but the Pandemic is when they became the best-est of friends! It all started during the Pandemic Lockdown when Ruth and Gina started to train together-they realized not only do they LOOK like twins they ACT like twins! Although Ruth is the only local friendship of the Bridal Party- Ruth and Gina still spend HOURS on the phone together everyday because they cannot get enough of each other.  Words can’t express how lucky Gina considers herself to have Ruth as a Best Friend, Ruth is the most kind and loving person Gina has ever meet. She is constantly doing a million self-less deeds (including for Gina) and has been a huge help to Gina with this wedding- it was with Ruth’s help that Gina found the perfect dress!  Whenever Gina is freaking out about something, and needs advice, she knows Ruth will be there for support, and to provide both very honest advice (if you know Ruth, you know she is not capable of lying for better or for worse) and humor.  Whenever they hangout it is the best “abdominal training” because they can never stop laughing and having fun! From four hour training sessions, Wedding-related errands, or a Rick Ross music video shoot- its always a wild time when they are together!  

Ruth Blessing

 “Izzy” is such an incredible young lady and Gina’s favorite ‘niece.’  Although Izzy has maturity way beyond her years- it is still crazy to think she will be turning ten just a day after the wedding! Izzy is gifted in so many ways, she is incredibly intelligent, loving, and talented. Gina loves to watch Izzy dance in person and watch her kick-butt at her dance competitions in videos. Every time Gina gets to visit New York, she looks the most forward to getting to hangout with Izzy- together they always make up crazy dance choreography, do fun acrobatic stunts, and make friendship jewelry.  When planning the wedding it was a no-brainer that no one else could throw petals with more grace and flare than Izzy.  Although Aunt Gina is very aware that Izzy is going to steal the show at the wedding with her cuteness and sass, she couldn’t be more excited to watch Izzy shine as the most beautiful flower girl ever! 

Isabella Macaluso

“Nicky” is the most amazing brother a sister can ask for.  Gina’s mom has always told her stories about how caring and protective Nicky has been towards Gina and that has never changed! Gina has always adored Nicky ever since she was a little baby.  Gina swears that if it wasn’t for her brother, she would have been a totally different person- Gina is naturally a shy introvert (believe it or not!), but Nicky has always been super cool and outgoing, and everybody in Nassau County knew him- so when Gina got to middle school and high school- she was known as Zito’s sister- this led socially awkward and nerdy Gina to became a little bit of a less socially awkward nerdy Gina. Gina came out of her shell in school by talking to all of her bother fan’s and join the Starlet’s dance team to be associated with her brother’s friends (which is how Gina started her dancing!). When Gina started dating Brandon she knew Brandon and Nicky would get along great as they both were such fun extroverts with a great sense of humor- and sure enough they did hit it off!  Brandon is super grateful to be getting a brother-in-law that loves Dave Chapelle and Seinfeld as much as he does! 

Nick Zito

Wedding Party

Q + A

<a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1l3_2kOEuyGTkSiyOwNImLANHX_zagfPD?usp=sharing" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Check out the wedding album by clicking here</a>

Wedding Album Photos

We recommend you utilize the Miami International airport, MIA, for easiest flying convenience. The airport is approximately 15-20 minutes from Downtown Miami, where the ceremony, reception, and recommended hotels are located. You can also conveniently take the Metrorail straight from the airport for only $2.25 and grab a free Metromover to get to the recommended hotels.

Miami International Airport

Miami-Dade Transit operates the rapid transit Metrorail and the Downtown Metromover people mover. The Metrorail is composed of two rail lines (Green and Orange lines) with 23 stations radiating from the city center towards outlying neighborhoods north and south of Downtown, it only cost $2.25 for a one-way ticket, and you can take this from the Miami International Airport and than hop on a free Metromover to get to either of our room-block hotels. The Metromover is a free transit service that operates throughout the Downtown, Omni, and Brickell neighborhoods. There is a Metromover stop right at the room-block hotels and you can use this for free to travel all over Miami City!

Metrorail  & Metromover

Travel

Travelers go to Miami mainly for Miami Beach and they go to Miami Beach mainly for South Beach. Lummus Park is located on South Beach along Ocean Drive from 5th to 15th streets. This location has been used for just about every movie and TV show set in Miami.

Lummus Park

One of the largest open-air street art installations in the world. The Wynwood Walls act as an outdoor art museum covering more than 80,000 square feet of abandoned warehouse walls.

Wynwood Walls

Built in 1916 as a winter retreat, this lavish villa is a tribute to the Italian renaissance. Located on 10 acres in Coconut Grove. * All visitors must reserve tickets online in advance of their visit.

Vizcaya Museum & Gardens

Waterfront location on Biscayne Bay featuring plenty of green space in downtown Miami. Located next to Bayside Marketplace which is a hub for tourists who want to shop, dine, and people-watch.

Bayfront Park

Three levels of high-end shops and restaurants in the heart of Brickell. Sugar, located on the 40th floor atop East, Miami, features a stunning rooftop bar with 360-views of the city.

Brickell City Centre

Located to the immediate west of downtown Miami, Little Havana is the symbolic and cultural capital for Cuban-Americans in Miami. Travelers recommend El Pub and Versailles for its authentic Cuban food

Gina & Brandon

Gina & Brandon

Q + A

IS THERE PARKING AT THE VENUE?

WHAT IS THE DRESS CODE?

ARE CHILDREN INVITED?