The Bride Wore Vivienne Westwood for Her Tropical Wedding in Miami’s Botanical Gardens

With the wedding taking place in the bride’s hometown of Miami, the couple knew they wanted to combine the best of both worlds—her Cuban roots, and their shared New York life—into the weekend-long affair. The wedding began on Thursday with an intimate rehearsal dinner at the restaurant Klaw for their immediate family. The bride wore a Rodarte dress she scored on TheRealReal, and accessorized it with a Simone Rocha bag and Valentino heels. On Friday, they took over the garden at the Biltmore Hotel, where they welcomed the rest of the guests, including Marco’s family from Seattle and Portland and their friends from New York. To embrace the humid Miami weather, Marco wore his wedding gift from Carolina: a crocheted camp shirt from Bode, embroidered with the date of their nuptials.

The next day, Marco and Carolina wed in a traditional Catholic mass at St. Patrick Church in Miami Beach, the same church Carolina’s parents, Enrique and Ana, had married in 30 years prior. The bride walked down the aisle in her Vivienne Westwood gown, while a sentimental veil made from her mother’s own beaded lace wedding dress (sewn by her grandmother) acted as her “something borrowed.” As both Carolina and Marco are the eldest children of their respective families, their two younger siblings acted as the bridesmaids and groomsmen of the ceremony.

Just in time for golden hour, guests headed to the reception at Fairchild Gardens. Upon arrival, golf carts escorted them to the Amazonica pool, where they were welcomed by a raw bar and an arrangement of cocktails, including guava rum punch. Meanwhile, Carolina and Marco snuck away for some alone time with the excuse of taking their wedding portraits. “The little bit of time that we got to spend together one-on-one was one of my favorite parts of the wedding,” explains Marco.

After the sun set, guests made their way to the Art House for the reception, where the room was transformed into a big band jazz club. Food options included a choice of branzino or a braised short rib, while a Florida panzanella accompanied each main. The speeches were made throughout the dinner, and ended with Carolina’s father sending his daughter off with an emotional farewell—plus a few jokes that left the newlyweds in tears.

The dance floor kicked off with a father-daughter and mother-son dance, before friends and family joined as the live band played against the backdrop, and the bride went behind the bar to prepare tequila shots for the room to keep the energy high. As the night came to an end, confetti fell from the ceiling. “It was one of my favorite memories of the night when the confetti came down, and I was dancing with all my friends and family,” says Carolina. “Marco and I started leaning into the whole celebration without a care in the world.”

At 10 p.m., as the band began to wrap up, the guests cheered so heavily for an encore that the bride and groom decided to extend the evening for an extra hour. It also gave the bride an opportunity to finally change into her after party look, which she’d forgotten about earlier in the heat of the moment: an archival Versace starfish dress that she had gotten at the Vogue vintage market earlier that year.

One month later, the bride and groom say their only regret for the night was missing the after-after party organized by Carolina’s younger sister, Sophia, at the dive bars in Coconut Grove. Other than that, they’re still in a state of post-honeymoon bliss. “We are beyond thrilled to have celebrated our love with everyone and are excited to continue our life together as husband and wife.”