A Beachside Brunch Wedding in Florida

Infused with subtle English influences and styled in an earthen palette, childhood lovers Madison and Edward were married in the morning at their beachside brunch wedding in Naples, Florida. Nestled along the Gulf of Mexico, Naples is a coastal paradise that effortlessly combines natural beauty with sophistication. The location exuded tropical island vibes, setting the stage for a 3-day wedding weekend with their closest friends.

With the sound of waves crashing in the distance, reception tables in muted tones were draped with lace runners and accented in delicate china. Evoking English garden references, the bride wore a high-neck, customized lace gown designed by Zuhair Murad.

The romantic Florida wedding was captured by photographer Bailey Ann.

Our Story

Names / Madison & Edward Smith

Location / Florida, United States

Wedding Date / April 17th, 2021

Guest Numbers / 160

How We Met

My husband and I met in preschool when we were 3 years old. We grew up together and have always been a big part of each other’s life. He was my best guy friend all growing up and we began dating at the age of 15 and never stopped.

Our Engagement Story

I thought we were going to my brother-in-law’s surprise birthday party, but it turned out to be our proposal! It was on the rooftop of our soon-to-be apartment, and I walked up thinking we would meet all of my brother in law’s friends for the big surprise, but as soon as we got to the roof deck and opened the door it was lit up with candles and lights and one of our favorite songs, “Only One” by Yellowcard started playing. It came out of complete shock! We had already been together for 12+ years and I knew it was coming once I finished Law School, but I truly didn’t think it would happen then. Edward filled the night with so many surprises. After he proposed, our immediate family was there to celebrate with us.

After our rooftop celebrations, we went out to dinner and when I walked into the restaurant it was filled with 70 of our closest family and friends! Edward rented out a restaurant in Boston for a surprise engagement party and it was the most sentimental thing. The people there have been in our lives since we were so young, so it felt so right to celebrate our engagement with them right in the moment. After that, we continued the celebrations and went to St. Barth’s for a mini engagement moon. It was the best week and couldn’t have been any better for us.

What we love most about each other…

Madison: I love his personality and how he is the happiest person to wake up to every single day. There’s never a bad day with Edward and he has a way to bring out the best in me and everyone around him every single day. Being surrounded by someone who is constantly positive is infectious and it makes every day the best day.

Edward: Her heart. She has the biggest heart and gives everyone and anything her all. She loves so deeply and always wants you to know that. She’s the kind of person who will walk through fire to make sure you feel loved and supported and she gives that energy to everyone she comes across in her life.

The Setting

Wedding Location

We did our wedding day a little different. We decided we wanted the day to last and not follow the typical wedding timeline. Instead, we had a morning ceremony followed by a brunch wedding. After that, the guests went back to their hotels, got to go to the beach, and then changed for our evening dinner and dancing portion of the night. This was the best decision we made, and it made the day feel so long – 12+ hours of events! I had never seen anyone do this, but I always had this idea in my head and I think it’s something more people should do. Since we had a destination wedding our guests were so happy the day was filled with so many events.

I chose the ceremony/dancing location because it was a blank slate, and we could make it our own. My wedding planner, Anna Lucia, is so talented and super creative so it was fun to design a venue and build it out as a custom venue. I didn’t want a “beach” wedding but I loved how the venue was adjacent to the beach so you could hear the waves crashing, see the beautiful turquoise water, and walk on the beach if you wanted to! For the dinner, I wanted it to feel like you were at an outdoor restaurant in Italy and not at a wedding, so we picked this beautiful small boutique hotel and had tables surrounding their pool with string lights. It was so intimate.

Aesthetic

For my aesthetic, I really wanted earthy-natural tones (rattan, terracotta, plaster, etc.) and monochromatic place settings. I didn’t want anything to be too typical “wedding” and really wanted the entire weekend to feel like you were on a tropical island getaway with all your best friends!

For the morning ceremony, we wanted to incorporate the English culture since my fiance’s family is from England, but still keep with the earthy/natural aesthetic, so we had lace tablecloths with mauvy-toned china and silverware. For flowers, I miexd baby’s breath with ranunculus and dried florals. We called it a modern earthy English brunch! At the dinner, we leaned into terracottas and the monochromatic vibe. I felt we had a mix of a Moroccan/Spanish-inspired decor and vibe. Our place settings were a beautiful clay color and our tables were filled with mauvy and terracotta-colored candles, gold silverware, white florals, and rattan chargers. It was so beautiful and different from the normal white plates and clear glasses! For the party, we kept with the earthy tones and had rattan lounge seating areas. Big planters were filled with baby’s breath which made everything feel like a European beach club.

Preparation

I got ready with my bridesmaids (which also included my husband’s two sisters), my mom, my sister, my grammie and my mother-in-law. We all had a big sleepover at my house the night before which was so fun. I kept with the tradition of not staying with your significant other and it made it so special waiting to see him for the first time when I was walking down the aisle. We had brunch served in the morning at my house, my mom gave all of the girls dresses from Hill House Home and custom makeup bags from Cuyana. The vibes were amazing all morning. There was lots of dancing in our matching dresses, eating yummy food and getting ready for the day – no nerves at all.

Photography

I worked with Bailey Ann. I originally found her on Instagram about a year or so before when I wanted to do engagement photos. My main focus was looking for someone with an insanely creative style and not the traditional engagement style photos. Her photography tells a story and I loved the movement she captures and the way she makes people feel completely like themselves. After working with her for our engagement, I knew I wanted her to shoot our brunch wedding weekend. Since we had 3 full days of events, I knew she would be able to capture a storyline of the weekend and it felt so authentic and creative all at the same time.

Videography

I also worked with Bailey for the video. She has a very unique way of capturing her wedding videos – they are like mini short films. Again, totally different than the typical wedding video. I wanted it to be personal, capture the overview of the weekend but also make sure to include the moments I never want to forget. She was able to do all of that and turn it into the most amazing short film. Her style of video is so incredible, and I highly recommend working with someone like that.

Style Notes

Ceremony Décor

We had beautiful white garden chairs for the seating, massive planters with overflowing white florals, and lots of rattan accents. We did a massive custom floral arch and beyond that at the ceremony brunch it was English tea style. There were tons of English china with floral prints, a mix of woods and rattan. Some tables were covered in lace tablecloth. We had rose gold accents in the silverware and glassware. I loved how it was earthy, but with a touch of Bridgerton inspired. We called it a St. Barth’s beach/Bridgeton tea party! It was so stunning.

Reception Décor

For our dinner I wanted it to feel like we were in Italy, so we did terracotta/clay place settings. We had a rattan charger with monochromatic terracotta plates. Gold silverware, brownish cups and lots of whites and greens in our florals. Whenever you go out to eat in Italy the plates are usually handmade, and I wanted that feel for ours. I loved the monochromatic vibe and felt like it was so different than any other tablespace at a wedding I’ve been to. The dinner venue itself was all outdoors and felt like you were in a little oasis, so we had a lot to work with at the setting!

For our dancing which was held back at Cutlass Cove, we had lots of lounge seating areas, white oak tables, lots of rattan elements, a custom built out bar that had wood and rattan, and a custom built out stage for our DJ made from bamboo and wood. We wanted to keep on theme with the baby’s breath, ranaculas, overflowering planters, so it all tied together. We had a massive string light entrance and kept our massive arch form the ceremony there as the entrance point and lit it up. It felt like you were at a European beach club dancing under the stars.

“We did a massive custom arch that looked like a moongate from Bermuda. It was cloud-like and was so airy and beautiful so you could see the aqua blue water.”

Wedding Planner & Stylist

I worked with Anna Lucia Events and her incredible team for my wedding planning and design. She brought in 50Fifty Creative to do all the floral design and buildouts. The two of them together was an insane duo. Since my wedding venue was a blank slate and everything needed to be built out, it was so important for me to work with someone who is highly creative and is a visionary. Both Anna and 50Fifty Creative were able to think out of the box and design the most stunning brunch wedding.

Flowers

Since my ceremony venue was stunning on its own with all the green and blue from the water, I really wanted the florals to add to the beauty instead of distract. We stuck to whites, greens, soft pinks and yellows which matched the scenery perfectly. For our ceremony floral design, we did a massive custom arch that looked like a moongate from Bermuda. It was cloud-like and was so airy and beautiful so you could see the aqua blue water. The tables were filled with florals.

For my bouquet, I was actually inspired by Roxy Sowalty’s wedding and her bouquet. I loved how she used baby’s breath and star flowers so I did something similar. It was important to have no green and just the white of the flowers. Then I made a custom ribbon with the initials of loved ones that were not able to be with us on the day of our wedding. We opted out of bouquets for our bridesmaids to bring the focus to mine. We also did a flower crown that matched my bouquet for my flower girl. I loved how it all looked together.

Stationery

We did custom Save the Dates with pinks and creams with laser cut palms. It was so beautiful.

We wanted the invite to be a taste of what was to come at the brunch wedding and also think outside of the box. We designed a full-custom suite with Swell Press. It featured a plastered board with a dye cut pocket which held all the stationary. Inside we had a beautiful invite, an itinerary that was a trifold which had all the event details, what to pack, and our favorite places in Naples (it was beautiful enough to put on your coffee table). It was so luxe and beautiful and perfectly over the top!

We also worked with Swell Press to design all of the day-of stationery. From big signs, to custom menus for all of the events – our dinner menu was insane and so different. Swell Press also helped us with the welcome bag itineraries, all of the food labelling stations, drink menus, etc. Everything was custom and so beautiful! We didn’t leave out one detail and Britt from Swell Press is so talented and creative that even the day-of stationery was to die for.

Favors & Bonbonniere

We created the most incredible welcome bags. Since our wedding was in Florida, we gave everyone big beach bags filled with so many goodies. The bags included a custom itinerary for the weekend that was designed by Swell Press, custom hats with “Love Me” on them which was our hashtag, custom candles (we worked with Candle Pour to pick a scent that would remind us of the weekend and even made custom labels so they looked stunning on your coffee table), hangover kits (filled with Advil, electrolytes and eye patches), homemade chocolate chip cookies from our favorite bakery in Naples, strawberry banana gummy bears in custom containers, a big bag of kettle corn popcorn and water bottles. We worked with Swell Press to make custom labels and containers, so everything felt super personalized!

Cake

We did a cake after our ceremony at the brunch wedding. Since it was an afternoon tea style brunch, we wanted the cake to fit that style. We did a lemon blueberry with coconut cream filling cake. It was dairy and gluten free since I have an allergy and our guests said it was the best cake they ever had. It was perfect for our tea-style brunch wedding. We didn’t do a cake cutting in front of everyone and just did it privately and then it sat on the table with all our other desserts.

Food & Beverages

Brunch: After the ceremony, we had a British tea-style brunch wedding. We had everything from avocado toasts, mini turkey burgers, french fries, coconut yogurt parfaits, tea towers filled with tea sandwiches, mini desserts, tea, coffee, spritzes and custom cocktails. Since I’m gluten and dairy free, we had so many incredible options for our guests. We had a mix of long tables, couches and lounge chairs all set up so guests could move around. Food was passed around and set down on tables. It was the perfect afternoon tea set by the beach.

Dinner: Food is so important to us, so we wanted everyone to feel like they were at an incredible restaurant eating the best meal of their lives and not at a wedding eating the typical wedding food. Everyone enjoyed appetizers and drinks outside of the hotel in the courtyard. We passed lamb chops, dairy-free scallops and coconut grits, and endive and hummus. For dinner, the French Butler passed miso-glazed sea bass and short rib and placed sides of cauliflower mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, and french fries on everyone’s table (pretty much every event had fries).

We wanted food to overflow since it was a brunch wedding. The French Butler passed family style allowed for guests to indulge and enjoy in the most amazing dinner We didn’t serve dessert here and waited to serve it at our dancing venue. We had everyone seated for a dinner but did a casual find-your-own-table instead of set seating, so it felt very organic and like you were at a restaurant.

Dessert: We had espresso martinis waiting for everyone as they got off the busses before they walked into the venue. Then, we served dessert at our dancing venue. As dessert we had homemade cookies and a chef making ice cream cookie sandwiches. We also served homemade strawberry shortcake. Everything was being made on site and prepared fresh. It was such a hit and different than the typical wedding dessert. We had a full open bar with custom cocktails and everything flowing until midnight.

After-Party Menu: We went until 12am at Cutlass Cove venue and then brought everyone to the main hotel where they were staying at and rented out a room for our afterparty which ended around 3am. We provided a full breakfast for dinner situation. Everything from French toast sticks to vegan egg sandwiches, more French fries, desserts and an open bar full of drinks. Since our guests were at over 12 hours of events, we knew a full after-party food menu was a must. It was such a hit!

Fashion & Beauty Notes

Bride’s Dress & Shoes

Ceremony Dress: I wanted something different, but I wasn’t sure what that meant until I started trying on dresses. We went shopping in Miami and when I first tried on my wedding dress, it was at the store Ever After. They told me no one had ever worn it as a wedding gown or even cared to try it on, so I immediately knew this was my kind of dress. It was a little too high fashion for me, so we customized it and removed some of the details, but I couldn’t have dreamed of a better dress. It’s by Zuhair Murad and I wanted something that went well for my morning English tea ceremony, and the lacing and high neck, long sleeves of the dress was a perfect nod to English fashion.

For shoes, since the dress was a piece of art, I wanted to keep them understated but still feel special. I found these beautiful Anima Muaddi white heels that wrapped around the ankles and had mini diamonds. They were so perfect!

Dinner & Dancing Dress: For the evening portion, I wore a lace corset strapless dress by Rasario. It was perfect since it kept on theme with the lace from my ceremony dress, but it was a bit sexier and perfect for the night. It was a full-lace corset with boning and then dropped down to a beautiful crepe fabric with a little slit for my leg. I kept my hair down for this dress and wore a diamond tennis necklace.

Wedding Rings, Jewelry & Accessories

My engagement ring is custom! I wanted something very different, so we worked with Hannah Florman and designed a ring with two pears flipped backwards. It’s a similar shape to a marquise but has more dimension to it and is vintage yet modern all at the same time. I love how different and unique it is! For our wedding bands, my husband did a platinum band from Tiffany and we worked with Hannah Florman again to design an Ascher cut eternity band.

Hair & Makeup

Since it was a morning ceremony, I wanted my glam to be bronzed and glowy so we kept the eye light with just some golden shimmer and my skin was super dewy! We played with lots of golden tones and soft pink blush. I never wear my hair up, but due to the high neck and back of the dress, I went with a low messy pony with front framing pieces out. We added some pearls to give it dimension. I worked with Daniela Gozlan who is so incredible at making you look like yourself. I didn’t want tons of makeup on, so she kept it so natural and glowy.

For the evening, we did my hair down with soft curls and she went a little darker with shimmer on my eyelids and a soft wing. Again, we wanted it to be super natural and glowy. I loved how we didn’t use a traditional eyeshadow and just did more of a wet eye look throughout the day!

I found a lot of inspo from Emily Ratajkowski wet eye look and always bronzed face. Daniela works with many celebrities and specializes in non-wedding looks which was one of the reasons why I loved working with her. Finding someone who doesn’t just do wedding hair or makeup was super important for me!

“They told me no one had ever worn it as a wedding gown or even cared to try it on, so I immediately knew this was my kind of dress. It was a little too high fashion for me, so we customized it and removed some of the details.”

The Details

Honeymoon

We did a minimoon at the Rosewood Mayakoba in Mexico and then went to Greece for two weeks for our honeymoon! I loved not rushing to a honeymoon right after our wedding. If you can, try to do a small mini moon so by the time your honeymoon comes, you’re rested and really looking forward to it. Greece was amazing. We went to Mykonos, Paros, Milos, and Santorini.

Wedding Songs

For the ceremony, we had a string quartet playing all of our favorite songs from Maroon Five to Taylor Swift to Justin Bieber. I was inspired by the Bridgerton soundtrack with the modern songs but played on strings and really wanted to do that for my ceremony vs. the traditional wedding music! I walked down the aisle to Only One by Yellowcard (the same song playing while we got engaged).

After the ceremony: Love me like you do

For our first dance, we actually had the DJ mix an acoustic version of I Like Me Better by Lauv with a remix of it and about a minute of the way through the acoustic version the beat dropped and all of our guests joined in to dance! It was one of the best moments at our brunch wedding!

Entertainment

We did a trio which was a DJ but also had a sax player and pianist. I loved the mix of live music while also the feel of a DJ. I worked with my DJ to create a custom playlist but also told him to feed off the crowd. The pianist and sax player really made all of the songs come to life and it was so much fun!

“I didn’t want anything to feel too typical wedding. I wanted everything, from the place settings to the candles we used, to feel custom, unique and purposeful which was why looking at interior design accounts really helped.”

Our Advice

A memorable moment…

We decided not to do a first look and it was the best decision and one of the best moments from the brunch wedding. I know some timelines don’t allow for this, but my husband was very vocal about his and wanted the surprise and it was so special seeing him get emotional as I walked down the aisle.

Another favorite moment was our first dance. My wedding planner and mom surprised us with sparklers so when the beat dropped and everyone joined in, the entire sky was just lit up with sparklers and it was so incredibly special and different than any first dance. Another favorite moment was our Sunday beach party. Instead of the traditional brunch, we hosted a beach party so people could hang in the sun, play beach games, eat fish tacos and lounge all day. One more favorite – we ended up doing a table for just Edward and I at dinner and it was so nice to just have that moment together. We put it right next to our wedding party table so we could all still be close, but I loved having that little alone time with him!

One thing I wish I knew before I started my wedding plans…

I honestly wouldn’t change a thing about my wedding. I loved every single moment from the Thursday rehearsal dinner to the Sunday beach party and everything in between. If I had to pick one, I would have made the brunch after the ceremony longer. I felt like it went by too quickly but since we were hosting two events that day and guests were changing it wasn’t really possible.

Make sure you enjoy your wedding and do what you want and engage with who you want, so when you look back at your wedding day, you’re not sad you didn’t dance as much as you wanted to or eat the food, etc. I remember giving myself a pep talk that this was my weekend and if I can’t say hi to everyone that’s fine but I’m going to enjoy my time, dance with my husband and best friends and eat all the best food. If you can do two separate events on Saturday, I highly recommend it. It was so different than any other wedding I’ve been to and really offered our guests an experience! Plus, it’s so fun to have two separate themes, outfits, etc.

Sources of inspiration…

I remember seeing Hannah Bronfman and Brendan Fallis wedding and how they did two events on the Saturday which gave me the idea to do something similar. For the design, I pulled a lot of inspo from interior design accounts for my tablescapes. I didn’t want anything to feel too typical wedding. I wanted everything, from the place settings, to the candles we used, to feel custom, unique and purposeful which was why looking at interior design accounts really helped. Pinterest can be a dark hole but it is so fun to explore once you figure out your theme. I also loved looking at The Lane, and other accounts like this!

Our Contacts

Wedding Venue / Cutlass Cove & The Escalante

Wedding Stylist & Planner / Anna Lucia Events

Photography & Videography / Bailey Ann

Bride’s Dress / Zuhair Murad

Bride’s Shoes / Amina Muaddi

Wedding Rings / Tiffany & Hannah Florman

Hair & Makeup / Daniela Gozlan

Stationery / Swell Press

Florist / 50Fifty Creative

Cake / Epiphany

Catering / Crave Culinaire

Entertainment / Vanderbilt Strings & Tropics Entertainment