Having a dream wedding often comes with a hefty price-tag. Cristina, a 34 years old office manager and Jorge, a surgeon from Miami knew everything about hefty price tags, as they had to plan their Platinum Wedding on a budget of $320,000. In today’s economy, that is the cost of a luxury condo in South Beach. Nonetheless, the Floribbean themed wedding went on without a glitch, and with meticulous execution.
Some of the major expenditures were a wedding gown ($10,000) by Canadian designer Ravini, 14 kinds of flowers from all over the world used by floral designer Eduardo McCausland on a $35,000 budget, guests enjoyed a custom martini luge & martinis ($3,500), a cigar roller ($650) and an espresso bar ($1,200), an 8-tier square wedding cake ($7,000) was placed on a custom plexi glass table filled with orchids and crystals, guests also enjoyed dessert stations ($3,500) – including flan, three different kinds of mousses, cheesecake lollipops and more.
The wedding was a grand an extravagant affair making it a fit for the WeTv Network’s Platinum Weddings original series.
Here Cristina shares with Daedrian McNaughton the memories of tying the knot.
PGM: In the press release the floribbean feast was mentioned, can you tell us what such a feast entails?
Cristina: We wanted to combine the tropical theme with something having to do with Florida. I also wanted to make it modern as well. It’s a combination of Florida and Caribbean flavors in the food. We did a mango relish type concoction over it, and a lot of the appetizers as well. We wanted to enjoy the outdoors being that it was in Miami-the ceremony, cocktail hour, and the after party were all held outdoors.
PGM: What was the most challenging part of putting the wedding together?
Cristina: The most challenging part was getting everything together as you have to put everything together piece by piece, and just trusting that everything looks good once it’s all done. You have to have a lot of faith with the planner for them to put it together.
PGM: Whose idea was it to have the monogrammed runner?
Cristina: I definitely wanted a runner and with the help of the wedding planner we put that together. We came up with the logo of our name between the two of us. We never used any outside company, we designed it ourselves.
PGM: In the end you had two wedding gowns. Tell us about that.
Cristina: When we went to get the wedding dress, the one I used for the ceremony, I originally thought I was going to get something a bit glitzier, but I fell in love with a really simple dress. The main thing I wanted was when I looked at the picture in 10 years, I wouldn’t say, “What was I thinking?” I wanted something timeless and since I went with a simple gown with not too many embellishment the first dress-the second dress with Swarovski Crystal on it…..
PGM: You chose the Canadian designer Ravini, were you familiar with his designs before?
Cristina: I had seen some of his dresses but I actually had a couple of other designers in mind when I went to try the dress. I tried them all on, but there was something about that dress, once I put it on, I knew I wanted that dress for the ceremony.
PGM: Was this your dream wedding?
Cristina: Absolutely! Especially the fireworks that was the best part.
PGM: Was Jorge very pleased with the outcome?
Cristina: Absolutely! The most important part for him was the food, and he was very happy with that; that worked out.
PGM: You got married at one of South Beach’s landmark hotels, the National Hotel. Whose decision was it to have the ceremony there?
Cristina: We chose the National hotel for a couple of reasons. I definitely wanted something close to the water. We went to see a few places and I walked into the National and I loved it. It is a boutique hotel, it’s not so commercialized. The pool is absolutely gorgeous. We also found out that there were a couple of items that were at the National that had to do with Cuba. The top of the hotel is a replica of a hotel in Cuba, called the National. There is also a compass by the pool that supposedly points towards Cuba. The Cuban heritage was really important for us. That seals the deal.
PGM: What advice would you offer to someone/couple who is arranging a wedding of this extravagance? What important tips would you offer?
Cristina: Definitely plan with plenty of time. I started planning about a year ahead of time and it was about perfect. You think in a year you have so much time to get everything done but you actually don’t because you have to revisit things and redo them especially the flowers. It took months to actually get them the way I wanted them. Be patient and plan with plenty of time. Just make sure you get samples of everything, so that you know what you are getting the day of the wedding.
PGM: How did you learn about the Platinum Wedding series?
Cristina: I have been watching the Platinum Wedding series probably even before I got engaged, and I actually found my wedding planner by watching Platinum Wedding. That’s how I found her, and then she recommended me back to them. It was kind of a full circle.
PGM: Was there a Platinum Honeymoon?
Cristina: Actually it was a family moon, like I like to call it. My husband has 2 older daughters 15 and 17, who were down the week for the wedding. I didn’t want to leave them with their grandparents to go on our honeymoon, so they ended up going on vacation with us. We actually went to Disney World with them. We had a great time. I wouldn’t change it for the world.
