"Star Wars" Inspired This Classic Wedding at Villa Woodbine in Miami, Florida
You could say The Force brought Stephanie and Daniel, who share a deep love of Star Wars, together when they initially matched on a dating app. When it was time to finally tie the knot, Stephanie and Daniel settled on a classic vibe for their Catholic wedding ceremony and the dinner portion of their reception at Villa Woodbine in Miami, Florida, but paid homage to their love of Star Wars by making it the central theme of the dancing part of the evening.
"How I wish we could rewind," reminisces Stephanie. "I wouldn't say the wedding had a specific theme; it was definitely a combination of different styles, colors, tones, textures and elements my husband and I love. He loves clean lines, and I love modern with some charm—hence the blend of decor we had with the historic charm of Villa Woodbine. We both love navy blue, so that became an accent color. I didn't want to stick to just one accent, so we threw in mixed metals—silver, gold, blacks, neutrals and white-and-green florals to add some color. We both grew up Catholic, so we had the ceremony at the oldest church in Miami, and of course, no Cuban culture is complete without lots of salsa dancing and a Cuban coffee station at the end of the night."
As for decorating the wedding, Stephanie shares that she "knew I wanted to take full advantage of Villa Woodbine's space—one of the perks of choosing it as the venue is that it's so stunning, it doesn't require too much to make it look good—so we made sure each space had a reason for guests to experience. We chose long royal style tables rather than round tables, and had the main focus be long runners throughout. Chandeliers hung from the outside reception area, and we increased the number of twinkle lights for added ambiance. I created a mood board pretty early on with everything I wanted, and the Villa team ran with it and executed everything I had in mind."
As guests finished their dinner, the venue was transformed to resemble a Galactic Starcruiser for guests to dance the night away while accompanied by entertainers dressed as Darth Vader and Stormtroopers. To add to the festivities, guests were given lightsabers to illuminate the evening. "We had a Star Wars hora loca, or entertainment hour," explains Stephanie. "Rather than dancers and robots, Darth Vader, Chewbacca and Storm Troopers did a megamix! We also bought lots of favors for people that matched the theme. It tied back to my bachelorette, where everyone had to dress as a Star Wars character one night." A few other Star Wars-inspired details included the R2D2 garter Stephanie wore, custom cocktail napkins with Boba Fett and R2D2 and the "Yoda One for Me" sign the couple included in their photo booth.