What a fantastic Fontainebleau Wedding! Lisa and Drew’s (LINK-the persona of Jerry Maguire based on the groom) wedding photography started at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, The Fontainebleau Miami Beach is one of the most popular wedding venues in South Florida. As a Miami Beach wedding photographer, this is one of my favorite hotels. Located directly on the beach this hotel has everything a bride and groom could ask for. In addition it’s a photographers paradise.
What makes the Fontainebleau such a great wedding venue is that it offers so many different photographic locations with different looks. While the entire venue has an art deco vibe and look, parts of the hotel have marble white floors, other parts of the hotel have greenery, Outdoors the landscape design gives photographers great backgrounds at all different angles and directions. Why is this important? It’s important because as the sun changes direction the shadows change and the photographer gets to select the best lighting. While we are able to photograph people in any direction regardless of the location of the sun why not choose the best lighting if you have that option? Working as a Miami Beach wedding photographer, I love the fact that this hotel, and all the hotels in Miami Beach have private beaches and fewer random vacationers hanging around.
Lisa, who is a successful real estate agent, was an beautiful bride and her choice of those really cool Christian Louboutin shoes combined with a super sexy Pnina Tornai dress were perfect on her! It was a great decision for her and her glamorous bridesmaids to get ready for the wedding at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach. I started the getting ready pictures in her suite at the hotel, followed by more pictures around the lobby and in some more unique areas around the hotel.
The historic Miami Beach Fontainebleau opened in 1954 and has been transformed several times since its early years. Known as a unique destination venue for celebrities, brides, and high society guests, the hotel features 12 restaurants, a 20-acre oceanfront location, expansive pool area which was prominently featured in the film “Goldfinger”), Several nightclubs, and a 40,000 square foot spa, along with a state-of-the-art conference center and huge event ballrooms that are perfect for large wedding.
Having worked at the Fontainebleau for years I have photographed a wide range of weddings at this venue. I have shot weddings with guest counts as small as 20 and as large as 200. Since there are so many different ballroom options they can accommodate a wide range of wedding sizes. I have even shot several elopements at the Fontainebleau. When I moved to South Florida over 15 years ago, the Fontainebleau was one of the first venues I worked at. Over time I found myself working at a Miami Beach wedding photographer more and more. In addition to weddings, elopements and corporate parties at the Fontainebleau I also photographed jobs at the Eden Roc, and many hotels in nearby South Beach
After we left the Fontainebleau we moved on to a wonderfully unique Miami venue called Jungle Island for the ceremony and reception.
Because Drew is a high profile well known sports agent, Lisa and Drew decided that their ceremony and reception should be in a more secure location. By having both the ceremony and reception at Jungle Island they could avoid having unwanted party crashers arrive. Since I have been a Miami Beach wedding photographer for over 15 years, I have shot many weddings at Jungle Island so I’m familiar with this location.
Planning a wedding at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach gives you several options regarding where to hold the ceremony. If toes in the sand is what you have in mind with your vows by the ocean, a the Fontainebleau hotel has a private beach area that is just perfect for your wedding or elopement. Walking just a few steps from the your room you can literally walk right down to the beach and get married. This makes the wedding ceremony easy and low stress for you, your fiancé, and your guests. What can be better then an easy stroll to the ocean for a beautiful beach wedding that in front of the Atlantic Ocean.
Since the venue is so large brides and grooms have many choices, if toes in the sand while you tie the knot is not appealing to you, and you still would like to view the beach and ocean while not necessarily standing in the sand, then you can have your ceremony in one of several bridal suites with balconies that overlook the the Atlantic Ocean. This way, you can enjoy your wedding and still have those majestic views of the beach without the sand between your toes. Whenever, I’m shooting pictures and working as a Miami Beach wedding photographer, I find that often I’m never actually shooting on the beach. However, sometimes I’m shooting ceremonies directly on the beach. For example this wedding which took place at the Eden Roc next-door had a ceremony on the beach.
Aside from all these features, the Fontainebleau Hotel has décor that doubles as fabulous backdrops, this is perfect for creating fantastic photos. I had such a great time photographing Lisa and her bridal party along with her family around all the amazing locations the Fontainebleau hotel has to offer. Truly a magical place for a South Florida wedding. Since the Fontainebleau is one of the most iconic places in Miami and it offers incomparable locations for creating unique wedding photographs I’m always looking forward to working here.
Drew who is a prominent sports agent, well known to any major sports fan – was the groom. Our plan was to meet up with him and his groomsmen and family over at Jungle Island. Jungle Island is a venue can host a huge party like this one (this one was about 350 people) Since the place is totally private and closed to the public when special events such as this take place, there is complete privacy for the bride, groom and their guests. Aside from their famous parrots, the venue features a zoo with many different types of animals such as alligators, and monkeys During the cocktail hour some were brought out for photo ops with guests, this was very entertaining and the guests loved this wedding feature!
The wedding of Lisa and Drew definitely had a sports theme incorporated into every aspect of the decor. The cocktail area on the balcony outside of the main ballroom was adorned with pink gym lockers, and a football field table that which was later decorated with sports styled cupcakes. This party was a very festive looking and included a photo booth, a Japanese candy maker, and a dessert spread with a never-ending candy bar, that my son and his friends would have loved. Sorry Joel, Also featured was champagne infused cake balls, endless cookies, and a very tasty s’mores station. The selection was truly incredible. Of course there was a Hora Loca and the dancers got all the guests to interact with the dancers and stilt walkers in a big way. In addition a buffet dinner was provided for guests all evening.
As a wedding photographer this was by far one of my favorite weddings, I was honored to be a part of Lisa and Drew’s wedding. From the second I arrived at the Fontainebleau for this wedding, I knew this was going to be a great event.
If you are interested in planning a wedding at the Fontainebleau and would like to visit their website here is the link: Visit the Fontainebleau Website
Also, if you would like to see another wedding I photographed at the Fontainebleau below is a link to another beautiful wedding.
