For over the past 15 years I have been photographing wedding all around South Florida, This means I have worked at the greatest wedding venues in Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Fort Lauderdale, all the way down to the Florida Keys. However given all the picturesque South Florida wedding venues I have worked very few even come close to photographing a Vizcaya in Miami. In addition to Vizcaya being one of the most beautiful wedding locations in Southern Florida it's also huge. Actually the grounds take up 11 acres of real-estate and every inch of the property provides a view of either a gazebo, a beautiful terrace, a sculpture beautiful landscaping, or a water view. There is no end to the wonderful backgrounds and scenic imagery that you will see during a Vizcaya wedding. Of course all this amazing scenery is what you see on the outside of this historic museum. Sitting on the property is also a historic main house. Inside this house is another 38,000 square feet of historic quaint and actually romantic looking rooms. Shooting inside the house is just as exciting for a wedding photographer as is shooting in the gardens. Much of the decor and fixtures inside the house were imported from different European cities including Italy.
I must confess that this one one of the oldest wedding photos on my website. It's also one of my favorites. It's always great new for a photographer when you have a wedding party as attractive is this group. Although the background of this picture shows some Vizcaya's scenery it really doesn't make much difference where this was taken given that attractiveness of the bride and her girls. It's always fun when the people I'm photographing are willing to do some of my unique and creative poses. When I set up this shot I started by having the bride and bridesmaids stand in a straight line for a traditional posed picture. After I got this shot I decided to change this pose into a pose that is more fun and exciting. I did this by asking one of the girls to turn and stand back to back with another girl in the line up. The girls always think it strange when I do this. The bridesmaid who I ask to turn usually looks confused and wonders why? Then I ask the girls to hug close. This causes the girl who is standing back to back with the other bridesmaid to fall into her and loose balance. It's this loss of balance that makes the big hug photo look real and fun. When I was retouching and enhancing the photos from this wedding I thought it would be fun to turn the entire image sepia but leave the flowers color.
In the years since I took this picture I have been back to Vizcaya many times. I now have a nice collection of wedding pictures from this great Miami wedding venue. Below are a few links to other pictures from Vizcaya.
A Vizcaya Miami Wedding blog article
How much does a Vizcaya cost? There is no question that Vizcaya is not inexpensive. Couples can expect to spend over $100,000 on a wedding here. If you are having a small wedding that I'm would imagine the cost could be less. When planning a Vizcaya wedding couples actually rent use of the grounds and house. Food, Lighting and possibly a tent would be added to the rental of the grounds.
I recently photographed engagement pictures at Vizcaya. If you are recently engaged then consider Vizcaya for you engagement pictures. It's a perfect place to take engagement pictures. What I like most about Vizcaya engagement shoots is that you can arrive early and spend several hours walking around and taking pictures. It's difficult to cover as much ground during a wedding because of to limited time available for bride and groom photos at most weddings. Whenever I have a coming up at Vizcaya I alway try to build in extra time for photos.
Here is a fun fact. Many movies have also been shot at Vizcaya. These movies include: Tony Rome and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, also the football movie Any Given Sunday was filmed here. In the action movie Bad Boys II the bad guy "Johnny Tapia lived in the main house. Other movies shot on the property include, Airport '77 & Haunts of the Very Rich as well as The Money Pit, and Iron Man 3.
If you are looking for the ultimate most scenic place in Miami to tie the knot then take a look at this amazing place with the most beautiful view of Biscayne Bay.
Location: 3251 S Miami Ave, Miami, FL 33129.
