Once wedding planning began for Caroline Julia Mencio, a registered nurse, and Dr. Sean Anthony Sutton, they decided to get married in her hometown of Miami and at her childhood parish, Epiphany Catholic Church. For the January reception, the bride had a strong opinion that if they were to be married somewhere tropical, it needed to be outside and on the water. And once they visited the Perez Art Museum Miami, it checked all her boxes, and the couple instantly fell in love with it. To help plan everything, they hired Masi Events.
When it came to the wedding’s aesthetic, Caroline turned to her older sister, Natalie Steen of the newsletter The Nat Note. “She has such an eye for details and puts things together that one would never think of, yet it totally works,” the bride says. “Throughout wedding planning, she had a newborn baby, started clothing line Polimita Club, and juggled her full time lawyer job and fashion newsletter side-hustle.”
As Caroline started looking for a wedding dress, she had no clear idea in mind, which made it a fun adventure for the bride-to-be. When she finally tried on a Vera Wang gown from the fall 2017 collection at Ever After Miami, she finally got the “OMG, I’m a bride” moment she had been seeking. “Additionally, my very opinionated, Cuban grandmother approved, so it was an overall win,” Caroline adds.
For the reception, the bride wanted a second dress and made an appointment at Markarian. A black sequin number with bows on the shoulders caught her eye, and designer Alexandra O’Neil agreed to make Caroline a custom version with white sequins and pink bows. “I think it will always be my most favorite dress that I’ve ever worn!” she says.
On the day-of, Caroline got ready with Lutz Karpf, who gave her a classic bridal beauty look, while her two sisters put on emerald Johanna Ortiz dresses. Sean looked handsome in a Bonobos tuxedo with cufflinks that featured the faces of their two exotic shorthair cats—Wasabi and Killer Tofu. And their close friend and co-founder of men’s clothing line State & Liberty outfitted the groomsmen in tuxedo shirts.
At Caroline’s childhood church, she walked down the aisle to Sean’s favorite song, “Linger” by The Cranberries, and her priest, Monsignor Jude O’Doherty, led the emotional wedding ceremony. “Seeing Caroline walk down the aisle, I was so excited,” the groom remarks. “We hadn’t done a first look, so I had no idea what to expect, and she looked absolutely beautiful.”
After the two were announced as a married couple, everyone headed to the PAMM, where they were greeted by cigarette girls dressed in bright, carnival feathers. The cocktail hour began on the museum’s second floor, so everyone could enjoy the aerial view of Biscayne Bay, while traditional Cuban music was played by the live band.
Then guests went downstairs for the seated dinner on tables decorated with bamboo, candles, tropical florals, and a custom watercolor depicting different special locations to the new Mr. and Mrs, painted by Caroline’s aunt. Following the father-daughter dance to the appropriately chosen “Sweet Caroline,” the father-of-the-bride made a heartfelt toast, and once the meal ended, everyone enjoyed the rest of the night with the band, Libido.
People also loved taking photos with the I Love Lucy-inspired photo-booth with props like a judge’s wig—a nod to Caroline’s mother, who is, in fact, a judge. And back on the dance floor, Sean brought out the backflips, the bride crowd-surfed multiple times, and the Hora Loca started with a Caribbean-style band with steel drums. “It was a total energizer for everyone and led to our friends throwing Sean and me on their shoulders,” Caroline says.
The newlyweds’ priority for the wedding was “to make it a party in every sense of the word,” and they sure delivered!
