On a night out, when ALEXIS Social Media Manager and Stylist Danielle Rothfeldt was back home in Miami for the holidays, she met lawyer Maximilien Palenzuela. After spending the night talking and watching the sunrise on the beach the following morning, the two knew they’d found something special.
Two-and-a-half years later, he proposed on a weekend trip to New York. After the pair lunched at Le Charlot and took a stroll through Central Park, he led her up to her family’s apartment, where rose petals covered the floor and Leon Bridges’s “Beyond” played in the background. “It was a dream, and I wouldn’t have wanted it to happen any other way–I was also totally surprised!” Danielle recalls of the proposal.
The bride-to-be only ever visited Indian Creek Country Club on past Thanksgivings. “I always thought it would be beautiful for a wedding, and I specifically remember being there the day after we first met, when I couldn’t stop thinking about the guy I had just met the night before,” she says. The club, to which Danielle’s parents are members, was the perfect blend between idyllic scenery and sentimental memory on the day-of.
Masi Events headed all of the planning, while Katie Lopez photographed each of the weekend’s events, detailed to guests in a custom Bella Figura invitation suite. “In terms of our aesthetic, we always wanted to get married outdoors with warm and rustic yet romantic elements,” Danielle explains. “The club has such a natural beauty to it, and luckily, the weather held out, and we were able to have our reception outside in the exact way we envisioned.”
“Ever since seeing Danielle Frankel’s first collection, I knew that was the designer I wanted to get married in. Her aesthetic is very fashion-forward and unique, and funny enough, I had an appointment for her sample sale the same day Max proposed, which I was hiding from him,” Danielle laughs. Although she never made it to that appointment, a month or so later, the bride-to-be visited the famed atelier and chose the Luna Dress—a look Danielle was the first bride to wear.
Danielle’s second look was a shining silver dress that once belonged to her grandmother. The dress was especially meaningful as the bride’s grandmother once wore the look to a movie premier in Sweden, as she was the sister to a local actress and socialite. The iconic family looks didn’t end there. For the rehearsal dinner, Danielle donned a satin skirted suit her mother wore down the aisle. “When I was shopping around for these events, I saw a lot of beautiful things, but truly felt like I would rather wear something meaningful to me and to my family,” she shares.
On the day-of, Max looked dapper in a custom tuxedo by Italian tailor Massimo Roma. Bridesmaids complimented in sage styles by Show Me Your Mumu and the maid of honor wore a Champagne Michelle Mason look. Eva Willet styled Danielle’s elevated updo and applied a bridal beauty look.
On March 11, 2023, Danielle felt a sense of calm as she walked into St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and saw Max. “It was beautiful and full-circle to get married by Fr. Richard Vigoa, who married our best friends and who is also the priest at the church where I did my Catholic conversion,” the bride says. “I felt like we were exactly where we were meant to be.” The couple knelt before the same mantilla that has been passed down in Max’s family for generations, at the same church he’d grown up attending. And, when the time came, Max and Danielle sealed it all with a kiss and walked back down the aisle as newlyweds.
“The reception was a dream, it could not have been more perfect. It was raining all around Miami but not where we were, so everything was done outside,” the bride recalls. Synchronized swimmers welcomed everyone to the reception ahead of the newlyweds’ lively entrance to “Sweet Child O’Mine.” Once everyone sat for a dinner surrounded by Petal Productions florals, short rib and Mediterranean sea bass were served before Tropics Entertainment Extasy Band queued “Beyond” for the couple’s first dance—a full circle moment from the proposal.
At the end of the night, everyone raised a final glass to Danielle and Max, as Brazilian carnival-style dancers appeared on a crowded dance floor, courtesy of DJ Emkay’s spirited set, and fireworks lit the sky. The bride’s brother’s girlfriend caught the bouquet—a playful moment for everyone—before the newlyweds escaped in a vintage ride to their hotel in Miami Beach.
