Molly Ford and Christopher Nixon met at a mutual friend’s December wedding at her alma mater, Villanova University. They hit it off at the wedding after-party and spent the end of the night dancing together in Santa hats. After dating for three years, Chris proposed on a trip with Molly’s family in Cartagena, Colombia.
Molly had always thought she’d get married in the summer or early fall, but since she got engaged at the end of December, they figured it was practical to look at dates for the following holiday season. Her parents have belonged to Indian Creek Country Club in Miami Beach for years, so it was an easy choice to host their wedding there.
“Our general aesthetic was tropical Christmas! We knew that the club would be decorated for Christmas, so we wanted to add a fun, tropical vibe to make all our guests feel like they were on vacation and had escaped for the weekend,” Molly says. They booked their date four years exactly after the weekend when they first met and hired Jessica Masi at Masi Events to help plan the wedding.
Beyond knowing that she did not want to wear a big wedding dress, Molly had no idea what she wanted to wear. While looking with her mom and sister, she kept coming back to Elizabeth Fillmore designs and chose a halter-neck gown with floral appliqués.
“I added a periwinkle button to the bottom of my dress that came from my grandma’s wedding dress, which was really special,” she says. For her “something borrowed,” Molly wore her mother’s bracelet and carried a friend’s pearl wedding clutch.
Molly and Chris were married in a beautiful ceremony overlooking the Biscayne Bay at sunset. “We had a bit of an issue with the microphone during the ceremony, but it actually led to some funny moments and lightened the mood.”
After saying I do, the poolside cocktail hour began, followed by the seated reception dinner in the ballroom. Braised short-rib and yellowtail snapper were served, and in place of a wedding cake, a dessert table with mini key lime pies and Christmas cookies was presented.
Then Remix from Tropics Entertainment started the party on the dance floor. “Chris and I danced to ‘Just Like Heaven’ by The Cure,” Molly says. “It was my favorite part of the wedding; we had a lot of fun with it together. I did an impromptu shopping cart dance move, and Chris had a nice high kick that got the crowd going; it certainly wasn’t perfect, but it was very us.”
Once the reception ended, guests walked outside on the patio, where a DJ and Christmas-themed props kept the party going. The newlyweds snuck away in a 1964 white Pontiac convertible, before continuing the celebrations at the local pub, Flanigan’s.
