Vizcaya Museum & Gardens Wedding Guide
Beautiful historic architecture stretched across the glittering waters of Biscayne Bay, Vizcaya Museum & Gardens is a magnificent wedding venue in Miami. If you’ve ever gone for a leisurely stroll through Vizcaya on a Sunday afternoon, you may have fallen in love with otherworldly views and lush gardens. Reminiscent of Tuscan gardens, Vizcaya has a majestic quality with oceanside views; which makes it a highly sought-after wedding venue in South Florida.
Vizcaya functions as a wedding ceremony venue during daytime hours. But when the sun sets, it flourishes with romance, allowing couples in love to step inside and say I do with a full wedding day experience. You can book your Vizcaya wedding almost any day of the year; with the exception of a few major holidays. Although, planning a wedding at Vizcaya is no small undertaking, so we’ve put together this guide to help you navigate the ins and outs of your Vizcaya wedding.
Daytime Vizcaya Wedding Ceremony
If you’re thinking about a daytime ceremony for your Vizcaya wedding, you have the option of getting married in their exquisite gardens. Typically, daytime Vizcaya weddings happen during the hours of 9:30 am to 3:00 pm.
There are a few restrictions worth mentioning when it comes to planning a daytime Vizcaya wedding. Guest chairs, wedding canopies, or aisle runners are not permitted for a daytime garden wedding ceremony at Vizcaya. If you would like to be married under a Chuppah to honor your Jewish faith, hand-held Chuppahs are permitted. Additionally, Vizcaya does not allow food or beverages on-site to be consumed during a garden wedding ceremony. In the instance of a daytime Vizcaya wedding, it may be best to host your wedding reception or brunch off-site at an alternate venue.
It is also worth noting that if you do plan on hosting a daytime wedding at Vizcaya, your guests or wedding party will not receive access to the Main House. However, as the couple getting married, you will be allowed to access the main house with your Miami wedding photographer in order to curate a beautiful wedding photography experience.
Evening Weddings at Vizcaya
Evening weddings at Vizcaya are something to behold. With the sun having set over the horizon and the grounds aglow with soft lighting, Vizcaya becomes a wondrous wedding venue. There is more flexibility in planning an evening wedding at Vizcaya. However, it will require the assistance of a professional wedding planner when it comes to design, decor, and production.
Vizcaya is a historical property so they require their couples to work with caterers and planners from their list of approved vendors. There are several rules and regulations involved in planning a wedding at Vizcaya in order to maintain the beauty and history of the property. But, working with a wedding planner from their preferred list will ensure that your wedding runs smoothly and in accordance with all applicable rules. You find a complete list of Vizcaya’s approved wedding planners, at this link.
Evening wedding ceremonies at Vizcaya take place can be held in the Garden. Here your wedding planner can orchestrate rows and rows of guest seating, along with your aisle, and frame your altar with a floral arch or canopy for a magical wedding ceremony experience.
The allotted hours for an evening wedding at Vizcaya are from 6:30 pm to 11:00 pm. Extended evening hours are available and we’ve broken them down for you in the pricing guide below. During your wedding, you and your guests will have exclusive use of Vizcayas inner courtyard, outsider terraces, and the garden.
Your wedding vendors may begin unloading on the day of your wedding at 3:00 pm through the upper and lower east terrace. However, if you find that your wedding at Vizcaya requires earlier load-in times, you can add a set number of hours to your package.
Vizcaya Wedding Spaces & Capacity
Vizcaya offers several locations on its grounds to host your wedding ceremony, cocktail hour, or reception. Each and every space is unique, provides beautiful views, and has its own distinct capacity.
Vizcaya Wedding Ceremonies
There are three specific locations to host your wedding ceremony at Vizcaya. The Courtyard, the Gardens, or the Main House. Each of these spaces is just as gorgeous as the next. The location you decide on will all depend on your wedding day vision as well as your total expected guest count.
Vizcaya Wedding Cocktail Hour
Are you thinking about hosting an unforgettable cocktail hour for your guests after your ceremony? Your cocktail hour is a wonderful way to give your guests the ability to mix and mingle and enjoy the grounds while you and your partner are off soaking up your newlywed status while capturing wedding photos. The cocktail hour of your wedding can be hosted in the Courtyard of the Main House, the Gardens, or the Terraces that overlook Biscayne Bay. The space you select will depend on the overall flow and timeline of your wedding. For example, if your ceremony is taking place in the Gardens, you might want to talk to your wedding planner about what would make the most sense for your cocktail hour.
Vizcaya Wedding Reception
For wedding receptions with less than 100 guests, you can host your post-ceremony celebration in the Main House or the Courtyard. Each of these spaces provides enough room for a seated reception of up to 100 guests.
The terrace overlooking Biscayne Bay and the Vizcaya Gardens is available for wedding receptions with 100 or more guests. If you are hosting a wedding with over 100 guests, you will be required to tent the area.
Parking for Your Wedding at Vizcaya
Parking and transportation can get sticky at Vizcaya if you are hosting a wedding with a large number of guests. The Vizcaya lot provides 125 parking spaces and use of the parking lot is included in the overall cost of your venue rental. However, if you are planning a wedding of up to 300 guests you may want to let friends and family know that additional parking is available across the street from Vizcaya’s main house on South Miami Avenue.
Traffic Control
If throughout the planning process, you find that your guest list is somewhere between 200-300 guests, Vizcaya highly recommends retaining Miami-Dade police officers for your event. Doing so will help control the flow of traffic for your guests as well as the pedestrian crossing on South Miami Avenue. The total cost of retaining Miami-Dade police offers for your event is $150 per hour and requires a four-hour minimum.
Total Cost of a Vizcaya Wedding
There are a few different costs involved with booking a wedding at Vizcaya. However, each of these costs pertains solely to the rental of Vizcaya as your wedding venue and does not include additional costs such as your planner, photographer, rentals, decor, or food and beverage service. Let’s break them down a bit more to give you an idea of Vizcaya’s pricing structure.
For a daytime Garden wedding ceremony for up to 25 guests, the total cost is $2,000. Each additional guest (up to 25) will be billed at a cost of $25 each
For an evening wedding at Vizcaya, the base rental fee is $23k for up to 100 guests. Each additional guest (up to 300 maximum) is billed at a cost of $25 each
For any evening weddings that take place from Sunday to Thursday, you have the ability to add on an additional hour to your wedding from 11 pm to midnight at a cost of $2400
For any evening weddings that take place on Friday or Saturday, you have the ability to add additional time to your wedding from the hours of 11 pm to 1 am at a cost of $2400 per hour
In order to book your wedding at Vizcaya a minimum deposit of $7500 is due to hold the date of your wedding.
Early load in times for the day of your wedding can be added on to your package
From noon to 3 pm $9000
9 am to noon $18k
6 am to 9 am $18K
All the above-listed prices do not include 7% sales tax. Additionally, prices are subject to change so it’s important to properly coordinate your budget with your professional wedding planner.
Vizcaya Wedding Photos
There’s no denying that Vizcaya is one of the most scenic wedding venues in Miami. The historic stone architecture, Italian-inspired gardens, statues, verdant greenery, and the barge that resides in the bay will all be set against the backdrop of your wedding photos. It’s an ornate setting that requires a well-trained eye to create a vision of artistry through your wedding photos.
Additionally, if your wedding at Vizcaya will be a nighttime event, you may be left with little time (before or after your ceremony) to capture exquisite heirloom quality wedding photos with the gentle glow of golden hour hanging overhead in the distance.
When we work with our couples for their Vizcaya wedding photos, we highly recommend they add a first look to their wedding day timeline for this exact reason. Your wedding photography experience in a beautifully historic location like Vizcaya Museum & Gardens should not be rushed. It should be an experience to be savored and enjoyed, which will reflect a feeling of joy and harmony in your wedding photos.
You can find more information on working with Dipp Photography on your Vizcaya Museum & Gardens wedding photos, at this link.