Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum wedding Archives • Coastal Bride

Romantic foliage, glowing fairy lights, and dinner al fresco – today’s Key West destination wedding has it all! Leslie and Daniel planned a relaxed destination wedding at The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West, FL. With a relaxed, tropical vibe Key West was the perfect destination for their international wedding guests. Stacy Able Photography captured this wedding to perfection including the couples intimate vows under sweeping palms.From the Bride: We knew we wanted a destination wedding and when we began to explore our options, The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West, FL came to mind. I had been several times and loved it. Daniel and I are both Hemingway fans and he trusted me enough to agree without seeing the venue or having ever been to Key West. When we reached out to the venue, I believe it was the summer of 2016, they had two dates for spring available—one in April and one in March. We chose the April date but by the time I called back, it was gone. It worked out because 3/4 was an easy date to remember and as a friend pointed out, the only date that is a sentence: “March Fourth”!

Tell us a little a bit about your wedding: Planning a destination wedding is much easier when you don’t have your heart set on very specific things like a type of flower or a certain hue of fabric for your table runners. So, I sent our florist and Vicky, our coordinator at the Hemingway home, a link to our Pinterest board. From there, there wasn’t much panning aside from a few phone calls and emails. To make things even easier, we opted for a buffet and two large family style farm tables with no seating chart. We also skipped formal bridesmaids, groomsmen, and a color theme. We wanted a classy but casual, laid-back experience not only for our guests but for our planning purposes as well.c

What were your favorite parts of the day? From the Bride: My favorite and funniest moments were one for me. Our vows were so similar, without having seen each others we referenced the same inside jokes. And Dan, who knows us both so well, made me laugh many times during the ceremony.

From the Groom: My favorite moment was a few minutes Leslie and I had alone on a bench together after the ceremony. It was really special to have those few moments. And the funniest was the mobile DJ dance party set up for us by the amazing DJ Frenchie. We set our for Duval Street with our friends and family wearing glow-in-the-dark accessories, walking along as the DJ blasted our favorite hip-hop songs.