Special wedding at the Grove Arts Festival

Elsie and Christina Ruiz

After 18 years of being together Elsie and Christina Ruiz, moms of 4-year-old Meredith, were finally able to tie the knot last weekend. Following Florida’s decision to make same-sex marriage legal, they began dreaming of their "big day" almost immediately. And the big day ended up being in front of hundreds of people last weekend at the H&H Jewels booth at the Coconut Grove Arts Festival.

H&H Jewels called the local couple saying they wanted to host a same sex wedding and reception, gratis to the couple, during the Festival.  “I asked Elsie and Christina if they would be interested in being our couple and their reaction was beautiful and amazing – they were so excited,” said H. Bredemeier, owner of H&H. “We started working on it right away and what was just as exciting was all of our friends and neighbors in the Grove sharing our enthusiasm!”

4-year-old Meredith

A half dozen other companies joined H in making Elsie and Christina’s day extra special. While H provided the catering, photography, music and more, there were wedding bands by Furrer Jacot, flowers by The Blonde Tulip, a weekend stay at the Sonesta Coconut Grove, the chocolate wedding cake by JoAnna’s Marketplace and, of course, hair and make-up for both brides – provided by the other H, across the street neighbor Hair by Hisham.

“We were elated to find out that the only thing we had to do was invite our family and friends to our special wedding day and pick out our rings,” said Elsie.

The ceremony began at 4 pm, last Saturday, on Valentine’s Day in the H&H tent area on Bayshore Drive. The emotional exchanging of the vows took place in front of 100+ guests along with festival onlookers.

Then, the party began. After the “I dos,” the reception got underway in the H&H showroom. Music, amazing food, champagne and endless words of congratulations were the ultimate culmination of an event so many years overdue. “It was the most amazing day of my life to marry my love of 18 years,” said Christina, “it was a storybook ending where H & H Jewels made our dream a reality.”