Ancient Spanish Monastery

As wedding photographers, one of the questions we are asked often is, “What are your favorite wedding venues?” Well, when it comes to wedding venues in South Florida, one of our favorite locations is the Ancient Spanish Monastery in North Miami Beach. Read on to see why we consider it one of our favorite south Florida wedding venues.

Old Europe, right here in South Florida

What if we told you that you could have the look and feel of an old European monastery right here in South Florida? With the Ancient Spanish Monastery, you absolutely can. Step back in time and across oceans with this wedding venue. It has the feeling of old architecture and is unlike any other Florida wedding venue we’ve ever photographed! (And we have photographed a lot of Florida weddings!)

Since this is an outdoor venue, we recommend this venue for Florida’s winter months. It might be a bit hot in the steamy summer months. There’s so much flexibility in this venue. Receptions can be held in one of three places: The Cloisters, the Loggia, or the Gardens. Each reception area is infused with old-world elegance. What’s even better? The Ancient Spanish Monastery allows you to bring in your own chosen vendor team, so you can make sure that you have your favorite caterers, florists and decorators to create the wedding day of your dreams.

The gardens at the Ancient Spanish Monastery are in a word: spectacular. With more than 20 acres of lush, flowering trees, towering Spanish Oaks, unique and rare palms, regal Banyan trees and more… the landscaping is amazing as a backdrop for wedding photography. Of course, when you add in the 12th century Romanesque and Gothic building as a backdrop, this venue becomes something even more amazing. When photographing weddings at this venue, we truly feel transported to another time and place.

Ancient Spanish Monastery Wedding Ceremonies

When it comes to having your wedding ceremony at the Ancient Spanish Monastery, there are five outdoor spaces and three beautiful chapels for wedding ceremonies. The outdoor spaces are The Loggia, Prayer Well, Banyan Tree, Saviour Garden, and St. John Garden. The gardens can accommodate up to 300 guests for an amazing event. The three chapels are also available depending on the size of your wedding. The Main Chapel is perfect for weddings with up to 150 guests and the rental even includes a pipe organ and organist! The Chapter House is a smaller chapel with seating for up to 80 guests. A ceremony in the Chapter House includes a portable keyboard and pianist. For a small, intimate ceremony or elopement, The French Altar can house up to ten guests. Rental fees on ceremony sites include a one-hour ceremony and a half hour for pictures around the venue.

Jeff and Heidi’s Day After Session at the Monastery

At Organic Moments Photography, we’re big fans of doing a day-after session. In fact, the images we are including in this blog are from a day after session. This bride and groom had a beautiful wedding (check out the images from their actual wedding day RIGHT HERE)… but Miami traffic slowed them down to getting to get to their reception! (Check out our post about building a timeline for your wedding photography here!). We ran into the choice between capturing their romantic bride and groom portraits or starting their reception on time. The bride and groom opted to start the party and come back another day to do romantics. We didn’t actually come back until two months later! But then, everyone enjoyed a stress free, romantic photo session. There was no pressure to get back to the wedding reception, no worry about their guests or family, and it was a beautiful session for them to celebrate their love.

We hope you enjoy these images of this amazing south Florida wedding venue, the Ancient Spanish Monastery. If you’re planning a Florida wedding, we would love to talk with you about your wedding photography. We would love the opportunity to tell your unique love story with beautiful images. Contact us today!

Ancient Spanish Monastery Wedding Organic Moments Photography