It started with someone shouting “would you rather” questions across a table in Nicaragua and eventually led to a proposal while hand-feeding giraffes in Kenya.
Beth and Jason met on a Surf Yoga Beer New Year’s Eve trip to Nicaragua, where they quickly became friends. One night, a mutual friend decided Beth needed to loosen up a little and recruited Jason for a particularly lively round of questions across the table. The approach may have been unconventional, but it worked.
After returning home, Beth and Jason stayed in touch, and by July, Beth had begun advising on operations for Jason’s company. When the next New Year’s trip came around, both made sure they’d be there. The rest, as they say, is history.
Beth later became COO of Jason’s business, and another Surf Yoga Beer trip would provide the setting for their engagement, this time in Kenya. Jason proposed while the two were hand-feeding giraffes. Naturally, the giraffes had to make it to Palm Beach for their wedding planned with Fabuluxe Events and photographed by Sunny Lee Photography.
Their proposal inspired a playful giraffe motif
For their wedding at the Flagler Museum, Beth and Jason hired an artist to turn their engagement story into one of the celebration’s recurring visual details.
A playful giraffe motif appeared across napkins, welcome signage, trolley signage, take-home gifts, and even goodbye chocolates. Rather than becoming a literal theme, the illustrations were woven into a vibrant pink and green Florida color story inspired by the couple’s love of iconic Palm Beach hotels.
Jason even sent Beth a giant stuffed giraffe on the morning of the wedding, ensuring the inside joke followed them all the way to the aisle.
“Fun, Florida Formal” replaced a traditional black-tie dress code
The Flagler Museum offered the tropical plant life, waterfront views, and historic architecture Beth and Jason wanted, but they weren’t interested in pairing the grand setting with an overly serious celebration.
Instead, they coined their own dress code: “Fun, Florida Formal.”
Guests were encouraged to wear color, allowing the wedding to retain the polish of a black-tie celebration while embracing the energy of spring in Palm Beach.
Beth wore a Mira Zwillinger gown, while Jason skipped the traditional black tuxedo in favor of a custom tan suit without a tie. Together, their looks captured the balance the couple wanted throughout the day: elevated, but never stuffy.
Jewish traditions shaped the ceremony
Beth and Jason were married by the rabbi of Beth’s parents, incorporating Jewish traditions into the ceremony while making room for personal interpretations.
Among them was a modern take on the seven circles, bringing an important ritual into the celebration in a way that felt meaningful to the couple.
The traditions continued during the reception, when their fathers offered a blessing over the challah and wine before dinner. Later, Beth and Jason joined their guests for the hora.
These moments gave the celebration a grounding sense of family and faith amid the playful Palm Beach details surrounding them.
A sunset cocktail hour showed off Palm Beach at its best
After the ceremony, guests moved into cocktail hour just as the Florida sunset transformed the waterfront setting.
Beth described the scene simply as “unreal.”
It was one of those moments that needed little additional decoration, with the historic property, tropical surroundings, and changing light providing an effortless transition into the evening.
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Long tables made the reception feel like a dinner party
Rather than creating an overly formal ballroom atmosphere, Beth and Jason wanted dinner to feel intimate and social.
Long reception tables encouraged that dinner-party feeling, while candles and table lamps cast a warm glow across the tables and florals by Ovando softened the grandeur of the historic surroundings, creating the inviting atmosphere the couple envisioned.
The pink and green palette and playful illustrated details kept the setting connected to the more relaxed side of their “Fun, Florida Formal” vision.
They traded wedding cake for a jumbo ice cream sundae
Traditional wedding cake didn’t make the cut.
Instead, Beth and Jason opted for an ice cream sundae station, bringing another playful element into a celebration already willing to rewrite a few rules.
For the afterparty, Beth traded her bridal gown for a silver sequined dress before she and Jason shared his-and-hers bites from a jumbo ice cream sundae.
It was a fitting finale for a couple whose story had already taken them from Nicaragua to Kenya and eventually Palm Beach.
The giraffes, colorful dress code, Jewish traditions, dinner-party tables, and giant sundae may seem like wildly different ingredients on paper, but together they reflected Beth and Jason remarkably well. Their wedding embraced the elegance of the Flagler Museum without letting the setting dictate how seriously they had to take themselves.
“Fun, Florida Formal” may have started as a dress code, but by the end of the night, it had become the perfect description of the entire celebration.
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