A Rock-N-Roll-Inspired Wedding At The Villa by Barton G. in Miami, Florida

In the beginning, Jennifer Johnson didn’t foresee marrying Steve Powers and potentially ruining the amazing friendship they had going. Steve had other ideas; in his wedding vows he said that even when they were just friends he knew that they’d get married one day.

“We would joke around that ‘the best relationships start from a friendship,’ until one day we weren’t joking anymore,” Jennifer says. “We realized we had developed a deep love, trust, and bond for each other that couldn’t be denied.”

Knowing that Jennifer loves Hawaii, Steve, a DJ, invited her along when he was asked to play a private event on the island. When they arrived at the resort, Jennifer went to freshen up. But when she was done, she couldn’t find Steve anywhere in the suite.

“I finally noticed that the balcony door was open,” she says. “As I walked out the door, I noticed Steve was down on one knee! Overlooking the ocean in beautiful Hawaii, Steve asked me to marry him. I immediately burst into tears.”

As huge fans of travel, the ocean, sand and sun, the New York City-based couple knew they wanted to host their wedding by the beach. Miami had always been a favorite getaway spot, and the Versace Mansion, now known as The Villa by Barton G., held special appeal.

On vacations they would stroll by the mansion, staring in awe at the natural beauty of the majestic villa on the beach. When their friends got married there they finally got the chance to step inside and see all the beauty behind the closed gates.

Envisioning a high-fashion, rock n’ roll wedding, they knew they’d found the ideal spot in the former mansion of a fashion icon.

Not the type of bride to want a frilly wedding, Jennifer wore a black sash and leather gloves. Her Vera Wang dress, Tiffany jewelry and black birdcage veil accented with a Chanel brooch (a special gift from her mother) completed the glamour-with-an-edge vibe.

Perhaps the most fashionable gift was a surprise from the bride to her groom on their wedding day. “Steve’s dream car has always been the Entourage car—a 1966 Lincoln Continental convertible with suicide doors,” she says. “I thought to myself, what better gift to get my groom on our wedding day than his dream car!"

It took months of searching, but when Jennifer found the Continental for sale in Texas, she knew she was destined to sign on the dotted line. Steve was so shocked when he saw the car that it took a while for him to believe that it was really his.

A couple months after the wedding, Steve and Jennifer took off for a month-long honeymoon. They started with a two-week safari in Botswana (the bride’s choice) followed by “the most relaxing two weeks of our lives” in the Maldives (the groom’s choice).

“Since our relationship was built on the foundation of a friendship, Steve and I remain best friends,” Jennifer says. “We’re extremely close, understand one another, and love with everything we have; now that we’re married we know we will be together forever.”