With no backup tent, the family needed Mother Nature — and a little luck — on their side. They chose February 15, timed for Florida’s lowest risk of rain and a long Presidents’ Day weekend to ease travel for out-of-town guests. For extra insurance, the couple buried a whiskey bottle upside down on the property, a tradition said to ward off rain. It worked.
Guests arrived at 2:00 p.m., winding through the farm’s canopy of banyan trees. The early start was intentional, giving guests time to wander the property, visit the ducks paddling on the pond, and admire Shana’s beloved horses before the ceremony. Behind the scenes, Shana and her family were putting finishing touches on the tables, styling them with antiques and personal heirlooms, all while still in their pajamas, with hair in rollers and dogs underfoot. “Shana wanted it authentic, how we are,” Gany laughs.
The ceremony unfolded at the water’s edge. They skipped a first look, so Adi saw his bride for the first time walking down the new stone path, though Shana snuck a peek from the kitchen window. Shana wore a strapless gown with delicate floral appliques, which she found on the first day dress shopping. “I put it on and felt like me,” she says. “Every other dress felt like a costume.” Rose bushes flanked the aisle, and in a moment bound to be retold for years to come, one caught her veil midstride, sending a branch snapping back to puncture her nose. Gany discreetly gestured from the sidelines; Shana didn’t know she was bleeding.
Celebrate Good Times
After the ceremony, the couple slipped away for a few private minutes — a Jewish tradition — before joining guests in the reimagined reception space, arranged with a mix of formal and lounge seating.
In lieu of a sit-down dinner, passed bites and buffet stations allowed guests to eat, explore, and connect at their own pace. “People were taking their plates to the barn to go meet the horses. The older guests could sit at a table. The kids were on the dance floor. It just flowed,” Shana says.
Loved ones cheered the happy couple with three signature drinks: Shana’s spicy passion fruit margarita, Adi’s extra dirty olive martini, and a cucumber refresher named for the family dog, Olive.
As the sun set, the mother-daughter dance to “Slipping Through My Fingers” from Mamma Mia became one of the day’s most emotional moments, joined by Shana’s three siblings. “There wasn’t a dry eye,” Gany says.
At 2:00 a.m., the dance floor was still full. “It’s really about how the wedding made you feel more than what it looked like,” Gany says. “We wanted to create an energy and a feeling that you can’t replicate.”
The newlyweds are planning a Patagonia honeymoon filled with horseback riding and fly fishing, naturally. In the meantime, they live five minutes from the farm, in a home with two horse stalls so Shana can live out her ultimate horse girl dream: to ride over to her mother’s house.
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