The rich and famous keep coming to the Historic Alfred I. duPont Building in downtown Miami when they want to throw impressive galas.
The most recent such event was the Vegas-themed engagement party of “Real Housewives of Miami” star Dr. Nicole Martin and fiancé Anthony Lopez.
The love story
Martin and Lopez, a successful trial attorney, met separately through friends in Las Vegas over seven years ago, and have a three-year-old son, Grayson.
On a family vacation in Aspen on New Year’s Eve, 2021, Lopez got down on one knee to ask for Martin’s hand in marriage, presenting her with a stunning ten-carat engagement ring.
Martin, famously reluctant to consider marriage all through Season 4 of RHOM, told Bravo TV’s The Daily Dish, “the timing just felt right,” but that even if he hadn’t proposed, “I would be 80 years old, still with Anthony, you know?”
The theme
Nevertheless, once she’d decided to take the plunge, she wanted to throw a memorable engagement party for friends, including her RHOM castmates.
“Anthony and I love to host parties and have a lot of fun planning our events, so when it came to planning our engagement party, we did just that,” Martin, an anesthesiologist, told People magazine.
“We wanted the party to be a reflection of our own love story,” she added. “Having met in Las Vegas, we thought that a ‘Hit the Jackpot in Love’ theme would be fitting.”
The entertainment
Given the theme, the entertainment was literally over the top. The couple brought in LADD Circus school-trained performers to perform aerial stunts, along with a four-piece fusion band and DJ, with the festivities culminating in a crescendo of gold confetti showered onto the departing guests.
And they took advantage of the unique setting to set up a glam photo booth in our bank vault—a remnant of duPont’s 1930s Art Deco-style bank—because, as People put it, “what screams ‘you stole my heart’ more than snapping selfies in a 2,000-square-foot bank safe with a 50,000-pound door?”
The fashion
Martin wore two different ensembles at the party: a shimmering strapless minidress with fringe trim, later switching to a white strapless dress with detached sleeves and crystal shoes. Lopez wore a cream-colored Gucci dinner jacket with Tom Ford accessories.
If you want to throw a memorable celebration, you can let your imagination soar in the dramatic backdrop of the Historic Alfred I. duPont Building.