Please come to any part of the weekend you can make. We are thrilled if you are there for any piece- don’t worry about making all the events if your work/personal schedule or liver can’t accommodate it.
Based on a representative sampling of the friends I’ve gone shopping with, most people are wearing long. The bride and groom do not have a strong opinion on this. Black or White or Black & White
Trolleys will be available departing from 5.30pm on Saturday from The Ben, AKA and Canopy Hilton hotels to transport guests to The Norton Museum. Trolleys will be making round trips all night to take guests back to the hotels until 11.30pm
The venues will be labelling all food items vegetarian/gluten free/dairy free/ vegan and there will be options at the events.
If you’re happy to stay within West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Island, absolutely not. Walking and biking are easy. Also Ubers are plentiful and can get you anywhere. If you want to explore more widely, head out to Wellington to see the horse show or the polo grounds, head up to Jupiter or Vero or down to Delray, then a car is a good idea. There is also a fast train in South Florida called the Brightline that is very nice for any pre/post trips to Miami / Orlando.
Everyone is welcome Friday night and we think the kids will have fun. Saturday night is formal, in an art museum and may not be the best venue for children/younger folks who are very active or easily bored—and most importantly their presence may not allow the parents to really enjoy themselves. But ultimately, it’s your call. Just indicate your numbers accurately on the RSVP please so our wonderful party planners don’t have a meltdown the day of…
YES WE DO….we really, really mean it. Your presence is your present. But if you want to do more, please make sure to meet people you don’t know and if anyone is standing alone please include them -that’s the best gift we could receive.
We strongly suggest making dinner reservations. It’s not high season but the good places fill up fast. We have noted below places that are better for larger groups. West Palm: Grato-our go to, neighborhood Italian. John’s choice for best pizza in town and certainly the best chicken parm. Good for groups. Gratowpb.com Kitchen: Neighborhood comfort food. Great meatloaf and service. Can do larger groups with advance notice. Kitchenpb.com RH Rooftop: fabulous fries and cool rooftop views. Rh.com Pistache is traditional French bistro fare and has a nice outdoor patio on the square. Pistachewpb.com Pink Steak is an over the top South Florida steakhouse. Pinksteak.com In a pinch, Café Sapori is solid old school Italian and almost always has room for larger groups. Cafesaporicorp.com Palm Beach: Palm Beach Grill- our absolute favorite place; book early and no groups over 4 or 6. Comfort food but incredibly well done— emerald kale salad and French dip sandwiches…. www.palmbeachgrill.com Honor Bar- casual sister to Palm Beach Grill. No reservations – always hopping and deliciously dark. www.honorbar.com Flagler Steakhouse. Yes, it’s part of the generally overpriced and overhyped Breakers. Yes, it’s got a generic country club feel. But wow is the food good. Really really good. The bread alone is worth a trip. Www.Thebreakers.com Buccan-usually considered one of the top restaurants in Palm Beach. Reservations are a must! Interesting, fairly casual menu with good fish options. Www.buccanpalmbeach.com The sister izakaya next door, imotopalmbeach.com is also very good for sushi.
Loic Bakery is a nice 15 minute walk from the Ben and has the best almond or almond/ raspberry croissants. You’ll be sorry you know this information. Bakeryloic.com West Palm Beach Green Market runs every Saturday morning starting at 9am. It’s a 3 minute walk from the Ben Hotel and one of the best farmers’ markets in the country. We love wandering the market and snacking on cheeses, breads, empanadas and arepas. WPB.org Avocado Grill has yummy sandwiches avocadogrillwpb.com Hive: part of the Hive retail empire, this is a very popular, busy and yummy spot for lunch. Enter into the stores at your peril; highly hazardous to fiscal solvency. Lynora’s on Dixie: Rene’s vote for best pizza in town. Cool vibe in an old gas station. Very casual counter service. Lynoras.com The Colony poolside, in Palm Beach is fun for a dressed up scene. Thecolonypalmbeach.com Pizza al Fresco in Palm Beach is a casual favorite. The pizza is decent, not great, but the atmosphere is fantastic—and it’s a good casual spot to relax after shopping on Worth. Pizzaalfresco.com Sant Ambroeus has a wonderful atmosphere, insanely good bacon and eggs and pasta. Great for breakfast, lunch or dinner— just don’t expect any bargains. Santambroeus.com The public par 3 course has a great casual ocean front restaurant (which are weirdly kinda rare in Palm Beach) related to Pizza al Fresco — alfrescopb.com (no reservations) If you want a lovely ocean front lunch, the Four Seasons is a good option. The Breakers is another choice on the water but we think the food, service and ocean front are better at the Four Seasons.
Yes! A favorite Saturday morning activity is to bike or walk the Lake Trail. Take the bridge (there’s a pedestrian/bike lane) over to Palm Beach and connect with the Lake Trail behind the Society of the Four Arts. You can then head over to the ocean front and take in Atlantic Ocean views on your return loop. There is a share bike system called Bright Bike (gobrightbike.com) or you can rent e-bikes from PBEBIKE.com You can walk the nature trails in Grassy Waters Preserve or go see the manatees at the www.visitmanateelagoon.com. Besides world class shopping on Worth Avenue and at Royal Poinciana, you can also shop the vintage jewelry, décor and clothing stores in the West Palm Beach Antique Row & Design district. Dina C’s is one of Rene’s favorites (ask her about her vintage Pucci find) -as are the vintage costume jewelry shops. You can swing a club at Drive Shack or PopStroke (near PBI).Driveshack.com and PopStroke.com For public courses, reserve tee times at The Park, one of the best public golf courses in the country (www.Theparkwestpalm.com), or at the beautiful Oceanside Par 3 (www.golfontheocean.com) You can paddleboard through www.saltydogpaddle.org (and benefit dogs while you’re at it!) but make sure to book ahead. Visit the Norton in peace and get a preview of the party venue (we’ll see a little art Saturday night but it’s a great, eclectic collection and, strangely, access to the art is limited when alcohol is involved). You could also just go to the beach….we’re kinda known for that around here….
The wedding celebration Saturday night will not have assigned seats or plated meals. There will be lots of food and tons of seating but everyone will be responsible for feeding themselves. We promise the food will be good and plentiful; we just need you to pull yourselves away from the festivities for a few minutes to eat.