Love for her grandfather creates Palace celebration

Love for hear grandfather creates Palace celebration
Love for hear grandfather creates Palace celebration
Carlos and Victoria Rueda are pictured with her grandfather, Rendueles Villaba.

When her beloved grandfather in Kendall was unable to attend her formal wedding at Vizcaya, his granddaughter brought her family reception to him.

The unusual circumstance came about when Victoria Gonzalez of Coral Gables decided that her wedding day on Oct. 16 wouldn’t be complete without the presence of Rendueles Villaba, 88, a U.S. Army veteran.

Smartly attired in a suit and Panama hat, Villaba joined friends and family for the wedding reception at The Palace Renaissance where he has resided for three years due to a debilitating illness.

“We felt that Rendueles would enjoy having the wedding day come to him so both he and his Palace friends could join in the occasion,” explained the bride’s mother, Victoria Villaba of Coral Gables.

Applause from residents greeted the arrival of Gonzalez and her new husband, Carlos Rueda of Kendall, a U.S. Army veteran of seven years with two tours in Iraq, who also wore his dress uniform for the occasion Organza décor with pink lighting provided an appropriate setting for the couple who cut their wedding cake and lifted pink champagne toasts during twilight hours after an earlier exchange of wedding vows and a luncheon attended by the family and guests at Vizcaya Gardens.

“Vicki is my father’s only grandchild so this is very special for all of us,” added Ms. Villaba. noting that Victoria’s uncle, Rendueles Villalba II, and his wife, Laura, had flown from Boston, MA to attend the affair.

The bride, a graduate of Florida State University, is co-owner of Victoria & Associates Career Services Inc. of Coral Gables where, following an online courtship, Carlos proposed as the couple strolled along Miracle Mile.

A retired U.S. Air Force officer, Mr. Villaba was a teacher in Dade County Public Schools before retiring, teaching ESOL and fifth grade at Palm Springs Elementary School in Hialeah.

The Palace Renaissance, 11355 SW 84 St., provides a traditional assisted living with specialized staffing and services catering to the needs of residents who are frail, or suffer from Alzheimer’s or dementia.


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