Church of The Little Flower

Everyone will probably tell you that this is the most beautiful church in Miami, and honestly I have to agree. The place has marble columns and flooring, shrines to saints, and has mass at 6:15 am for those who want to start their day off with mass. I highly recommend visiting this church. The only downside would probably be that they only offer street parking. They may have a parking lot hidden somewhere, I guess I just have to find it.

Established in 1926, the Church of the Little Flower is one of the oldest in the metropolitan Miami area and is considered a historic landmark. It was named in honor of St. Theresa of Lisieux, also known at «The Little Flower.» It is a Roman Catholic church, and like Plymouth Congregational Church, a popular wedding location, though in my opinion, not nearly as lovely as Plymouth Congregational Church.
The fact that they removed the church bell and use a bell tone through a speaker instead, is rather tacky, in my opinion, and takes away from the charm.
I had to chuckle at others’ comments about this church being strict or conservative, considering the high-​waisted, butt-​cheek revealing shorts a lot of the teenage girls were wearing. Their parents seemed fine with it! You would not be caught dead walking into ANY church in Europe, much less a Roman Catholic church, in such attire. Stay classy and respectful, parishioners!

This church has managed to suck the joy out of every sacrament I’ve ever had there. They are archaic and inflexible to the point where they have made me question my faith. Every dealing I have ever had with them has driven me further and further from Catholicism.

Since I’m on the hunt for my wedding, this review is mostly for the hall they have named the Colomber, since as every Miamian knows, the church is one of the most beautiful and strictest in the whole city.
So the hall; it is two stories, and has two ballrooms. When you rent it for your wedding, they rent both floors to you, which is great so you don’t have to compete against another wedding. The ballrooms have high ceilings, pillars, the striking Spanish elegance of Coral Gables. However the ballrooms need a bit repair. They have outdated and dust curtains and the floor needs to be polished. However, they ARE currently doing some renovations so you might luck out by the time you have your wedding. The price and catering is a big con. You have to pay $ 5,500 just to rent the hall. If you have your ceremony at the church they give you $ 1000 discount, but you still have to pay at least another $ 2,200 to the church for the mandatory donation. All of this can be seen on their website. ON TOP of all that, you have to go with their caterer that starts at $ 105 per person with a chicken dish. By the time you crunch the numbers, you might as well have your wedding at the Biltmore on a Sunday and It’d be cheaper.
If you want your ceremony at the Church of the little Flower make sure to save the date well in advance since this church gets booked years in advance. You might also want to read through their rules and regulations to make sure you’re comfortable with them.
All in all, a beautiful hall and magnificent church, but a bit too pricey.

Very disappointed with this church do not have your baptism or wedding at this church, they are very greedy and money comes first. I tried to baptize my daughter here, I was very excited because of the religious aspect of bringing forward my daughter to God and because of them the whole experience was ruined. First they had all these regulations, if the godparents are not registered they must bring a letter from the church, I jump through all the hoops and brought all documentation. But I was a new registrant, and it did not matter that I explained I belong to Little flowers parishioner, they wanted to charge me $ 200. Only if you had been registered a year ago, you pay $ 125. I explained that was a lot for us because my husband has medical disability and we are only earn a small amount of disability money. Vivian Xiques (curator of the baptism), didn’t care they still wanted the most amount of money. When I asked to speak to the priest, i was told he was busy after coming from a recent trip and it might take him a week to get back to me because he is a very busy man. There is no compassion from the personal workers that are suppose to be people of God, very religious, or at least as human beings to show a sign of humanity. I couldn’t even walk in to see the priest. I was told, «he was to busy». Eventually we received a call from him after leaving him numerous phone messages.
P. S. They also made it very difficult for me to receive my daughter baptism certificate, when I called Vivian stated it had been mailed. I waited two weeks and never received it. When I called back they stated, it was never mailed, so I had to go personally and pick it up.
Vivian Xiqués the curator, made our experience horrible. She was very how should I put it nice terms, stuck up. She made everything difficult for us, even the priest showed more compassion.

This search is super nice in the heart of coral gables, about 2 blocks away from the Biltmore. I started coming to church here when I moved to the neighborhood. I usually attend the Sunday Mass at 10:30 am. Beware this mass is full of kids and may get a little distracting. The kids that go to the school here are required to attend sunday mass and it looks like most of the parents come to this mass. One thing I liked was that they have a special offering where the kids come up and bring their envelope or «donations» up to the alter. It doesn’t really need to be filled with money it could just have a note saying something they are thankful for. Iv’e also recently taken up riding bike to get here in the mornings.

Came here for my friend Iselle’s wedding in December. This church is absolutely beautiful! No flower arrangements needed!
I must say however, it is very strict. We were told that we were not allowed to take any photos inside. I was very disappointed because that was one of the things I looked forward to doing :(

The Church of The Little Flower is located just down the street from Coral Gables congregational church and The Biltmore Hotel.
It’s one of the more beautiful Catholic churches in the Miami/​Coral Gables area.