This blog entry is on the more personal side for me. While I cherish all of my couples and often stay friends with them after the wedding, it’s rare to work for people that I truly view as family. Michelle has been like a sister to me ever since she was hired to be the first babysitter for my niece, Emerson. When she got engaged to Sydney, I didn’t even give her the option to work with anyone else. At that time, I had no idea I was signing on for what would turn out to be a true family affair. Michelle and Sydney asked my sister, Dr. Marni Brown, to officiate the ceremony; my sister’s wife, Casey, to be a bridesmaid; and my niece and nephew to be the flower children. I also had no idea I was accepting a job that would turn out to be an entire weekend filled with unicorns, confetti cannons and tons of glitter.

The epic engagement set the tone. Sydney is a jewelry designer whose main inspiration for her collection of Sydney Strong Jewelry is love. After two years of dating, Michelle was spending the summer working in Anchorage, AK when Sydney popped the question atop Colony Glacier. The proposal began with a helicopter journey to an otherwise inaccessible glacier just outside of Girdwood, AK. The ring, designed by Sydney, was 18k white gold, featuring a 2.5 carat oval diamond and accented by round full cut white diamonds. The ring also featured an “M” and “S” underneath the stone and was hand engraved with the Alaskan Mountain Range on the inside of the band. Michelle also chose to mark the occasion for Sydney, proposing back to her on the Capilano Extension Bridge in Vancouver, BC. Michelle presented Sydney with a ring designed at llyn Strong Fine Art Jewelry. To honor their adventurous spirit, Sydney’s ring also has an image of the Vancouver mountains underneath the two sided halo surrounding her stone. This concept of the mutual proposal influenced how we later made key wedding decisions, such as their first look and aisle entrance.

Night one kicked off at the private residence of Sydney’s Uncle, Dr. Glenn Head - in Greenville, South Carolina, with the inspiration for the evening coming from the girls’ favorite way to celebrate – pizza, champagne, and dancing. The invitation suite, designed by The Indigo Mill, was pressed with gold foil and headed with “Cheers to Love,” a phrase that made a few appearances throughout the evening. As guests entered the main lawn, they were greeted with a glass of Vintage Veuve Clicquot presented on a custom ice wall, etched with the “Cheers to Love” and designed to keep the bubbly at its optimum temperature.

Other personal touches included splashes of rainbow to celebrate and honor their pride, a living greenery wall with a white neon sign that read “Because Love,” a welcome bag shopping suite in lieu of hotel delivery, a custom stage that was built for the Atlanta based band “The Free” with a marquee sign reading “Cheers to Love,” confetti cannons that showered guests with biodegradable glitz on the dance floor, and two roaming unicorns that all guests took photos with. In addition to the champagne, guests were served several varieties of craft pizza and salad by Coastal Crust Mobile Eatery and assorted cookies by Bakery off Augusta. The elegant, three tiered, white cake was suspended from a custom built arch and swing, and when cut, surprised the guests with the rainbow layered inside.

On day two, the brides got ready separately amongst their bridesmaids. They were escorted with their eyes closed to stand back to back and then rotate into each other simultaneously for their first look. The ceremony took place on the helipad at the top of the Hotel Domestique property, which received a custom ivory paint treatment for the event and offered guests stunning mountain views. The 15 bridesmaids wore a soft palate of blues and greys by Jenny Yoo. The aisle was designed in two parts shaped like the letter “Y” with two arbored entrances at the back, allowing the 15 bridesmaids alternating entrances and both brides the ability to appear at the same moment. The brides were each escorted by their mother and father, pausing where the two separate aisles met to walk to the front hand in hand.

As guests headed to cocktail hour, they learned their table number via a wall of tri-color custom luggage tags underneath a sign reading “Your Seat Awaits.” When entering the lobby, they were welcomed into a space that was designed to feel like they were in the couple’s living room. Art on the walls had been replaced with pieces from the brides’ home, including a custom piece with Justice Kennedy’s ruling on marriage equality. The color palate of the lobby was softened to reflect the blues and greys present throughout the event. Specialty cocktails served by the venue consisted of The Aviation and the Road of Vines. Curtains were pulled and guests were invited to enter the courtyard to find long tables dressed in ivory linen and navy hemstitched napkins, adorned with blue and grey tapered candles and a combination of high and low flower arrangements, votives, and greenery by Katelyn Pinner. Menus and seating cards, by The Indigo Mill, were also hand painted to match the brides’ invitation suite which was accented with 24k gold paint.

A custom wooden plank dance floor was built by Professional Party Rentals with vine draped chandeliers above. An acrylic bridge was suspended over the courtyard’s water feature to house the cake giving it the appearance of hovering over the water. The farm-to-table family style menu was designed to drive conversation at the long tables and ensure guests of both parties felt at home in the family driven atmosphere. After dinner, The Retreat band had every guest on the dance floor and the evening ended with a grand sparkler exit.

As an event planner, I don’t always have the opportunity to make sure that unicorns arrive for photos or get to supervise a bride being built to hold a wedding cake. The many details that went into this wedding were a blast for me to work on. I do, however, always have a microscopic view of the couple and their friends and family that are a part of the wedding. In the case of Michelle and Sydney, I’m grateful they hired me for their wedding weekend, but even more so, that I am a part of their family forever.