If I had to choose one word to describe this art-admiring duo, chic would be it. Modern with an edge, this seriously stylish Gary Nader Fine Art soiree was beautifully captured by Katie Lopez Photography. With JCG Events behind the scenes it’s sophisticated yet sweet, making this gallery a masterpiece that can be admired right here.
From Michael Masi of JCG Events LLC… Jeff and Megan are art lovers. From our very first meeting with them it was evident that this needed to be a focal point of the conceptual design of their wedding. We started by selecting a venue in the heart of Miami’s trendy art centric neighborhood of Wynwood. Wynwood is world renown for it seamlessly endless walls with murals from the world’s best street artist. All the wedding activities were to take place at the Gary Nader Fine Art Gallery. This venue set the perfect foundation for the wedding.
It was important to Jeff and Megan that their guests get a sense of how personalized and unconventional their wedding would be. We accomplished this by designing a completely customized invitation suite that included the couples favorite murals from the Wynwood neighborhood. The invites were so popular with guests that most actually kept the RSVP postcards, and sent back photocopies of their responses. That was a first!
On the day of the wedding, Jeff and Megan’s guests were greeted at the gallery entrance by butler passed welcome drinks and were free to peruse the gallery until all the guest arrive. Guests were then invited to the upstairs gallery where the ceremony was to take place. We went with a very modern simple styled ceremony with an acrylic chuppah and ghost chairs to let the art speak for itself. The location of the ceremony was select to take place in front of the gallery’s largest painting, providing a one of a kind backdrop for the nuptials.
After the ceremony guests proceeded to the cocktail receptions. The modern styling from the ceremony flowed into the cocktail receptions space. To personalize the cocktail reception, Jeff and Megan selected a number of their favorite paintings from the gallery’s collection; we then made replicas to hang on a gallery wall with gallery tags with the paintings information along with guests’ names. These served as the weddings escort cards and informed guests where they would be sitting for the dinner reception. In addition to the gallery wall escort paintings, we also provided an artist to sketch and paint portraits of guests during the cocktail reception, serving as an interactive and fun favor for Megan and Jeff’s guests.
The dinner and dancing reception took place in the main gallery. The space was kept out of the guests sight until the end of cocktail hour, when illuminated and revealed the space and invited guest to find their seats. For this section of the evening we created a more natural, earthy design to contrast with the gallery’s stark modern ambiance. We utilized natural reclaimed wood farmhouse tables, with natural flowing garland and candle centerpieces, combined with a mixed seating of ghost chairs, wood benches, and eclectic vintage chairs. The use of bistro lighting and amber up-lighting around the room provided a warm feeling for the remainder of the evening. The room was centered around a parquet wood dance floor, and anchored by live orchard trees we had brought into the gallery.
One of my personal favorite elements to this wedding was the personalization of Jeff and Megan’s wedding cake, again they choose an element that was reflective of themselves and incorporated another one of the neighborhoods murals onto their cake. The cake was placed on a pedestal in the middle of the gallery making it appear as a work of art, in its own right.
Guest were entertained by one of the couples favorite bands and enjoyed a menu reflective of their tastes. The personality and passion for art that Jeff and Megan wanted to express through their wedding created a truly memorable evening for all their guests. As well as a wedding that they can truly call their own.
Photography: Katie Lopez Photography | Event Design: Masi Events | Event Planning: Masi Events | Floral Design: Ines Naftali Floral & Event Design | Wedding Cake: Sugar Fancies | Catering: Bill Hansen Luxury Catering and Event Production | Band: Ketchy Shuby | Harpist: Valerie Brunnette | Art Gallery: Gary Nader Fine Art | Artist: Erin Una | Rentals: Unearthed Vintage | Rentals: Evoga Events