See How a Ballroom Was Transformed into a Garden Oasis

Stephanie Weers
April 11, 2017
Categories: Real Weddings, Romantic, The Blog, Traditional Elegance
Tags: Real Wedding, real weddings

If you think a country club ballroom can’t compete with an outdoor garden setting, just wait until you meet this wedding photographed by Melani Lust. The vendors managed to bring an enchanted garden vibe indoors with greenery, florals, and one of the prettiest seating chart displays we’ve ever seen. More to see right this way!

From the bride… Drew and I met while students at the University of Richmond – we had the same groups of friends and went to the same parties, despite the two year age difference. It wasn’t until after I graduated that we ran into one another at Homecoming and we spent the whole weekend getting to know one another again. Drew was living in Washington DC and I had just moved to New York City. We made it 5 months of long distance dating until Drew made the move up to New York. The rest is history!

After we got engaged (5am sunrise on the beach!), we tried to enjoy “just being engaged” for a couple weeks but quickly jumped into wedding planning. We both wanted to get married in the summer because of the warm weather in New England, everything is very green and lush, and it was most convenient timing with our jobs. We partnered with Lea Ann Miller to help us plan everything and anything – she is a dream come true for any bride and helped with every decision!

Due to the heat in July, we had decided to hold our reception indoors at Greenwich Country Club – air conditioning! And thank goodness we did that because it was a heatwave that weekend! However, I had seen many photos of romantic enchanted gardens and that’s how I wanted to recreate our reception room. We wanted to embrace the natural greens, whites, and touches of soft grays and purples. Katherine from KDJ Botanica immediately shared our vision for how we could transform a traditional “ballroom” into a midsummer’s garden. I trusted her completely with ideas to incorporate large branches and trees throughout the room and on the tables, with tea lights hanging from the branches. We brought in drapery for the walls and ceilings to make it feel as if we were outside under the stars. I wanted everything to feel very natural and simple yet magical. I cried when I walked into the room after our cocktail hour.

Drew and I each spent the morning of our wedding with our closest friends and siblings until we saw one another for our “first look”. I am so glad we decided to see each other before the ceremony – not only did it subdue some of our nerves, but it was the only moment where it was only the two of us all day long (except for our short getaway ride in my dad’s Triumph from the 70s!) It was so special sharing that moment with him and even though our friends and family were just around the corner, we felt like we were the only two people for miles! That was definitely one of the most exciting and enjoyable moments of the day.

The reception was amazing – Pete Saunders and his band had everyone dancing all night long. The speech from my father made everyone shed some tears while the maids of honor and best men had everyone crying from laughing so hard. I know that many brides and grooms feel a burden to have to say hello to each and every single guest however Drew and I loved stopping by every guest for hugs and well wishes – it made our 275 wedding feel like an intimate dinner party because we truly loved every single person who was there for us.