A Classic Fall Affair That Brings a Whole New Meaning to Backyard Wedding

The vision for the wedding was simply to create a celebration that was classic, romantic, strikingly beautiful (and of course, wildly fun!) at Christy and Ivo's private home, such that the party in the backyard felt like a natural extension of the interior of their historic house.

Christy's strapless Berta gown was sensational. Even in the same gown, she transformed her look several times throughout the evening, as she wore a beautiful tulle cape for the ceremony in lieu of a traditional veil, and then transitioned into a delicate bolero for the reception.

There were no bridesmaids or groomsmen for the wedding, as Christy and Ivo desired to keep this an evening of intimate celebration.

Upon arrival, guests were served tray-passed hors d'eouvres and cocktails, before sitting down to a four-course plated dinner in the tent. Dinner included cauliflower soup, a bibb wedge salad with figs and bleu cheese, pan seared grouper, and wagyu beef tenderloin before everyone enjoyed decadent wedding cake and a smorgasbord of late night desserts.

From the very beginning, Christy was enamored with the idea of using quicksand roses in abudance. And so we did! The florals were all white, with the exception of this particular variety of rose that pulls either soft blush or true champagne depending on it's natural petal variation. It was a beautiful compliment to the rose gold flatware and candle vessels we paired with the tabletop elements. Floral varieties included white larkspur, sweet pea, lisianthus, garden roses, stock, and ranunculus. We let smilax greenery and italian ruscus foliage drip throughout the tent on the bistro lighting and fixtures. Tiny unexpected stems of dark blue viburnum berries were added to the centerpieces as a nice little tidbit to tie in with the midnight blue china dinner plates.

The cake featured simple textured buttercream icing on three tiers, and we displayed it on a traditional pedestal stand surrounded by voluminous fresh flowers. It was a fun little statement moment in the tent!

At each place setting, guests discovered a small gift box personalized with their name. Inside the box they found a thoughtful thank-you note from Christy and Ivo, as well as a NEST candle and a box of matches. A little something to take home and remember the evening by, with a heartfelt message of gratitude for traveling to celebrate together and supporting their marriage.

Though live entertainment was important, we wanted to be mindful of the intimate size of the party. With less than 80 guests in attendance, a traditional big band would have felt too large and imposing in the tent setting, but a DJ wasn't quite enough to satisfy desire to have a live music dynamic. We turned to the team at T. Warner Artists, who put together a unique mix of three live musicians and a DJ. They synchronized a fascinating blend of classic dance hits, Latin music, and a wide musical range that kept the dance floor packed all evening long.

This wedding was three years in the making. Our team began working with Christy and Ivo in 2018 to ultimately plan, design, and produce their engagement party in 2019. A few months later we began planning the wedding for 2020, which ultimately then had to be postponed multiple times. It felt like a dream come true when we *finally* got the chance to celebrate these two with a proper wedding event on October 1, 2022. But not to be outdone by a global pandemic, the weather forecast did it's level best to mess up our plans, as hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida mere days before the wedding and worked it's way up the east coast, bringing it's tropical storm remnants directly through Winston-Salem, North Carolina less than 24 hours before the wedding. Not only did it mean that many of the guests (most who were traveling from the Miami area) had great difficulty getting to NC in time, but we also dealt with severe wind damage, downed trees/branches and power outages. The power at Christy and Ivo's home came back on less than three hours before guests began arriving for cocktail hour! Needless to say, we were prepared with generator power and a dry tent, but suffice it to say that it was quite a wild week! During dinner that night, the clouds finally cleared, we could see the stars, and there wasn't a single drop of rain. It was beautiful. The leaves that had fallen on our sailcloth tent the night before looked like beautiful confetti!