As they celebrated the beginning of 2010 at a new year’s eve party with close friends, michael proposed to adriana with a beautiful custom made engagement ring that he had personally designed. these pages Friends at school years before, the pair wanted their wedding day to be filled with sentimental, personal touches. ivy, reflecting their love of vintage detailing with a clean, modern edge, was the perfect venue choice. u Walking down the aisle to the sounds of a string quartet, Adriana and Micheal were wed under the same traditional Jewish ‘chuppah’ as Michael’s sister. Draped in floating white chiffon, the ‘chuppah’ was decorated with white dahlias and lisianthus. Family tradition continued, with Adriana wearing her great grandmother’s delicate lace veil to complement her stunning couture gown and bolero. Wrapped in black satin ribbon, Adriana also made the order of service booklets and little ‘Yay’ flags which were waved by guests at the end of ceremony. u Michael and Adriana asked their two year old niece, Madeleine, to be their flower girl.
Describe your wedding day - your memories and highlights of the lead-up, ceremony and reception.
Having booked the Ivy Pool for the ceremony, the sky was threatening rain - even starting to sprinkle a little half an hour before the ceremony - but eventually the weather gods smiled and the rain held out long enough for the ceremony and post-ceremony cocktails and canapés.
In a twist on tradition, I had to wait for the groom to be ready - in the humidity the groom had postponed getting into his suit before realising that there was nobody in the bridal party that could help him tie his bow tie!
Part of the dance is hoisting bride and groom on chairs high in the air - a mean feat when the groom is 6'5"! But they managed to get him up there somehow, and I managed to not fall off my chair, but it was definitely a hair raising few minutes and a lot of fun.
I organised a makeshift DIY photo booth with a dress up station (think hats, pipes, moustaches on sticks and feather boas) and a photographer during the reception. The hilarious results were included in the thank you cards.
Describe any family traditions, personalised details, creative ideas, themes, colour schemes, decorations, bonboniere/favours, or items you made for the day.
Because the event was black tie, and the Ivy Room is such a magnificent black and white space, we thought it made perfect sense to carry it right through. This went from our wedding invitations, to the ceremony booklets Ivy menu's are thankfully already black and white, to place cards and table settings. Floral arrangements were all white with greenery. The bridal party was also dressed in black or white except for the groom and best man's bow ties (which were in a houndstooth black and white pattern) and their vets, which were grey. I made hundreds of white tissue paper pom poms which decorated the ceremony and reception ,designed and made the ceremony booklets in black and white and wrapped them all in black satin ribbon, Michael designed the invitations which we had letterpressed in the US and sent back to us.The chuppah was draped in white chiffon with white dahlias and lisianthus with greenery tied to the poles.
I designed my dress based on some vintage inspiration in old photographs and dresses that I had seen in magazines. With the mermaid-tail, hourglass shape and fifties capped sleeve the dress was designed to be feminine, simple and elegant.
I also made ‘Yay!' flags for the ceremony that were handed out with the ceremony booklets. Printed in different fonts so they were all slightly different, they were to replace the tradition of throwing rice/confetti and ended up making some of the best photos as people posed with them.
Mum asked me to include a little letter with our invitations that asked our guests to each write us a letter with their "recipe for a good marriage" - an actual recipe, or just a little bit of advice. She had them all bound into a book with our wedding speeches and ceremony - it's a really amazing personalised keepsake that I will always treasure. Plus having all these tried and tested recipes - pure gold!"
