From Francesca, Verónica, and their wedding planner:
Francesca and Verónica were not bridal brides, planning brides, or crafty brides. They wanted to get married in style without fussing too much about the details. It was a great relief when their wedding planner, Rebecca Dick, announced that “the theme of wedding is wedding,” and they could all move past the tulle-covered fantasies and Pinterest projects doomed to incompletion to plan a glorious ceremony and one hell of a party.
Their goals were simple: 1) Get married 2) Eat well 3) Dance as much as possible.
Step 1: Get married
Despite parental suggestions of Pachelbel and string quartets, Verónica and Francesca went with the Charm City Ramblers, a vibrant ragtime band for their processional, recessional, and cocktail hour. They were so good, some guests tracked them down to hear their gig the following night. The officiant, Maureen Burke, was extraordinary. She customized the service to perfection and even took out the parts that were a bit too mushy for the brides. With the glowing sunset reaching over the balcony and through the floral arch, the entire ceremony was golden, touching, and moving. Thankfully, none of the children cried, but many of the adults did.
Step 2: Eat well
Verónica and Francesca are almost as committed to delicious food as they are to each other. They started things off with a selection of Sardinian wines and Italian salumi, along with some more veggie-friendly hors d’oeuvres. In recognition of their love for culinary tourism, each of the four food stations represented a cuisine that they love. Ethiopian, Cuban, BBQ, and Mexican provided enough variety to accommodate the many preferences that guests can see fit to share with brides (Why does this happen? Who cares that you dislike mayonnaise?), and each cuisine was paired with a corresponding beer or wine. Francesca and Verónica did extensive testing to make sure that the pairings were just right. They are still testing, post-wedding.
Since few people would buy a cake that was already more than a day old under other circumstances, Francesca and Verónica decided to skip cake and have their guests bring pie instead of presents. At least one child gasped with joy when she saw the buffet.
Step 3: Dance as much as possible
If the theme of wedding is wedding, the theme of the reception was ‘make it sound like a high-school dance from the 90s.’ And it did. And it was so good. Everybody danced, including the photographer, Ashlee Wilcox Van Veen, who somehow managed to take fabulous pictures of the action at the same time.
The official party ended with a joyous trek out to the waffle truck, where people got to fill their bellies one last time before setting off for the after-parties.
Photographs by Documentary Associates
