Love is love is love.

More than half my life I've had the pleasure of having a third brother, not by blood but certainly by love. He is one of the most loving and generous people I know. He is the godfather to my son and much to the dismay of my other siblings is his favorite uncle.

I was thrilled to witness as it became official in the eyes of the law, at least in New York State. I was honored to be a witness as my brothers, one by blood and the other by love were able to be married.

I help plan and style so many weddings every year but this simple ceremony in the courthouse surrounded by the closest family and friends was by far the most meaningful. Now the law recognizes what I've known for the last 22 years, love is love is love.

Real Wedding: Lorelei & Michael

Remember that freak October snowstorm we had last year? I'm sure that Lorelei & Michael will never forget the weather on their wedding day. Although they avoided the snow for their City Hall ceremony which happened just a few days before the day of the reception at the 3 West Club was a much different story. I really enjoyed working with Lorelei on creating the right look for her wedding, she came to me with great ideas inspired by her love of travel and work with the Peace Corps. She still had a world map that had traveled with her from place to place decorating her walls. We mounted that on foam core and used it for the escort cards. Lorelei gathered many travel themed props to use and I scouted a few more from the local flea markets. Gold mercury glass vases and metal bowls were used to hold the flowers. Each table had multiple vases and the props were used throughout.
I especially love the entrance display where Lorelei displayed wedding pictures of loved ones which was especially fitting since she wore her grandmother's wedding gown that had been redesigned to best suit Lorelei.

 Lorelei's bouquet was a mix of white ranunculus, white calla lilies, astilbe and gomphrena with accents of green lily grass.

 

 Entrance display with vintage suitcases, maps, globes and a vintage camera were combined with brown bottles and gold mercury glass bud vases filled with white tulips, green fern, anemones and gomphrena.

  Map of the world with place cards.

 Each table had a different assortment of travel props with flowers.

All photos courtesy of Karen Cunningham.

What worked best about this wedding was that the "theme" seemed effortless and was not too overdone or forced in any way. You can include your personality, your hobbies and interests, the parts of your life that you are passionate about without overdoing it. It's important to find the balance between a personal theme and "kitschy".