12 minute read

THE BRIDES 39 Dreamy destination weddings 43 Special ways to honor loved ones

from inRegister Weddings 2022-2023

from inRegister Weddings 2022-2023, page 10

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The cold didn't bother Katie Baron and Joey Migues, as they celebrated their wedding in the freezing temperatures of Montana.

Have Wedding, Will Travel

DESTINATION WEDDINGS BECAME DREAM DAYS FOR THESE THREE COUPLES

BY CHRISTINA LEO

Crashing waves. Snowcapped mountains. Centuries-old castles. Last year, a few Baton Rouge brides brought their weddings out of the Bayou State with the goal of not only finding stunning big-day backdrops but also making memories with a small group of loved ones. “Quality time is my love language,” says Lauren Whittle, an event coordinator who married her husband Adam Coe in West Palm Beach, Florida, last September. “I’ve been to a destination wedding before, and I loved seeing how everyone bonded and formed relationships that wouldn’t have necessarily happened otherwise. That’s what I really wanted—to be able to spend more time with the people in our lives.” Situated with clear views of the Atlantic, the Ocean Lawn at The Breakers Palm Beach resort served as the setting for Lauren and Adam’s nuptial ceremony. All 130 guests also received invitations to the rehearsal dinner, and because guests were able to meet and mingle with the bride and groom there—not to mention during time spent poolside or during other resort activities—by the time the wedding day came, the bride and groom were able to focus purely on one another without the pressure of playing host. “Since The Breakers hosts weddings all the time, the staff was able to plan our wedding in about a week,” says Lauren, who hosted the wedding reception in the resort’s Circle Ballroom, a space dominated by a sparkling chandelier à la Beauty and the Beast. “It took a lot of pressure off us, and forced us to be decisive about details.” Katie Baron also took a fast track to wedding planning after becoming engaged to Joey Migues and organizing their ceremony for a snowy New Year’s Eve in Whitefish Montana. Katie, a Baton Rouge native and Realtor, has always loved to travel, and after the couple expressed their first “I love you” at the top of a Colorado mountain, they knew they wanted to celebrate their union in a place with a similar sense of awe. Katie chose Whitefish for its beautiful ski slopes situated between glacial landscapes. “My husband had never skied before, so before the wedding he took some lessons with my nephews,” says Katie. “I didn’t even have time to stress because we were constantly on sleigh rides or skiing or just hanging out with everybody, and since it was a small, 45-person wedding, we got to talk with all of them instead of just seeing them for five minutes before the wedding.” For Katie, the small guest list didn’t amount to a massive sacrifice—not after beco ing an honoree at 2021’s Best Dressed Ball just a few months earlier, where she spent the night among 1,200 people. The intimacy of the Holt Stage

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The historic streets of St. Andrews, Scotland, served as the ideal setting for Claire Landreneau and Nathan Poole's wedding day.

Hideaway venue, a red barn in Montana’s Flathead Valley, and the -8-degree temperature only amplified the sense of coziness at the ceremony and reception. Katie even chose a meal of casual Montana barbecue for her rehearsal dinner. “My dear friend married us, another dear friend said a prayer over us, and that friend’s sister sang our first dance song,” says Katie. “It was just so focused around our people, and that made it really special.” Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, another couple was celebrating the first months of marriage in the university town of St. Andrews, Scotland, not far from the Church of St. Mary on the Rocks, the medieval ruin that served as the makeshift backdrop of their COVIDera July wedding. For Claire Landreneau and Nathan Poole, an unexpected change in venue turned into an experience they couldn’t have replicated anywhere else. “We were supposed to get married in Baton Rouge and had the whole thing planned out, including the dress,” says Claire, who is studying for her master’s degree in medieval history and biblical studies from the University of St. Andrews, the same place where she met her Manchester-born husband as an undergraduate. “But restrictions were really

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Luxe views from The Breakers Palm Beach resort sold Lauren Whittle and Adam Coe on the out-of-town venue.

intense in Scotland, and Nathan couldn’t enter the U.S., so we ended up scrapping everything and planning a new ceremony— with no invitations or anything—in about two weeks.” Restrictions forbade indoor ceremonies but allowed limited gatherings on public land, which meant that the couple tied the knot in a civil ceremony with Nathan’s family and Claire’s fresh-out-of-quarantine mother, brother and sister in attendance—along with any other onlookers who paused to applaud from the street. As for the dress, Claire ended up wearing the white gown she last wore for her Le Cercle de Bacchus presentation ball in Baton Rouge, a selection Nathan helped her make during his first visit to see her in the States. “My sister handled the flo ers, made the cake, and had the rest of my family write letters to me, which was really sweet, and we had an impromptu barbecue rehearsal dinner at an Airbnb,” says Claire, who still plans to have a larger ceremony in Baton Rouge when timing allows. “Even so, this is the place where we met and decided to have a life together. We were able to visit our favorite spots and take photos in these places that feel so magical and quaint. It just ended up feeling perfect, like being in a storybook.”

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Subtle details in honor of bride Vivian Jeansonne's deceased father played a pivotal role in her wedding décor.

Forget Me Not

BY CHRISTINA LEO

COUPLES INCORPORATE SENTIMENTAL TOUCHES INTO THEIR WEDDING DAY TO HONOR THE MEMORIES OF LOVED ONES

When Vivian Jeansonne began dating Benjamin Guarisco in

high school, her father Marcus understood quickly that they’d one day walk down the aisle. Marcus embraced Benjamin with open arms and looked forward to the day when he might call him son, Vivian’s mother Teri recalls. Marcus passed away in 2019, and Vivian knew the vision for her big day would be forever altered. But when it was time to plan her February 2022 wedding, she vowed that her father’s memory would play an important role in the day. The average guest may not have noticed, but Vivian and Teri—who coordinated the event as the wedding planner behind Haviland Designs— managed to sneak bits and pieces of Marcus’ personality throughout various aspects of the food, décor and even attire of the day. Take, for example, the jewel-blue tone of the bridesmaids’ dresses, or the bright eye of framed feathers on the reception tables; both details were inspired by the peacocks Marcus raised for most of Vivian’s childhood. “The subtlety of the gesture was something I really liked,” Vivian says. At the bar, guests could pick up a “Marcusrita,” a margarita inspired by Marcus’ family-favorite recipe. They could snack on his favorite cake made of Ghirardelli chocolate, or spot his family crest on the invitations, or even listen to the band he had always wanted to play at the wedding: The Phunky Monkeys. And in Vivian’s bridal bouquet, flower lovers could spot the orchids inspired by her father’s hobby of growing them in greenhouses. “Other people may not have noticed, but the fact that I knew all those special touches were there was just a more intimate way for me to be closer to my dad on such a big day,” says Vivian. Especially after the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the urge to make the most of time shared with loved ones has remained a significant factor behind the return to fullcapacity weddings. Vivian and Benjamin’s wedding was just one example of a growing nuptial trend celebrating not just the future a couple is walking into but the memory of those they must carry on without. An October 2021 article in The New York Times highlighted the movement, spotlighting methods of memorialization ranging from fastening locket charms onto bouquets to sewing patches of loved ones’ old shirts into bridal gowns to draping a grandmother’s artwork over the

huppah of a Jewish wedding. Here in Baton Rouge, painter Stephanie T. Gaffney of Torregrossa Fine Art devised a unique way to bring the memory of a bride’s deceased father back into the picture. Her “Father-Daughter Walk” paintings feature brides and their late fathers arm-in-arm on the wedding aisle, recreating what would have been. “My first request came from a groom about four years ago, one month before his wedding,” says Gaffney. “He wanted to give his wife the best present he could, which was something he couldn’t give: her dream of having her dad walk her down the aisle.” Gaffney uses photo references of the father, the bride, her dress and the venue to create the moment on canvas, which is usually given to the bride as a gift before the ceremony, so that the painting can be presented in front of family and guests. “There’s not a dry eye in the house when that happens,” she says, remembering another instance where she painted the same father twice—both for twin sisters who had lost their father very young, and who gifted each other the paintings two years apart. “It’s a way to make that dream they had as young girls come true, and just a really unique and touching way to remember someone who’s passed.” When seeking something more traditional, brides and grooms may opt for a table of photos memorializing their late relatives. Teri has a few other recommendations for ensuring that their memory shines bright. “I would make sure that the photos have purpose and intention behind them,” she suggests, “whether that’s using photos from your grandparents’ wedding day or blowing up photos on big canvases and displaying them prominently where people are walking in—like during the sign-in or a cocktail

COURTESY STEPHANIE T. GAFFNEY

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EMILY FUSELIER PHOTOGRAPHY hour. You want to make sure it’s not just an afterthought.” Including a small “in memoriam” note in the wedding program, she says, is another near-necessity for those wishing to acknowledge a loss. Those looking to make a grander gesture can also opt for a ceremonial lighting of a candle, a moment of silence or a special song played at the reception. If someone was known for having an extensive garden, then incorporating favorite plants in floral décor would also make for a subtle, if significant nod. “I think what’s most important is to make people feel like they’re living a memory through all the senses—something you can eat, smell, touch, see or even hear,” says Teri. “It doesn’t have to be formal. Every individual is so different—it’s just a matter of asking yourself about the little details that made up that person’s life, and honoring them in small and subtle ways.”