ESSAY
“My colleagues at Open Style Lab and I designed a bouquet holder to give the illusion that I was holding one,” Christina says. “My neck can’t support heavy hair accessories, so the team at Johnathan Hayden created my veil by adding silver hand-painted flowers on the trim that looked identical to real lace and beading.”
When C H R I S T I N A M A L L O N (30 and a partner at Open Style Lab and an inclusion strategist at Possible) was confronted with an undiagnosable disease that doctors associate most with ALS, she vowed to become an activist, not a pessimist. “I adapt to my paralysis by creating inclusive scenarios that challenge the perception of what it means to be disabled,” Christina says. Case in point: she and J A M E S M I C H A L O V E (32 and a portfolio manager) dubbed their wedding #InclusiveIDo to accommodate any guest in attendance who might be handicapped, no matter how visibly or severe. “Even the small tweaks we made had a huge impact.”
How one bride’s inexplicable disease inspired a celebration that could truly be enjoyed by all. BY B EC KY M U R RAY
James and Christina added braille to their invitations for guests with vision impairments. Because not everyone can—or necessarily needs to—read braille, depending on the quality of their sight, the couple printed their stationery on white paper and used a black and dark green font. Color contrast is known to enhance visiblity for anyone with sight issues, Christina explains. Even the flowers were outlined so that all recipients could appreciate the detail.
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PHOTOGRAPHY BY M2 PHOTOGRAPHY “Twenty percent of our vendors had a disability, just as 20 percent of the world does,” Christina says. “Handicapped professionals are extraordinarily creative because they have to be innovative in order to manage living in a world that wasn’t designed for them. Jessica Ruiz is an extremely talented artist. She applied makeup for my rehearsal dinner with brushes controlled by her mouth because she’s unable to use her arms.”
“I have to wear slip-on shoes because they’re the only type of heel I can put on by myself,” Christina says. “These and the pair I wore for the reception belonged to my grandmother.”
MAKEUP APPLICATION AND FLOWER DONATION PHOTOS: COURTESY OF CHRISTINA MALLON
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You can be disabled and your life can still be aspirational.
3/21/19 6:23 PM
