Annie + Kenny

Annie’s first words to me about her vision for her wedding were “garden tea party”. Her whole face brightened as we chatted about the fun their guests would have playing lawn games, being delighted at every turn of the garden, and spreading joy. This planning process had a kind of delicateness—a sweet invitation toward play was necessary in the context of the hard driven realities of Kenny’s years in medical school; the couple craved some levity, some softness, some innocent pleasure. We planned accordingly.

But when an unanticipated torrential down pour the night before the wedding caused the whole ground underneath the tent to flood out, the floor dropped out of the sweet garden party plan: the whole reason to have had the tent was to be our rain plan. This was heart-breaking—and complex. But I saw potential. I called the many relevant vendors immediately, shared with them my plan, and pitched it to Annie + Kenny. What if we reinvent this whole thing right now? They were skeptical—maybe they should just move the whole thing to the community hall down the road—but I could see that the security they felt in our relationship enabled them to risk a brighter, braver option. I spent the morning moving every table, every chair, every plate, utensil, and centerpiece out from under the tent, sprinkled them around in a whimsical and unexpected fashion, and redirected traffic to boost serendipity. It was so nimble, so playful, and so much more the actual summer wonderland vision that informed the celebration in the first place.