Weddings with a royal treatment

What if Jacksonville had its own high-end, budget-free wedding? Skirt! asked local experts what they would do for an affair that would stack up to William and Kate’s royal wedding.

 

Tips from the wedding planner

- Choose a unique location. Many budgets prohibit brides and grooms from selecting a location that is not set up for events. Everything needs to be brought in, from tents to flooring to restrooms, but the outcome can be a truly exceptional event.

- Host multiple-day events. Many couples are choosing to include welcome parties and post-wedding brunches, but imagine the possibilities of other events in Jacksonville. Imagine a welcome party in Jacksonville, then asking your guests to board a yacht to take them to a hotel farther south.

- Over-the-top decor. Using draping and lighting to separate a ballroom into multiple event spaces adds a lot of impact to an event. Plus, incorporating different themes or colors into each area can keep your guests impressed all night long. Chandeliers and floral arrangements hung from the ceiling add another wow factor.

- Variety of entertainment. Using several different types of music adds more depth to your event. Think of a string quartet for the wedding ceremony, steel drum band for the cocktail hour, 10-piece show band for dinner and dancing, and a DJ for a nightclub-style after-party.

- Food, food and more food. Small plates are a continuing trend in catering, but it’s also a great way to have a variety of food throughout the evening. Have lighter hors d’oeuvres during cocktail hour, followed by several small portions and then a late-night snack menu.

 

The dress

[I recommend] a luxurious ball gown that features a strapless draped neckline made of silk organza spilling into a flowing skirt made of soft net. Accented with an organically shaped Swarovski crystal sash, it is the perfect combination of airy elegance with just a hint of embellishment. This gown by Romona Keveza is perfect for an elegant Florida wedding at an exclusive resort location.

 

The menu

Appetizer

Butlered hors d’oeuvres with mini beef Wellingtons with mushroom duxelle and bearnaise and osetra caviar blinis with creme fraiche and chives.

Entree stations

- A raw bar with blue point and kumamoto oysters shucked to order, stone crab claws, lobster salad in martini glasses.

- Antipasto, melon wedges wrapped in prosciutto, mozzarella layered with heirloom tomatoes.

- Chef-attended Asian display with sushi to order.

- Gnocchi sauteed to order.

Dessert

French-style macaroons, madeleines, parfaits of fresh berries and lemon curd, individual tiramisu in cosmo glasses.

 

The wedding party

If a girl has an unlimited budget, I would steer her to two of my favorite designers, LulaKate and Amsale. LulaKate (pictured above) is a designer who lets you design your own dress, from a favorite bodice and chic skirt, she will make it for that bridesmaid. This will allow the bride to get her idea across in more ways that just one. With more than 200 colors to pick from for their dress, and dresses being 100 percent silk shantung or silk dupioni, I would then make sure the bride is looking at the best options for her fairy tale wedding. Another top designer is Amsale. She specializes in crinkle chiffon dresses, which are 100 percent silk, and they are beyond elegant. These flowy dresses not only look beautiful on, but they also feel great on, due to the dress being so lightweight. These dresses are designed for the girl who wants that dream wedding.

 

The cake

For a royal wedding, the cake should be the centerpiece of the reception. It should be elegant and very traditional and yet magnificent in look. I would suggest a tall, tiered cake with a smooth, elegant design, covered in gorgeous handmade sugar flowers of all types representing the spring.

I would keep it all white in color as is traditional. Inside I would choose an elegant, yet scrumptious flavor like a white pound cake with a white chocolate ganache and fresh raspberry filling. I also like an amaretto pound cake with a fresh mixed berry filling, also light and representative of the season. There should always be enough slices for all the guests to enjoy. A perfect wedding cake can be the culmination of a magical evening, as I would imagine the royal reception to be.

 

The photography

When it comes to high-end weddings, it’s very much a social affair. While we might be able to steal away the bride and groom for a few minutes for photos, most of the day and night we are shooting like a photojournalist because at high-end weddings, the event is about the people there and the party, not a photo shoot where the bride and groom want to be away for a long time posing for photos. The clientele at high-end weddings are the prominent leaders in life, not ones who like to be led around and told “Hold hands and walk this way and laugh.” … We’re always looking for the emotion of the in-between moments, like the look on a dad’s face as he watches his baby girl get married, or the way the groom holds his new bride so tight during the first dance, or the laugh that the bride and groom share just between them when they don’t realize we’re taking their photo.

The other thing we love … is all the details they put into their event design. Between the lighting design, floral design, elaborate centerpieces, goblets, fine silverware, cake display, a lot of thought and design and their budget goes into the presentation of their wedding. We want to make sure they remember how those intimate details came together …