In Perfect Harmony: Musicians Getting Married

From the night Alison and Alistair met, they have been — literally– making beautiful music together. There is something so romantic about artists who fall in love through their creative work, and begin to collaborate. This lush wedding at New York Botanical Garden was one of our summer favorites. Bride Alison tells their love story:

“My husband Alistair and I are both professional musicians. He is a cellist and I am an opera singer. In August of 2010 we were hired to make a promotional recording for an opera that we would perform a year later. The evening started out with a large group of people and we recorded the group numbers. As the night progressed, more and more singers and instrumentalists were released, leaving just a very small group, including me and my husband, who was just a mysterious, smiley, excellent cellist stranger to me at the time. We recorded the final number of the night, a very dramatic aria sung by me, with Alistair playing a very prominent, collaborative role.

We were so attracted to each other, both physically and musically. We started dating and fell in love while exploring our favorite city: New York. We got married almost exactly four years after our first date! Now we continue to support each other in our solo careers and we have a cello-soprano duo so we get to perform together as well!”

 

“Rachel and Elianna were really instrumental in how we arrived at the color scheme. I came in with only rough ideas. They completely read my mind and, together, we honed in on the specific plan. I knew I wanted tons of greenery. We got married at the New York Botanical Garden so the nature theme was obvious. From the beginning I wanted a leaf theme running through the day. We also ended up giving our guest big packets of wildflower seeds as wedding favors to keep with the botanical garden theme. I wanted very much for the bouquets to be messy and asymmetrical.

To make matters more difficult, I had decided that I wanted my four bridesmaids to each choose her own dress, with no color requirement, and at this point I had no idea what they would eventually choose. So that offered Rachel and Elianna no color help. They came up with the idea of lots of ivory, which I liked, and then finally I threw them a bone when I told them that my favorite color was purple. So we came up with a color scheme: green, ivory, and lavender, with pops of violet. I trusted their expertise entirely with flower choice. They completely nailed my vision, in fact they far exceeded my imagination. I was inundated with compliments on my bouquet!”

We created Alison’s bridal bouquet with roses, garden roses, ranunculus and a few perfect orchids, framed with greens including eucalyptus leaves and ferns. A bouquet should reflect the spirit and beauty of the woman carrying it on her wedding day. We love how the burgundy flowers draw the eye to Alison’s flattering lip color.

Weddings are a day to reflect on family and let loved ones know they are valued. There are as many ways to express these sentiments as there are brides and grooms. At Alison and Alistar’s wedding, of course, it all happened through music.

“The feeling of exchanging vows and rings with Alistair is something I’ll never forget. I had all four of my bridesmaids speak at the reception and the things they said were just perfect and unforgettable. I asked my amazing DJ to blend two very meaningful songs together so I could dance with my mother after I danced with my father. My mom almost died eleven years ago, but her life was saved by a liver transplant and everyone at the wedding knew how much this event shaped our family and how close we all are because of it. He did it seamlessly, we hugged and cried and everyone else did too.”

All the Details:
Photography: Aaron and Jillian Photography
Flowers: Bride & Blossom
Catering and wedding cake: Stephen STARR Events
Ceremony and Reception: The New York Botanical Garden
Ceremony Music: Jerry Dixon “The NYC Piper” on bagpipes (and a collection of our extremely talented professional instrumentalist and opera singer friends.)
Cocktail hour and reception music: DJ Nick Dean from White Label DJs
Wedding dress: Suzanne Neville from Wedding Atelier in NYC
Bridesmaids’ dresses: various stores, all different
Shoes: Benjamin Adams
Hair comb and bracelet: BHLDN
Earrings and both wedding bands: BlueNile
Makeup: MakeUp: Ylenia Mazzei
Hair: Kristen Donato