Real Wedding: Michael & Douglas
Water Mill, New York
Photography: Image Singuliere
Entertaiment: Swing Street Orchestra And Flambeaux
Floral Design: Jared Reichert Designs
Invitations: Bell'Invito Letterpress
Lighting: Douglas Russell
Staff: Magnum Events
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When Doug Gellenbeck first laid eyes on Michael Whitton, he knew they were meant to be together. “I thought he looked like someone I would like to come home to every night,” he explains simply. The two had met while Doug, an interior designer, was working on a project for an Yves Saint Laurent prototype store in Las Vegas. Doug’s boss was familiar with Jonathan Adler, a prominent designer whom Michael was working with at the time. The two began to e-mail and call each other, as well as exchange short, flirty notes. One morning, Doug scheduled a business lunch with Michael to discuss supposed project ideas. However, the real reason for the meeting had nothing to do with business. Doug simply had a feeling about Michael, a feeling that they were just right for each other.
Doug was correct — the two began to spend a lot of time together, just enjoying one another’s company. Traveling to San Francisco for a friend’s wedding in July 2008, Michael was on the verge of proposing before deciding he didn’t want to steal his friend’s thunder by getting engaged so close to her wedding. It wasn’t until months later that he woke up on Christmas morning with one thought: Today is the day. The couple was celebrating the holidays in their newly purchased loft, taking pictures with a self-timed camera in front of the tree. “After the first shot I said, ‘Let’s do one more,’” says Michael. “During the countdown, I got on one knee and asked him — so we got it on film!” As the camera flashed, Doug said yes, and the moment was captured forever.
Michael and Doug wanted to make their wedding unique and incorporate as many personal elements as possible. They began by deciding to have the ceremony at a friend’s horse rescue and honey farm — a working farm that was the ideal place for their celebration. Doug was raised Catholic, but Michael, of Jewish ancestry, had always loved the traditions at Jewish wedding ceremonies, so they decided that getting married in an open field under a huppa would be fun. Drawing inspiration from a trip they had taken together to Morocco, the couple chose two main colors for the wedding: coral pink and bright turquoise. Using those two hues, plus complementary colors and marigold yellow accents, they created a vibrant palette for their September wedding day.
Doug had recently read a book on the design techniques of artist Tony Duquette, who manipulates everyday objects into extraordinary sculptures, and both embraced the concept when it came to deciding on their wedding décor. They created the huppa by tying an array of brightly colored ribbons and Indian wedding garlands to ordinary backyard rakes, creating a truly unique structure that reflected Duquette’s influence as well as their Moroccan inspiration and color palette.
Dinner took place in a chic, yet rustic barn and included a global menu that had been personally customized by the couple. The celebration was intimate and cozy, with only the couple's closest friends and family members present. Michael and
Doug later surprised everyone with a dazzling fire-dancing show. Channeling their famous engagement photo, they set up a
“love photobooth” for guests to capture special moments of their own, resulting in some of the couple's favorite photos from the evening. But as anyone who has ever planned a wedding knows, no matter how smoothly everything goes, the unexpected is bound to happen, and it’s best to have a sense of humor when it does. For Michael and Doug, it was the fate of their cake. “The cake fell apart,” says Michael. “It was like that song ‘MacArthur Park.’ Luckily, it turned out to be the funky Donna Summer disco version!” Of course, when you’re marrying the love of your life, it’s easy to allow such little details to fall by the wayside.
Michael & Doug's Advice
#1 Try to get as much completed as you can at least sixty days before the wedding. That day clicks & real panic sets in &
you know you’ve got to hustle!
#2 Of all the things you have planned for the wedding, one thing will go wrong & one thing won’t happen at all. Let it go & live the day fully.