We wanted to celebrate the colours and natural landscape with flowers native to the island.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
Quinn is the VP of Brand Strategy at Klick Health. He’s a former collegiate soccer player who continues to play multiple times a week, but has recently become obsessed with golf. I’m an Associate Creative Director at SiriusXM. I love art, going to concerts and planning trips. I have travel itineraries for trips all over the world, I’m always down for an adventure. We are both obsessed with our rescue dog, Bodhi. He is the centre of our universe.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
Quinn and I met on Hinge in 2018. My coworker and Quinn’s soccer teammate was our mutual connection, and he ended up coming to the wedding. We met at Mermaid Inn in the West Village for Negronis. I wasn’t into chatting on the app and wanted to meet up as soon as possible. We always joke that our first date was subpar. Quinn had a big beard at the time, which was never my thing. I felt like Quinn was too formal, and he said I was basically yelling at him (I’m Italian). However, Quinn was very sweet to make sure I got home safely, even though I insisted on biking instead of taking a cab. We met for a second date because I really wanted brunch the next weekend, and my friends didn’t want to go. The rest is history.
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood and style of your wedding. (theme, key styling elements, florals, colour palettes etc.).
I made myself a little crazy over the vision for the wedding since creative direction for events is a big part of my job. I had decks, mockups, Pinterest boards, spreadsheets… but all along, we knew we wanted a guest-first experience. We’ve been to so many weddings together, most of which are destination weddings, so we quickly worked out what was important to us. While we were there to celebrate our special moment, we wanted to host our closest friends and family and create something special for them too. Because Jamaica is such a vibrant place, we wanted to celebrate the colours and natural landscape with flowers native to the island. A bright red-orange was our pop of colour throughout, inspired by the ladders leading into the ocean around the property. We wove this into everything from the save the date to the website to the menus on the table. I had a hard time narrowing down the florals because I love flowers so much. But we ended up primarily going with white and yellow orchids to have something a little more fun than traditional all white.
What styling and visual elements worked best for you? (could be things, the florals, particular hire products or your marquee, etc., something the stylist created or simply just the scenic beauty of your location or the existing design of your venue).
Our venue was magical, so it didn’t need much dressing up, but I was sooo happy with how the florals, tablescape and decor came together. I had been mocking up the table for months and couldn’t have been happier with how it turned out. We took two checked bags of woven rattan placemats with us from New York, but they added a great natural texture to the table. When I came out to walk down the aisle, I was blown away by how beautiful the aisle was with the floral arrangements and how great all our guests looked. Quinn and I debated over getting coconuts branded for the ceremony, but that ended up being one of my favourite things. I also had custom cocktail umbrellas made for guests’ drinks when they first arrived at the property and throughout the weekend. Working in events, I’ve learned that the experience is in the details, so that’s what I’ve really obsessed over.
What did you enjoy most about the planning process, and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?
This sounds terrible… but my favourite part was being done with wedding planning and having no regrets. The planning was sometimes overwhelming, but everything came to life better than imagined, so I wouldn’t change a thing.
Tell us about your vendors. Were there any standout suppliers you would like to make special mention of?
All of our vendors did such an incredible job and were so wonderful to work with. Our photographer, Yvonne, did such an incredible job being on all weekend and capturing all of the beautiful memories. She didn’t miss a beat, but was never intrusive. Somehow, she managed to capture every angle of our event with 80 guests. While she was seemingly everywhere, but never in the way. There were too many good photos to choose from, and she really captured the energy of the weekend. The staff at Rockhouse were outstanding, start to finish. The strings and steel drums were fantastic. We were scrambling to give the string trio songs for the ceremony so they could practice together. We ended up choosing all Bob Marley songs, which sounded more beautiful on strings than we could have imagined, and were perfect for the setting. The steel drums during cocktail hour are a core memory from the weekend as well — they even had us go up to try to play (we were not good). And of course, our florist, Megan, absolutely nailed it.
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, and is there a story?
Quinn was SO excited about his custom suit and tuxedo from P. Johnson, which I understood when I saw him in it. His fitting with his dad was a really special day for him (special thanks to Daniel at P. Johnson). I went dress shopping with my mom and mother-in-law, and ended up getting the first dress I tried on (although I tried on many others) from Kyha. My experience at Kyha was my favourite of all the stores I went to. My after-party dress, veil, and earrings were also Kyha. Shoes and welcome dress were by Sandy Liang, my favourite. For the rehearsal dinner, I wore a Realisation Par dress.
Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.
Our friend is a co-owner of Goldpoint, a woman-owned jewelry shop in our neighborhood. Both of our bands were made by her, as well as my engagement ring. I never told Quinn what kind of ring I wanted. I really had faith in him to pick something beautiful and classic, and I couldn’t have asked for anything better. The stone was from his mother’s engagement ring, a round-cut diamond and a wide gold band. I love it, especially with the flat gold wedding band. Quinn also got a gold band that’s slightly rounded.
What were one or two elements that were most important to you both that you were happy to spend a little more on? (food, photography, florals, the venue, your outfits?).
We wanted all of our guests to be on-site, so our biggest expense was covering accommodations for everyone. Having the resort to ourselves with all of our closest friends and family was such a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was so nice to see everyone get to know each other and have fun together.
Was there a favourite moment (or two) that you will treasure always?
The best moment of our wedding day was an accident brought on by the rain! Right after our first look, the sky opened up and started pouring, so we took cover in the hotel restaurant. We had a rum punch at the bar, just the two of us, and our photographer captured some beautiful photos. It also ended up being the only chance we had to practice our first dance! The other highlight of the weekend was jumping off the cliffs at the hotel with all of our friends. It was exactly how we imagined it, only better. Seeing everyone enjoy the resort and understand why it was special to us was priceless.
BRIDE Gina, @ginaemurray GROOM Quinn, @alloverq VENUE Rockhouse Hotel, @rockhousehotel PHOTOGRAPHER Yvonne Yuen, @yvonneyuenphoto PLANNER Lici Eastwood and Shanique Montaque of Rockhouse Hotel, @rockhousehotel FLORIST Megan Williams of Floral Fantasies, @floral_fantasies_ja CELEBRANT Quinn’s sister, Meg ENTERTAINMENT Steel Drums – Silver Birds, @silverbirdssteelorchestra; DJ – Ceremony – Paul, @soundillusionent; Party – Stream Informer, @stream_informer CATERING & CAKE Rockhouse Hotel, @rockhousehotel STATIONERY & SIGNAGE By the Bride RINGS Goldpoint, @goldpointbk BRIDE’S CEREMONY & AFTER-PARTY DRESS Kyha Studios, @kyhabride BRIDE’S SHOES Sandy Liang, @sandyliang BRIDE’S ACCESSORIES Bracelet – Bride’s mother; Earrings & Veil – Kyha Studios, @kyhabride MAKEUP Joni Stone, @joni_gourmetmakeup HAIR Maria Illari, @ill_hairandbeauty BRIDE’S FRAGRANCE Groom’s fragrance SUIT P. Johnson, @pjohnsontailors GROOM’S SHOES Belgian Shoes, @belgianshoesnyc GROOM’S ACCESSORIES Vintage Cufflinks – Groom’s grandfather’s GROOM’S HAIR Kept Studio, @keptstudio GROOM’S FRAGRANCE Dark Rum – Malin & Goetz, @malinandgoetz BRIDESMAIDS’ DRESSES Rent the Runway, @renttherunway
