Karissa + Nicholas by Danilo & Sharon

Natural flowers for the wedding day – candles, greenery, lighting, and chandeliers.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…

My name is Karissa Kane, and I grew up in a small town called Phenix City, AL. I am an only child, and I went to Auburn for a degree in Biological Sciences. I do healthcare consulting at the moment, but would love to own a fashion-centred business one day. I love fashion, shopping till I drop, vanilla lattes, lychee martinis, books, interior design, Pinterest, all things aesthetic, diptyque candles, photography, wine, my girls, my mom and my dad. Nic is my husband, and he’s one of four boys and is from Chattanooga, TN, where he attended Baylor for high school and then went to TCU for college. Nic works in captive insurance finance at Merrill Lynch and he loves sports cars, all things Gucci s/o to Michael at Bev Hills location, hiking, hunting, history, learning (he is constantly educating himself – it’s wild how intelligent he is and how much he can remember), travel (he’s been to 40+ countries), and volunteering and giving back to the community.

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?

It was May 2019, and we both were on vacation with our families down in Alys Beach on 30a in Florida. We were at Pescado (a rooftop restaurant) on opposite sides of the bar, and he sent me and my friend over Clase Azul shots, and honestly, after that, the rest was history. We actually met each other’s parents on the 2nd day of knowing each other. First impressions – honestly, I felt very connected to him, but wasn’t sure why – I of course came to find out why. We were long-distance for 1.5 years, and then I moved into his house in Chattanooga. Then, we moved to California, where we settled down for 3 years before the fires came and unfortunately left us homeless- so we are now back in the south to figure out where is next for us.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood and style of your wedding. (theme, key styling elements, florals, colour palettes etc.).

Well, I’m quite organised – my Pinterest is insane – I know that sounds like I’m bragging – and maybe I am, but it truly is my pride and joy, and I have spent years fine-tuning it. So I did have a lot of ideas I wanted to present at the wedding, but ultimately narrowed it down to a few. My favourite movie is Dune. Hardcore would leave Nic for timothee tomorrow and it’s actually so funny because Nic would leave me for Zendaya – so it’s actually a little light hearted joke we have about our celeb crushes – but anyways – so I was like let’s make the reception Dune themed since it’s on the beach and then that was the original inspo – BUT THEN – Brunello Cucinelli had their Spring/Summer 2025 show in the deserts of Dubai and I about DIED and I completely pivoted to have the wedding reception look identical to that runway show. I loved it so much. I did almost make all my guests wear only neutrals (fans, whites, beiges, browns), but ultimately decided against it because I didn’t want to cause my friends and fam any more stress with trying to find that colour palette.

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).

Guest experience was pretty high on my list and with that when planning it was super important to us that we had a venue that could do it all – meaning it had a pool, a beach, nearby to a port and multiple venues within the hotel that we could hold all the events at while also being able to room all of our guests which Chateau de Theoule did – and god they did it so well. We really only highlighted the beauty that was already there. Natural flowers for the wedding day – candles, greenery, lighting, and chandeliers. Lots of chandeliers. I also died for the custom Gucci-inspired bar our wedding planner had made for our welcome pool party that was Palm Royale-inspired. I was super geeked out about the entrance to our reception as well – it was this gorgeous draped candlelit tunnel with The Bullards in huge letters at the entrance, and while going through the tunnel, we had a harpist playing Bridgerton-type music. It was so dreamy.

What did you enjoy most about the planning process, and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?

Gosh, everything honestly – I’m a very detail-oriented person, and so details are huge for me, and I really love it when everything is cohesive. The funnest part was watching it all come together over the wedding weekend. Best advice I can give you is to hire a wedding planner you vibe with – Rhian and I (my wedding planner and owner of Lucy Till French Weddings) were sooo connected from the beginning and throughout the entire process, and she is just a heaven-sent angel who made all of my dreams come true.

Pool Party + Boat Ride

Tell us about your vendors. Were there any standout suppliers you would like to make special mention of?

My photographers – Danilo and Sharon. They are literally unreal – not only were they extremely supportive, kind and generous to me when Nic and I lost our home to the Palisades fires, but they were so on it the entire weekend. They were extremely receptive to how I was feeling and captured every single moment. They were my first vendor choice because photography is so important to me, and I had been following their work for a long time, and I just knew they would create magic. My planners – I could go blue in the face talking about how epic they were and how stress-free I felt the entire wedding, and I am not a stress-free girly pop – I am a total control freak girly pop with no chill – but I was sooo chill because I trusted that Rhiann and Anais would make everything perfect. My florist knocked it out of the park. Florals were low on my list because I just am not a floral person – I don’t even keep flowers in my house but he really blew it out of the water and I truly wasn’t expecting the ethereal magic that he created and I sent him some inspo photos but really didn’t give much direction and he went with it and did phenomenal.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, and is there a story?

Gosh where do I start – I loved all of them – my favorite was my rehearsal dinner look – it was a vintage runway Norma Kamalli liquid satin skirt from tab vintage and the girls there were so supportive and sweet to me and really made my day and a vintage satin halter top from Gossamer Vintage and she was so sweet to me after I lost our home to the fires and let me come to her house and try on stuff for 3 hours with my mom and just really went above and beyond. Rikki, the store manager at Monique Lhullier in NYC, literally saved my life hundreds of times to get me my chic after-party number that I bought almost 3 years ago now, and overnighted my dress from LA to NYC so she could make sure it was there for me to try on. I have no words for how amazing she is.

Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.

Wedding ring and band are both custom from Finks Jewelry – deets are 5 carats total – 4 carat elongated cushion cut diamond with two .5 carat emerald side stones – wedding band is an eternity band formed to fit my ring with bevel round cut diamonds all around

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?).

Music, Photography, and Venue we definitely splurged on – but all were sooo important to us and truly made the weekend so special.

Was there a favourite moment (or two) that you will treasure always?

Nic’s parents surprised us with fireworks on our wedding night while Pink Pony Club played in the background – it was so epic(off the record I said no to said fireworks because they told me it was gonna be 20k for 3 mins of fireworks – I almost barfed – so it truly was a shock when the fireworks started going off and it was so kind of Nic’s parents to surprise us because I really wanted them but thought it would be a little extra on top of everything else). My other favourite moments were the moments in between events – when I could get some really good one-on-one time with close friends and family, and most of the late nights after the events were epic. Boat day was pretty special as well – I love being on a boat – something about the wind in your hair makes a girl feel like the main character in a movie. The after-party to the reception was epic, and I will never forget it. Everyone partied til 3 am, and it was insane. While planning, I kept telling Rhiann there is no way my friends are going to make it this late – and by god, every single one of my friends stayed up basically all night to party with me and Nic and ate truffle fries and mini burgers, it was incredible.

Honorable mention: funny story – I made me and Nic’s closest friends come in on Wednesday a day early for start of wedding weekend so we could all go to La Guerite for a big day party and just get some extra one on one time together and Nic (my stubborn Nic) wanted to wear his wedding band but not on his finger but on a chain so it could be close to his heart leading up to the weekend which like AWWW sweet angel Nic – yes we love it. Or so we thought. I, of course, looked fab in an all white lace top and pant set, and we were dancing at La Guerite, and my lace caught onto his chain holding the band, and the wedding band went flying into the sand pits of La Guerite, never to be found again. We were 3 days out from the wedding, and Nic had no band – and to this day, on August 15th, still has no band. He did use his brothers for the actual day, which is very sweet and heartfelt, I will say.