Every wedding vendor team is created a little differently. In this series we explore how and why each couple selected the right wedding vendor team for their wedding day.
Just a few days after Evan’s 30th birthday in the fall of 2020, he and Rana headed to upstate New York to celebrate. Rana booked a couple’s massage without knowing that it overlapped with plans Evan made…to propose to her. After the relaxing massage, Rana glanced over at her boyfriend, who looked significantly less relaxed than she felt. He let her know she had 45 minutes to shower and get ready for an activity he had arranged. She thought it might be a wine tasting when they hopped in the car, but when they arrived at Harrier Hill Park in Hudson, she knew something was up when his hands got clammy and there was no wine in sight. At the top of the hill, he got down on one knee and proposed.
They enjoyed the rest of their vacation—also heading to Portland, Maine—before returning home to Brooklyn, New York. On the way back, Rana couldn’t resist putting together a preliminary guest list and researching a few wedding options, but planning didn’t start in earnest until the end of the year.
The couple interviewed a handful of wedding planners scattered across the East Coast. None of them felt like “the one” until they connected with Lauren Watson of Lion House Events—a familiar name, as Lion House had also planned her friend's sister's wedding. Rana had seen the photos and instantly fell in love with the look and feel of it. When she spoke to Lauren and her team, everyone clicked and the decision was made to bring them on board to plan and design Rana and Evan’s dream wedding weekend
The design of the celebration combined a sophisticated-yet-laid-back sensibility, with an “elevated springtime lowcountry” vibe. The color palette was built on a foundation of what was referred to as “oyster taupe” and “Brooklyn blue,” weaving in “garden rose” (a nod to the bride’s favorite flower), “Guadalupe sun burn” (for one of the couple’s first trip experiences together), “Georgia peach” (in honor of where the bride grew up), and “fresh margarita” (for their love of all things cocktails). Classic and refined touches were woven together with fun and vibrant accents. Textures and patterns played together on everything from the stationery to the reception space. And the celebration had a unique focus on personal details and a memorable guest experience.
Rana and Evan envisioned their wedding as a weekend getaway for their guests. High on their request list was a setting where they could have their ceremony and reception outside, and one that was easy for everyone to get to. Having both spent cherished times vacationing in the Southeast, the couple focused their search on the North Carolina mountains and the South Carolina lowcountry. Kiawah Island in South Carolina, quickly became the obvious choice thanks to its beautiful beaches, chic but chill lifestyle, and fresh, local food. They scoped out the island and Kiawah River was the clear-cut favorite for their May 21, 2022, wedding.
“We loved the idea of having our wedding be the kick-start event of the summer season and also warm enough but not too hot in Kiawah.” —Rana, bride
Lauren immediately went to work securing the couple’s dream team of wedding vendors, starting by proposing those that are typically limited to taking on just one wedding per weekend. She presented who she thought would be the best fit Rana and Evan, who then made swift decisions and secured several people at the same time before their availability changed. The first person added to the vendor team was photographer Jamie Vinson.
“Jamie Vinson is a go-to for Lion House. The photographer is with your client likely more than you throughout the weekend, therefore it's got to be an intentional and incredible match. She's a team player, always puts our clients at ease, and fully understands and executes on the needs of both the client and creative team involved.” —Lauren Watson, planner/designer
“It was my first time photographing a wedding at Kiawah River. I loved the grounds and really loved photographing the ceremony under and between the branches of the giant live oak tree. It was incredibly sweet and full of emotion at a place that has the perfect lowcountry vibe.” —Jamie Vinson, photographer
Next was the duo who would tackle food and beverages. Conversations with two caterers transpired, with Harvest Catering really understanding the couple’s favorite foods and showcasing their ability to weave them into the menu.
“Lowcountry food is special because it highlights local, vibrant ingredients; Harvest Catering knew how much I appreciated that. The fish option at our wedding was a pan-seared wreckfish, and I’ve never had wedding food that’s tasted that fresh.” —Evan, groom
“I love pasta and Italian food in general, so when the team mentioned that one of their chefs can make fresh hand-rolled pasta in front of guests at cocktail hour, I jumped at the idea. Chef Ryan Sullivan cooked the pasta for us at a tasting ahead of the wedding and I knew then it would be a hit!” —Rana, bride
Between the passed appetizers of mini country ham biscuits, okra beignets, and day-boat ceviche—as well as a grazing table with baguettes wrapped in paper sporting the day’s signature pattern—cocktail hour offered a bounty of options to eat. Come dinnertime, in addition to the noteworthy fish entree, guests chose from a seared strip loin or cauliflower steak after enjoying a roasted delicata squash and baby kale salad. But the deliciousness didn’t end there: Late-night fried chicken biscuits made sure no one left hungry.
As Rana and Evan had spent the summer biking around Savannah, a bike bar cart was a must for cocktail hour. Chug-a-Lug Wagon was pitched and booked soon after, housing two of the couple’s favorite drinks on tap: a Phil Collins and a Oaxaca Old Fashioned.
Five different bands were presented to the bride and groom to review. With music being such a personal choice, Lauren wanted to be sure the couple felt a connection with the song list, energy, and personality of the band that would play during their reception. InfiniteSoul Band from EastCoast Entertainment had it in spades, focusing on classic rock, Motown, and ’80s/’90s jams during the reception.
They also played a trio of songs with special meanings during the non-denominational ceremony, which was officiated by Evan’s cousin and wove in flourishes of their cultures. The processional began with “You’ve Got A Friend” by James Taylor, switched to “Helplessly Hoping” by Crosby, Stills & Nash when Rana walked down the aisle on the arm of her older brother, and “How Long Will I Love You” by Jon Boden, Sam Sweeney, and Ben Coleman for the newlyweds’ recessional. Evan’s sister also recited a poem by the Persian poet Rumi, and the couple stepped on a glass in the Jewish tradition.
“Our first dance was to ‘Two of Us’ by The Beatles; we've always loved the lyrics about a couple of lovers driving around doing their own thing. It felt like a good representation of our silliness and devotion. The last song was an epic rendition of ‘Purple Rain’ by Prince. We love Prince and the guitar solo at the end felt like the ultimate punctuation to our great day, and the band brought us up on stage! Then Evan and I had a private dance to ‘Cloudbusting’ by Kate Bush. After a night out, we love playing that song and dancing around. We bopped around the dance floor like no one was watching.” —Rana, bride
For all things florals, Lauren went to Amy Osaba of Amy Osaba Design, with a hunch that she’d be the perfect match to bring the colorful springtime palette to life with flowers. Amy hit it off with the couple and shared a proposal that wowed, and then created stunning floral elements (even incorporating fresh fruit) for the outdoor soirée.
“Rana really wanted color brought into the floral arch at the ceremony. Particularly, she wanted the juicy springtime colors to pop against the natural landscape. The bouquets were some of my favorites to date. Romantic, dainty, and soft. The head table at the reception was a focal for florals, as was the cake installation. As guests walked into the tent, they were greeted by those two details and therefore focused more heavily on florals there.” —Lauren Watson, planner/designer
Wanting to look like herself but in an elevated way on her big day, Rana set out to find local hair and makeup artists that could accomplish that vision for her and her bridesmaids. Lashes and Lace gave her a natural makeup look, focusing on Rana’s eyes, and beachy waves pulled back into a half-up style. Her eight attendants got in on the action too.
With save the dates serving as the first wedding weekend touch points for guests, finding a stationer who understood the vision and was excited to personalize pieces accordingly was a must. As a key design element for all Lion House Events celebrations, Lauren turned to Sam Meyer of Samantha Meyer Studio, whose process and creativity is equally delightful for her and her clients.
“It was important that we incorporated the different elements of who we were as individuals and who we were as a couple. Sam Meyer designed a lotería-style rose (for Rosenstein, Evan’s last name) and frog (Rana in Spanish means frog), which was incorporated into a pattern that adorned signage, menus, cups, etc. The idea came from a Mexican restaurant Evan and I ate at before a friend's wedding in Cape Cod where the menu featured a rose and frog lotería card next to each other!” —Rana, bride
Additional flora and fauna made its way into the bespoke designs that Sam illustrated, creating a library of imagery to use as a composed pattern or individually. A heron, live oak tree, and crab were woven in to speak to the setting, as were additional floral elements. And the invite itself was backed in oak wood veneer, subtly hinting at the setting of the ceremony.
Another special detail (and material) was the incorporation of vinyl. Evan collects vinyl records, and he and Rana play them nightly after work as they prepare dinner. Lauren suggested incorporating this into the seating display, which was affixed to custom wallpaper. The Lion House team and Sam brought the vision to life by taking a bunch of mini-vinyls and placing a sticker on top that had the guests’ names and table assignments mimicking an album label. Tables were named after the bride and groom’s favorite albums (mostly ’70s rock), and there was a record player spinning vinyl at the escort display as guests found their names and made their way to dinner.
After completing a preliminary layout and the big-picture design, Lauren began reserving foundational items like the reception tent, tables, stage, and dance floor, and then moved on to the more detailed and design-focused rentals such as linens, chairs, and tabletop pieces, working with Snyder Events, Curated Events, and Stradley Davidson Linen Collective to create the ultimate mix of pieces.
With the guest experience top of mind for the couple—and many of the 120 attendees traveling a distance for the elegant spring wedding weekend—Rana and Evan wanted to provide a warm welcome for all, and worked with A Signature Welcome, whom Lion House Events regularly collaborates with. The gifting company curated a “drink on us” concept, providing guests the ingredients needed to make one of Rana and Evan’s favorite summertime drinks: Ranch Water. Complete with custom-branded name tags for each person, a recipe card, welcome letter, and itinerary, guests enjoyed the cocktails and were prepped for the festivities ahead.
Evan, his mom, and Rana had the best time sampling the cakes from Flowerchild during their visit to Charleston six months before the elegant spring wedding. They picked up a box of six different flavors to taste and sat at the bar of their hotel before heading out to dinner, intending to just eat one bite of each but proceeding to eat the entire box and being too full for dinner. Worth it in the end, as the berries and cream wedding cake was a hit.
While Sam designed all day-of pieces to tie into the stationery suite, she brought Lauren Redman Design Co on board to fabricate a few specialty items that weren’t printed on paper, like the bar sign and the screen-printed wood accents that graced the invite suite and welcome cocktail kit.
“Working with Samantha Meyer and Lauren Redman put the design experience over the top. We were able to truly design and create some personalized and custom pieces for Rana and Evan. The bar sign for instance. It was designed in a way that would allow Rana and Evan to showcase it on a bar cart at home and act as a daily reminder of their wedding day!” —Lauren Watson, planner/designer
