Alyssa + Garrett

Alyssa and Garrett lived in Seattle, Washington but grew up in Omaha. My trek to the Pacific Northwest was by way of Omaha as well. When they contacted me, they explained they wanted to bring a bit of the Pacific Northwest back to their friends and family in the Midwest. I was on board.

They chose the Durham Museum as their venue because both families had history working for the railroad and Alyssa & Garrett love to travel. In fact, they spent five months traveling the world together. Their love for travel became a central theme. Guests were greeted by a train conductor who handed them their luggage tag, escort card; the table numbers were copied images of actual postcards they had collected during their five-month global travel; an enlarged image of an Instagram post Alyssa shared shortly after their trip had a presence on their guest book table; and our menu was designed as a gastronomic trip around Alyssa and Garrett’s favorite districts in Omaha and Seattle.

We custom-designed a menu which included a Pike’s Market Station with Vegetarian Samosas, Dumplings, Salmon, and New England Clam Chowder Shooters with Mini Crumpets. The Blackstone District in Omaha was featured on a second food station and included Reuben and Falafel Sliders. Naturally, we had to create a third station that featured a PNW/MDW fusion with traditional Prime Rib and Beecher’s Inspired Macaroni and Cheese.

During cocktail hour guests were greeted with servers that were fresh shucking oysters and a rolling bar cart with individual charcuterie cups. Pacific Northwest Wines flowed freely as did a custom craft espresso martini. We worked with Attitude on Food to bring in a mixologist to handle the specific needs for the creation of the specialty drinks.

The ceremony was designed to be in a circle, so all guests had the best view possible. The wedding party sat in the front row to allow all focus on Alyssa and Garrett. During the planning process Alyssa reached out to me and wanted to do a “flash mob” inspired by the movie “Love Actually.” I had long desired to recreate the wedding scene which involved horns, strings, and a singer. Logistically, this meant hours of determining where the musicians would sit, how to have them move into the ceremony without being noticed, where to hide their instruments, and even a rehearsal one hour before the event that had to be kept a surprise. We worked with Karlyn Jurgensen to hammer out all the details and had to create an incredibly careful timeline that involved keeping the family and guests away from the ceremony space before the doors opened. I will never forget standing in the center of the room as the musicians rehearsed. It was a dream come true to see it play out live. Guests laughed and applauded as the musicians bounced up out of their chairs at the right moment to play the song “All You Need is Love” by the Beatles. 

Guests danced the night away to the band, Twice on Sunday, and were treated to a late-night snack of warm kettle chips, salted mixed nuts, vintage ice cream treats, and candy.