<i>Photograph by Corbin Gurkin</i>
Embossed with the couple’s ornate crest, Lettered Olive’s stationery suite set the gilded tone for a night to be remembered. <i>Photograph by Corbin Gurkin</i>
Fearing that white was too trendy for bridesmaids’ dresses, Gaby picked metallic gold sashes and sheer, lace bodices made for a striking contrast. The maids of honor’s bouquets were tied in gold-hued ribbon. <i>Photograph by Corbin Gurkin</i>
Flower girls, like three-year-old Dahlia, wore dresses that harkened those of the bridesmaids’ and carried rose petals in gold cross-body bags. <i>Photograph by Corbin Gurkin</i>
“It was so peaceful,” Gaby says of the ceremony’s ambiance. Orchid “trees”. <i>Photograph by Corbin Gurkin</i>
Gabriella “Gaby” Ruiz & Edward “Ward” Mungo. <i>Photograph by Corbin Gurkin</i>
Tara’s team used fresh-cut blooms to make this crest with “G” for Gaby and “E” for Edward. The emblem popped up throughout the décor. <i>Photograph by Corbin Gurkin</i>
To pump up visual interest, Tara contrasted elements; here, Lucite ornaments (appropriate to the winter season) engraved with the couple’s initials and calligraphed with guest names and table numbers were hung with double-faced satin ribbon. <i>Photograph by Corbin Gurkin</i>
Ribbons, embroidered with guest names to act as place cards, were tied around engraved Lucite menus. <i>Photograph by Corbin Gurkin</i>
Guests dined under a verdant installation of lush greens and garlands of hand-strung orchids. Chiavari chairs swagged with gauzy fabrics (a signature Tara move), slender crystal candlesticks of varying heights, and custom-made ebony-piped table linens completed the opulent setting. <i>Photograph by Corbin Gurkin</i>
Ward’s proposal came when Gaby least expected it. “We had just gotten into a fight,” she laughs. “I was mad because we were leaving for Scotland to meet his family, but I wasn’t his fiancé yet. He asked me to help bring our bags out front, which he never does, and proposed at the front door.” <i>Photograph by Corbin Gurkin</i>
“I wanted to do something that was off-the-wall,” Gaby says of the mariachi band that played at cocktail hour. <i>Photograph by Corbin Gurkin</i>
“There was so much love in the air,” Gaby says of the night. A few guests borrowed the Mariachi band’s sombreros when they lined up to shower the couple in orchids during their departure. <i>Photograph by Corbin Gurkin</i>
Gaby held onto several mementos from the day, including the “Just Married” sign on the vintage getaway car. “I had to get a storage unit,” she admits of all she snagged. <i>Photograph by Corbin Gurkin</i>