Jackie had not seen her wedding gown since the previous November. By late May she couldn’t wait to try it on again. She, her mother and sister returned to Hitched for the first of three fittings. But her nerves were showing: After buying and returning eight pairs of shoes, she’d finally settled on a pair from Zappos—and she’d forgotten to bring them. A pair with a similar heel height was quickly produced by the staff.
“It’s just tweaking at this point,” Manager Lynette Moore assured Jackie as she was helped into the dress, a strapless white silk organza with a close-fitted bodice, a sweetheart neckline and a full skirt with tiers of asymmetrical ruffles. “Stay as you are,” Moore told her. “Don’t lose or gain any weight.” Jackie, beautiful, glowing and thin as a reed, nodded solemnly.
“You look like a fairy princess,” Dale said. “But take off that watch. It doesn’t belong.”
In late June, Jackie, Dan and her parents were excited to return to The Fairmont for the menu tasting. Bloom joined the group at a large round table in the center of the hotel’s Colonnade Room, the exact spot where the couple would wed two months later.
The afternoon began with a vividly colored cocktail called a “Hurricane,” a classic New Orleans drink of vodka, rum and fruit juices with a bright splash of grenadine. It would be served during the cocktail hour to honor Dan’s heritage. Then, four first-course samples were brought to the table. A brand-new dish at The Fairmont would make the final cut: Grilled Tomato, Eggplant and Summer Squash Tower with a Strawberry “Gazpacho” Demitasse and Black Olive Mousseline.
They sampled hot and cold hors d’oeuvres and decided on themes for the stations: “Classic Cajun Cooking,” with Dan’s favorites from New Orleans; “Petite Delights,” which included two of Jackie’s favorites, pan-seared scallops and butternut squash ravioli; “Chesapeake Cuisine,” with miniature crab cakes and tiny cups of Maryland crab soup; and “Sensational Satays,” with a chef to grill skewered meats and seafood.
And finally, “Dessert Mixology,” with each item served in a miniature replica of the appropriately shaped cocktail glass: a “Cosmopolitan” with cranberry gelée and orange cream; a “White Russian” with Baileys panna cotta and vodka gelée mimicking tiny ice cubes; and a “Bellini” of champagne sabayon and peach compote.
“We’ve done stations before, but not with this many intricate ingredients,” Mikolitch says. “These are people who really appreciate food.”
Everything seemed to be falling into place. In the days that followed, Dan’s divorced parents agreed to walk him down the aisle and stand next to each other under the chuppah, or wedding canopy. Jackie had “one or two bad days,” and her mother “let me take it out on her.” But for the most part, they agreed on everything. Later, Dale would say she tried hard to keep her opinions to herself and let Jackie make the decisions. But it wasn’t easy.
The morning of Aug. 21, 2010, dawned bright and clear. No deluges, no emergency evacuations, no family crises. Some 217 guests would attend the wedding from all over the country, occupying 68 hotel rooms.
At the lobby bar, Dan’s signature drink, the “Hurricane,” was being featured all weekend and “proving very popular,” according to Mikolitch.
Jackie had spent Friday night with her attendants in a hotel suite; Dan was with his groomsmen in another room.
At 11 a.m., stylists Yanni Metallinos and Alison Kushner of Eyma Salon and Spa in Bethesda and makeup artist Suellen Kaye of Totally Polished Salon in Potomac showed up to start hair and makeup for the bridal party. By 4 p.m., everyone was ready for Bethesda photographers Neal and Carla Freed.
Everyone, that is, but Gary, who discovered he’d grabbed the wrong suit bag from home. He made a frantic dash to Bethesda to retrieve the tux, and returned just in time for photographs, looking dapper if nonplussed. “The miracle is that I didn’t kill him,” Dale says.
Dale wore a champagne-colored silk taffeta gown with a fitted, beaded bodice. The seven bridesmaids and Cameron, the maid of honor, were in those strapless minis with champagne-colored heels.
As the bridal party posed in the hotel lobby, pastry chef Karen Lewis put the final touches on the wedding cake in a small alcove of the vast kitchen: four tiers of chocolate devil’s food cake layered with chocolate ganache and covered in glistening white fondant that mimicked the ruffles on Jackie’s gown.
At 7:30 p.m., the traditional Jewish wedding ceremony began in the Colonnade Room, with a trio playing a classical rendition of Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” The rabbi recited the Shehecheyanu prayer, which says in essence, “Thank you for this perfect moment.”
The ceremony complete, guests descended the spiral staircase for the cocktail reception, where a massive, 15-foot oval bar was tented in miles of ivory organza, with the bar itself covered in brilliant turquoise taffeta. At the appointed moment, guests entered the adjacent ballroom, flanked at either end by 18-foot-tall trees painted white and glittering with Swarovski crystals and strings of twinkling white lights.
“You want that ‘wow’ factor when you walk in that takes your breath away,” Bloom says.
The 17 tables were draped in ivory, each with a white phalaenopsis orchid, trailing white roses and white candles of varying sizes. The head table, for the 22-person bridal party, featured a 3-foot-tall glass container at each end holding white-painted branches hung with strands of crystals and a dozen or so white orchids. Candles of varying heights and sizes ran the length of the table.
Alone on the dance floor, Jackie and Dan swayed to a Tim McGraw favorite, “My Best Friend.” Jackie first heard the song on the car radio after dropping Dan at the airport to return to Chicago following a weekend together.
From the sidelines, Bloom watched as the party swirled amid the dazzling elements she helped orchestrate. With an airy wave of her hand, she whispered, “It’s not about all of this; it’s about the people.”
At 9:30 p.m., the hotel staff prepared The Fairmont’s Magnolia Suite for the bride and groom. On the bed, rose petals were painstakingly arranged in the shape of a heart beside two bathrobes monogrammed with the couple’s names, each with a flower lei to symbolize their two-week Hawaiian honeymoon. Within reach was a plate with two chocolate-dipped strawberries, one decorated as a bride, the other in a tiny tuxedo of piped white icing, both “wearing” itty-bitty hula skirts made of green fondant, alongside the requisite bottle of champagne.
It was unlikely Jackie and Dan would ever garner this level of attention again. But for now, it was all about One Perfect Day. Real life would happen soon enough.
Lisa Braun-Kenigsberg is a freelance writer living in Potomac.