The Bride Wore a Three-Tiered Patchwork Veil for Her Unconventional Wedding at a Greek Amphitheater in Michigan

“In my job, I’ve been privileged enough to see so much beautiful couture and runway and all of these pieces, up close and personal,” says Shawn. “So, I told Paula, I don’t know how we can do it, but I want to make something that's the best dress I’ve ever seen. And really, to me, it was.”

“I had no clue what the dress was going to look like,” says Matt. “It was this secret mission. So when I first saw her, the most gorgeous bride to ever bride, I just couldn't believe it. I really felt like it embodied her in this beautiful way. It was like her essence came out and was on display for everyone at the wedding to see.”

For his wedding weekend suits, Matt turned to Bode. “I've never had a custom piece of clothing made,” he says. “So I felt very fancy.” For the rehearsal, he wore a textured, powder blue suit with a matching tonal boutonniere on the collar; his black wedding tuxedo featured buttons by Prounis—who designed Shawn’s engagement ring (featuring a diamond from Matt’s late mother) and the couple’s wedding bands—along with a vintage cherub button and vintage horse-shaped cufflinks. Bode also made him two custom kippahs, a first for the brand.

The wedding weekend, planned by Bon Vivant, kicked off with a rehearsal dinner at the Cranbrook Art Museum, where sculptures by Matt’s grandfather, artist Alvin Spector, dot the lawn. Shawn wore a custom white gown by Emily Tonge (a recent graduate of the Royal Academy of Art) made from patchwork antique doilies, handkerchiefs, and Edwardian lace, her hair done in a twist with baby’s breath by her childhood hairstylist, Shelly Marie. Zélikha tied white bows around freshly baked challah loaves, and Shawn’s mother, Kelly, created a huge grape sculpture for the bar. Later, in the dead of night, Matt gathered his groomsmen for an emergency mission: moving some unexpected heavy metal bleachers from outside the Greek Theater and hiding them in the woods. “It was so worth it though,” says Shawn, “because when we showed up the next day, it was just spectacular.”

On Saturday, Shawn and Matt were married—sans bleachers—in a Jewish ceremony officiated by their best friend Aaron, with blessings given by family members. The huppah was, of course, adorned with goldenrod. Shawn walked down the aisle, through yellow flowers designed by Katie Wachowiak, to Iron & Wine’s cover of the Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights.” Afterward, the bridal party, in yellow gowns and black tuxedos, danced to the Beach Boys’ “Don’t Worry Baby.”

“We felt calm, excited, present, happy, in love, and we sobbed and laughed through the entire thing,” says Shawn.

After the ceremony, Shawn and Matt snuck away to read private vows to each other as guests walked across the grounds to Cranbrook House for cocktails, picking off bites of the cheese urns underneath the school’s stone cherub statues. They were served foods significant to the couple, like platters of pickles and mini latkes. Seat assignments for dinner were presented with custom doilies, while glasses of champagne came with bows tied around them on top.

Dinner was served next to a reflecting pool, on long tables adorned with more food sculptures designed by Caro Diario—loaves of bread shaped like amphora jars and devils (baked by Maxwell Leonard of Ferndale, Michigan), spheres of butter, and domes made of olives. Shawn changed into another look by Paula Nadal for the reception, a white silk backless gown with a custom crochet cap and veil hand-embellished with beading, pearls, and silk flowers. After dining, everybody hit the dance floor for live music by band The Half Moons, with the party only stopping to watch Shawn and Matt cut the cake. Zélikha designed a custom semi-circle table with a flat lemon-poppyseed cake as the topper, the structure adorned with strands of Michigan cherries. Both the bride and groom say it was “so sick.”

When it was time to go, guests gathered for a rowdy bus ride to Matt’s adoptive mother’s house for an afterparty, several of them sporting strands of Shawn’s blonde hair extensions. At the house, Shawn changed into a white bikini, and she, Matt, and his sisters jumped into a lake, screaming all the way. “We were lucky enough to have very creative people in our lives that helped us,” says Shawn. “They all made it the best wedding ever.”