Our Favourite Thing

Through friendship and wine, a story between two old friends who rekindled and found love.
Our Lis Simon Bride Rianna who chose to wear our glamorous Lucia.

T H E L O V E S T O R Y

A love story written by someone very special to them.

Hi, my name is Lincoln. I am a 11-year-old plott hound, living in Baltimore City. I'm going to tell you about my two-favourite people, my mama Rianna & my best friend Tony. They met each other in March 2005 - yes, over 15 years ago! While my mom was in college and cheered for the Baltimore Ravens NFL team, Tony moved to Baltimore after graduate school and tried out for the co-ed cheer team and made it. Throughout the try out process and brutally hot days at camp in Deep Creek, Maryland, Tony and Rianna were placed on the same sideline for game days. Ever since that year, they remained good friends, caught up at Baltimore Ravens Cheer (BRC) Alumni events and their mutual friends' life celebrations.

Fast forward over a decade, many jobs, and heartbreaks later, Tony and Rianna met for happy hour to catch up on life at top Italian restaurant, Tagliata. Quickly, conversation over one glass of wine turned into a delicious dinner al fresco with live jazz under cafe lights. From that day forward, I could tell something changed with my mama. She wasn't only the best and strongest dog mama ever, but her face now beamed with new light. I didn't know what to make of it until she took me on my first trip into the city. I met her friend Tony and we were instant friends. We run around together, and he lets me chase harbor ducks and city squirrels for as long I want to.

It was then, I recognized that they looked at and spoke to each other with a level of comfort and respect. I knew then that as much as my mama and I were an indestructible team, Tony was meant to be on our team too. Many dogs park visits, runs around the Inner Harbor, and tasty treats later, we all moved into a new house together and I have to say, I've never been happier. Even though I miss them when they travel, I know how much they love adventuring to see new corners of the world. (I also know they make up for it when they get home with extra treats and belly rubs.)

Since the pandemic, they both work from home, so we’ve spent EVERY day together! I know they had to change their wedding plans a few times, but my tail wags with so much excitement that they made it official and brought some very needed light and happiness to 2020.

A few themes of our relationship: team – partners – no mercy – we got this – persistence – planners

T H E P R O P O S A L

December 23rd, 2019

For years, every Christmas Eve Eve, Tony and a few of his friends would get together for dinner in Annapolis, Maryland. In 2019, Tony and Rianna met his friends along Main Street to walk to dinner. While crossing the street, Tony got down on one knee and proposed, stopping traffic with the famous street’s Christmas lights lining the picturesque state capital - “I was surprised!”

T H E D R E S S

“Navigating dress shopping during a global pandemic was quite an experience.”

Two of the first boutiques offered the first appointment fully virtual, with a tour of bridal shop and then viewing dresses on a mannequin. Other boutiques in the state allowed her and one guest for a first appointment. After visiting three shops in person, the fourth was at Gamberdella. “The best part of the appointment was that I was able to share a Zoom link with my family and friends so they could be present with me as I tried on dresses! I loved so many dresses, but it came down to two, both Lis Simon.” Rianna chose Lucia with a mocha underlay as the “colour made the top layer of the dress pop!” “Clare Ryan and Mary were incredibly helpful throughout the entire process -- their staff even designed a matching Lucia mask out of extra fabric from the bottom of my dress!”

T H E W E D D I N G & R E C E P T I O N

December 11th, 2020

The couple’s original plan was to host their ceremony and reception in a privately-owned airplane hangar with over 150 guests. As the year unfolded with the pandemic, they planned 8 separate wedding day concepts, inclusive of 4 different venues, 2 waves of calls to uninvite their ‘RSVP’d yes’ guests, and a final date change due to new city COVID restrictions.

“We persisted through it - we tied the knot and celebrated at our first date spot and favorite restaurant Tagliata in Baltimore City with our nearest and dearest.” The ceremony took place in the courtyard: photos in the Italian disco, courtyard, wine cellar and speakeasy bar, and the reception in the restaurant. They hosted a cocktail hour and lunch for their guests, danced to ‘The way you look tonight’ by Frank Sinatra and had their cake cutting ceremony – “We had the restaurant to ourselves!”

Highlights From Your Special Day

“This was my second marriage, so I didn’t include a lot of traditional elements. I made sure that every decision about the day is what Tony and I wanted”

Unique

I walked down the aisle to Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Hard to Concentrate (written by the lead singer for his bandmate’s proposal)
Our officiant was my Ravens cheer stunt partner and our captain who stood between Tony and I on the sideline when we cheered 15 years prior! It was only fitting he stood between us during our marriage ceremony!
We livestreamed our ceremony to those that could not attend live
Our favors were personalized hand sanitizers and face masks!

Traditional

My something blue: A vintage sapphire ring Tony gave me for my birthday a few years earlier
My something old: My grandmother’s handkerchief

I can’t pick just one! Getting ready with her best friend Tiffany, looking at their first home they’ve put an offer on before their wedding, hugging her Dad before she walked down the aisle, her younger brother’s reading of Union by Robert Fulghum, seeing their closest friends and family in person for the first time in months and hearing them laugh, and FaceTiming Tony’s grandmother during their reception were her favourite moments during their special day.

Preparations & Inspirations

Tony and Rianna are both big travelers and their original airplane hangar venue became the perfect location for a travel-themed wedding – even the table “numbers” were going to be the cities they have visited together. However, due to the pandemic, they’ve rearranged their concept into a small and intimate themed celebration, “Our favourite things”.

Magazines, Pinterest, and Instagram were used for visualization and ZOLA and The Knot for navigating a pandemic pivot and change of plans.