Featured Montage Wedding: Alexandra + Matthew

The Proposal

“Before heading off for a weekend in Alexandra’s home town of St. Louis, Alexandra was preparing Sherlock Rathbone’s bag for a trip to Auntie Trinity’s. Matthew was helping gather things around Alexandra’s town home and yelped in pain saying he stepped on something in the family room. He asked for Alexandra to come help him search for what it was as soon as she had a chance.

Alexandra flipped on the family room lights and started to look around the floor while Sherlock was underfoot. As she turned to ask to see Matthew’s foot she found him on one knee looking up at her. Taking her hand Matthew said, “Dearie, will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me, Alexandra Carolyn Briggs?” With tears and love in her eyes, Alexandra smiled and said “yes, of course,” between kisses and hugs (and Matthew trying to slip the ring on her finger). Sherlock had no idea why everyone was so happy but he thoroughly enjoyed jumping up and trying to give Mom and Dad kisses while weaving between their legs.

The following evening, while in St. Louis, Matthew and Alexandra went for a celebratory dinner at Alexandra’s favorite restaurant since childhood on The Hill, Cunetto House of Pasta. They were actually shown to their table by Frank Cunetto, who has known Alexandra since she was in diapers (and her family even longer). Frank offered sincere congratulations while making sure to share memories of Alexandra toddling around the restaurant as a child with her new fiancé.

With a glass of champagne (for her) and glass of Coca-Cola (for him), the two toasted to their future and anticipation of a life full of love and adventure.”

Style

“We knew right away that our special day had to include being surrounded by our loved ones. We also wanted our day to be during Alexandra’s favorite season and month, October. Since we were engaged in July, the soonest match would be October 2018. Overall, we wanted to mix some traditions with an overall elegant event. Alexandra’s family had held an event at the Montage previously and the setting with both indoors and out was immediately on the “potential” list when seeking somewhere that would have good and reliable food but also an elegant ambiance. We booked our special day with the Montage not long before taking a trip and cruise through Italy and Greece in October 2017 and were actually on the trip exactly a year before our wedding date. One of the key places we visited was Venice, Italy, which eventually became a primary inspiration for our wedding theme and style.

Alexandra has always loved costumes and themes and Halloween as a favorite holiday since childhood. With the wedding falling in her favorite month and not long before Halloween, the couple wanted to find a fun and unique way of incorporating these favorites. While dating, Matthew and Alexandra had a memorable trip to New Orleans and Matthew embraced the existing love the Briggs’ family had for the city. Once the duo was sharing a home post-engagement, they decided that they would hold an annual Mardi Gras party complete with masks. With Mardi Gras inspired by Carnevale in Venice, you can begin to see the interwoven things that formed into our wedding’s theme. Their dream day soon had a vision of a bridal party entrance in Venetian Masquerade masks to the tune of “Masquerade” from Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Phantom of the Opera (a musical Alexandra adored the songs of as a toddler before finally seeing at elementary age).

Even before being together, Matthew and Alexandra had a shared favorite color of Orange and a mutual drawing to its complement to Navy Blue. Those colors were set before there was even a wedding date. Eventually the pallet grew to include Ultraviolet with its bright sense of fun and joy. This trio also fits perfectly with the Venetian elegance. We wanted the colors and theme to flow from our off-site Wedding Ceremony into the reception that would be an explosion of the fun and excitement of a Venetian Carnevale! We found masks from Venice for much of the Bridal Party including the Bride that played well off the pallet. We also found miniature versions to use with table décor and our cake topper. We wanted to capture some of OUR Venice within the décor and theme and used photos we personally took there to build our guestbook that was used at the ceremony and then moved to the reception. We also used some of those photos as the background for all of the individual escort cards for attendees. Our florist followed our theme and in an initial meeting she proposed adding in Birds of Paradise to play from the color pallet without knowing that has always been one of Alexandra’s Favorite flowers and became particularly favorited after living in San Diego, California. Just one of another areas where our day was coming together as MEANT TO BE and we felt God’s hand in making it special.

With how important our family is to us, we were devastated that all of Alexandra’s remaining grandparents passed away between the span of time following our engagement and nuptials. Her maternal grandfather just weeks after the engagement in July 2017 and then paternal grandmother in April 2018 and very surprisingly maternal grandmother just a few weeks later in May 2018. Matthew’s grandparents had never met Alexandra due to passing before their meeting, but together they had spent time with all of these treasured family members of Alexandra’s. We knew that our beloved grandparents would be watching our day from Heaven, but knew that we wanted a memory table in their honor at the reception. The Montage (and our coordinator onsite, Freddie) helped to make sure this was included and we had the mini masks and beautiful flowers on the table with the golden frames with their photos.“

The Space

“It is hard to pick just one thing that we loved most. The venue itself had the renting capability to have our reception flow in a way we hoped for and the food itself was the Kahn’s quality we love. In hindsight, we think the ability to have fireworks surprise everyone in attendance at during our second dance as man and wife stands out as the top memory. Since this is summarized for the “memorable moment” question, I will focus on a potentially underappreciated element.

Something that stood out to not only us but also our bridal party, was the staff of the Montage and Freddie coordinating. The assistance through the photography pre-ceremony, directing the driver to a better entrance for drop off post ceremony, having the Riesling room set as a “bridal party staging/chill zone” and the overall attentiveness was incredible. Servers made sure we were taken care of and that the day remained focused on us. The bride’s go-to cocktail is vodka pineapple and the bar manager took the time to have someone pull and remake the drink we better pineapple juice to ensure it was the best it could be. While it was a combined impression of lots of small actions, the Montage made us feel so important and special during our day and we didn’t feel like we needed to worry, the team had us covered. I didn’t realize how truly special and important having Freddie as a point-person would be to making our day so wonderful until the day was upon us. I would encourage ALL future couples considering ANY venue to look for such a service. We were both working full-time with the Bride frequently travelling for work so having someone as a backup to the Mother of the Bride and us was a lifesaver.

Overall the venue itself is so flexible as well. The ability to have the entire facility for the day was incredible. We knew that holding our wedding on a Friday would have some complications but, with so much credit to the Montage and Kahn’s teams and our other vendors, we didn’t feel much of that stress on our day. The Chardonnay Room is by far my favorite of the venue and the all-glass was something I wanted to have accessible throughout the evening since we didn’t know how the weather would pan out and both love fall foliage and knew fireworks were on the agenda. Freddie helped us ensure that our use of the room could be maximized and that the party could still flow in an organic way all evening!”

Food & Beverage

“My absolute favorite was our cake! We’ve had multiple guests ask us where the cake was from and what kind it was. A couple of them asked us during the reception and then after the fact because either they or their spouse tasted it and ate an entire piece when they typically do not enjoy ANY type of cake. I probably should carry little slips of paper stating “Chai Spice cake, Cranberry Orange Compote, with chai spice buttercream. Courtesy of Kahn’s Catering” with me since I still am asked and our wedding was months ago! Of the dinner items, we both really loved the Gruyere & leek potato gratin side. This was something we both enjoyed during the tastings and again during our reception.”

Most Memorable Moment

“Our first dance and subsequent dances outside under the pergola with the ability to have fireworks surprise everyone in attendance during our second dance as man and wife stands out as the top memory. Only the bride’s family knew outside of us and hearing and seeing those reactions while relishing in our dance is a memory that could never be recreated in its full magic and feeling. The fireworks beginning to boom while Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” played evaporated the chill in the air and replaced it with the warmth of our love for each other and for all our closest friends and family. We still laugh about not knowing when they would begin to go off and, during our first dance to Michael Buble singing “Some Kind of Wonderful” whispering “do you see anything yet” while maintaining our smiles and dancing. As we bowed and curtseyed following Mr. Buble we had no choice but to continue dancing to the start of Harvest Moon while praying nothing had gone wrong with the fireworks and hoping the guests would indulge us and stay outside. That first boom gave us a major relief while also filling us and all our guests with awe. Even though there wasn’t a full moon (more like 3/4 full), the bride recalls the lyrics leading into that boom being “…but there’s a full moon risin’ let’s go dancing in the light…we know where the music’s playing…..” from the first verses. Every time we try to explain what that moment was like it seems that our summaries always include the word “MAGIC” regardless of how much time has passed.

I will say that Dad stepping on the train of my bridal gown when we were headed to the dance floor for the Father-Daughter dance was a close second memory in terms of hilarity. Particularly the fact guests still crack up laughing when reciting my reaction and tone of “DAAAADDD!?!?!” while walking out before the tear-fest of “I Loved Her First” makes it a memory that will not soon be forgotten.”

What Guests Have Said

“Our guests continue to share how much fun they had at our reception to this day when we see them. Some have shared, “it was the most beautiful and fun party I’ve ever experienced.” I’ve compiled some of the other messages received post-wedding as well.

“This was THE BEST time….can we do it again?” – Megan Kirsch and Trinity Firth (Bridesmaids)

“Alexandra, you and Matt could not be more perfect for each other. The fireworks were insane! I don’t know if I’ve witnessed a more romantic moment than you watching the fireworks in his arms. Breathtaking.” – Angela Cardona (Bridesmaid)

“I don’t know where your cake was from but that was incredible! Jeremy doesn’t even like cake or sweets and he ate an entire slice before trying to steal mine!” – Elise Hodges

“Such a FUN night that we were so happy to be a part of!! Love you both!” – Jenny Gossett

“Your photographer truly captured the beauty of the day!” – Natalie Franklin

“A GREAT wedding! Had so much fun!” – Don Lee Puckett

“Such a fun wedding!” – Tracy Miraglia

“It was absolutely wonderful! A magical evening” – Mother of Groom to others on Facebook

“So much fun and such a beautiful wedding! Congrats Broadwells!” – Natalie Pinedo

“The sweetest father daughter dance! I bawled my eyes out! Congratulations to you both! Lovely night of celebration!” – Rani Sondhi

Wedding Professionals

Photographer: Beau Vaughn Photography, Kansas City, MO
Dress & Veil: Brides by Young
Floral: Lilly Lane Flowers
Tuxedos: Louie’s Tux Shop
Ceremony: Cornerstone Lutheran Church
Reception: The Montage
Catering: Kahn’s Catering
DJ/Music: Lakeside Entertainment
Hotel: Ironworks Hotel
Transportation: Avant Garde Limousines
Photo Booth: Dappy Hays
Hair: Megan Juergensen-Street
Makeup: Megan Martin