The Wedding Library

Flagler Mansion

Palm Beach
Florida

Mary Beth Tyson
Claudia Hanlin

I really am struggling to find the words to convey my thanks and appreciation for the best night of my life. We are basking in the afterglow of our glorious event. Beautiful, elegant, extraordinary, splendid — I am out of adjectives to describe Elizabeth’s wedding weekend. The wedding was perfect in every detail and you did a superb job of designing and pulling together all the many moving parts into a seamless, gorgeous weekend. We have gotten masses of notes from our guests and all had the common theme of delight and awe at the beauty of all aspects of the wedding. We are so happy with our events — beautifully planned, perfectly executed — you and your wonderful staff made everything look and feel so seamless as we transitioned smoothly through all of our terribly complicated sequence of events.

Deepest thanks and appreciation to you and your outstanding staff for an unforgettable wedding.

The Wilsons
Family of the Bride

The Flagler’s extended property includes the Chapel, the gardens and the waterway – making for varied and exquisite backdrops for photos.

The bride favored a delicate bridal gown design, and flowing cathedral-length veil. We provided fresh gardenias for her hair and took classic portraits outside the Seagull Cottage at the Royal Poinciana Chapel.

The crisp, gray chapel is simply beautiful in its puritanical austerity. Although it needed little adornment, we softened the edges by adding ethereal wreaths of baby’s breath, architectural potted trees and a hand painted gray canvas runner that stretched outside and down the steps of the pretty church.

Inside the chapel, lush garlands of greens and simple pillar candles completed the look. The bride chose a cascading bouquet filled with peonies, gardenias, stephanotis and trailing vines.

After the ceremony we caught the “magic hour” light for some portraits of the couple by the chapel’s fountain.

Bridesmaids wore Wedding Library gowns and each had a different bouquet, wrapped in the wedding’s signature vanilla velvet ribbon. We sourced the Austrian linen handkerchiefs, which we then embroidered with each bridesmaid’s initials and the wedding date. The bridal party carried them down the aisle to capture their tears (of joy).

Groomsmen looked dapper in bespoke tuxedos. The classic stephanotis boutonnieres are timeless, and mirror the blossoms in the bride’s bouquet.

We commissioned a series of ink drawings of the Flagler, the Chapel and other wedding details that we used on paperie and gift items throughout the wedding weekend. The bride and her mother particularly love the soft color palette that was used throughout the events.

The outdoor escort table later became a focal point of the after party with it’s organic tower of flowering herbs and fragrant blossoms. Irish linen and lengths of grosgrain ribbon secured beautifully hand-lettered escort cards.

The French-style, cream linen lounge furniture was sourced in South Carolina and trucked down with the custom square bar and dining chairs.

We filled custom totes with goodies for guests attending the wedding. Favorite treats were accompanied by a custom watercolor map of Palm Beach and a detailed itinerary.

Our bourbon bar featured hard-to-find vintages and the groom’s favorites. We provided the old-fashioned apothecary jars and hand calligraphy on zinc labels to complete the look.

In addition to a full bar and our bourbons, champagne cocktails and original Moscow Mules were on offer. The Mules wouldn’t be the same if there weren’t served in the traditional copper tankards!

The bride found an original postcard image of the Flagler; we had it reproduced for the save-the-dates. Glassine envelopes and wrap-around address labels finished the look.

Our custom built, very large, white wooden square bar provided a gathering spot and central focus in the museum’s Pavilion room, which also holds an original private railway car owned by Henry Flagler.

The bride and groom make their entry through the Flagler mansion. Turn-of-the-century opulence is evident everywhere. It was a joy to design this wedding using the vernacular of this amazing architectural and design treasure.

The candlelit ballroom was spectacular. I designed the room with rectangular and round tables; custom chairs I sourced from overseas reinforced the subtly opulent look. High and low arrangements were placed strategically for maximum effect.

The party didn’t take long to get going and throughout the night most guests were on the oversized dance floor. The band’s natural riser and arches frame them perfectly.

The menu card and table numbers are custom printed and are part of the Wedding Library Collection. We commissioned the custom artwork depicting the Flagler gates for the menu card.

The low table arrangements are loose and natural. Linens were ordered from California, chargers and plates from New York and glassware from Atlanta. The chairs are from Charleston and the menus from Virginia. Guests were from all over the world.

The high arrangements feature beautiful beeswax candles that mirror the design of the cut glass votive candles. We placed a fragrant bundle of herbs at each place setting, finished with a velvet tie.

Sweet wreaths mark the spots for the bride and groom.

Guests enjoyed a multi-course dinner but we made sure to leave plenty of time for dancing!

The delicately layered and textured place settings were particularly wonderful to construct.

The bride and groom taking a moment to relax during dinner.

I sourced a vintage bakers rack to hold an assortment of very special desserts. The bride’s favorite sweet is the famous Peninsula Grill’s Ultimate Coconut Cake; we had a dozen cakes cold shipped overnight from Charleston and served them along with miniature tarts and cookies.

The bride and groom feed each other their favorite coconut cake, shipped in from South Carolina.

The bride changed into a short dress late in the evening – the bridal party loosened up with fun customized sunglasses – they were handed out to everyone in an instant!

Sunglasses and flip-flops were welcomed by the bridal party and friends as they danced the night away.

The bride and groom look gorgeous on the front terrace of the Flagler Museum. Although confetti and streamers, sparklers and fireworks are not allowed at the museum, we found mylar streamers that stay attached to their holders, making them effective, easy to clean up, and permitted!