The Wedding Story of Patricia & Duane Gillenwater

Photos ByIvan & Louise

Written By

Date

October 19, 2016

a midsummer night’s dream: A Magical Garden Wedding

Like our favorite 90s romantic comedies, a homecoming dance sealed the deal for Duane and Patty Gillenwater. They first met in high school and after growing up together, they each attended their own colleges and pursued their own career paths. As high school sweethearts, Duane and Patty overcame the odds and got engaged after eight years of dating.

THE PROPOSAL

Patty flew to New York City for a work-related trip and had planned to be there for a week. She hoped to do some sight seeing while there so she decided to fly in a day early. After meandering around Central Park, Patty returned to her hotel room when she got a phone call from the front desk informing her that she had a package downstairs. Patty’s initial thought was that her office had sent her a fruit basket. She took the elevator downstairs and when the doors opened to the lobby, she found Duane standing there with roses (not a fruit basket). He got down on one knee, proposed and then spent the week in the city with Patty.

THE Planning

Patty is a designer, so visuals and creativity are a part of everything she does. Sometimes, she says, that makes her get fixated on perfection. She knew her wedding would be one of those things. The couple originally wanted a late spring/early summer wedding, but after they had difficulty finding a church and venue that had the same date open, they pushed the wedding back to Labor Day weekend. Patty knew she wanted a magical garden atmosphere with whichever venue she chose, but also wanted to incorporate the Indianapolis city life. With that in mind, her and Duane set out to find a site that would match their vision.

THE Venue

Duane and Patty’s venue criteria included seating capacity for 300 guests, a downtown location, and indoor/outdoor space. With those requirements, it was a bit of a challenge to find a venue that met the criteria and also provided the space to create the urban garden vibe Patty wanted. The couple’s venue search led them to Regions Tower and Rooftop Terrace in downtown Indianapolis where they were immediately attracted to the cityscape views, natural light, affordability and the staff.

THE DÉCOR

Patty was inspired by Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and...moss. “I was obsessed with moss,” says Patty. “I wanted it everywhere!” To create the urban garden feel, they wanted to bring the outdoors in with loose, romantic foliages, florals and mosses. Color choices included gold accents and ivory with soft blush. “I wanted all my bright color to be my floral,” Patty explains. “I wanted the floral to POP and make the room glow.”

Duane and Patty’s head table featured a long wooden table with garland flowing down the center with candlesticks and blooms woven throughout beneath a gorgeous suspended floral piece. Meanwhile, the escort table was moss covered with a tree “growing” through the center with hanging candles.

Because of Patty’s designer background and creative mind, there were a lot of D.I.Y. projects in her wedding. She placed large, home-grown succulents throughout the reception and hand drew/painted all of the reception signage. She also painted the gold script table numbers on mirrored round plates for the guest tables. The stationery including the programs, menu cards and escort cards were all designed by Patty. On top of that, she created golden, moss tea light trees for the bar area and filled the bottom of glass cylinders with moss to accent the candles in the centerpieces of the guest tables.

The Floral

Upon recommendation, Patty connected with Autumn Keller from Isibeal Studio who took her vision and ran with it. Autumn created a botanical palette with greenery galore and soft blooms in whites, nudes, gold, blush, berry and coral. Patty says she was after a nature-inspired, yet elegant look with her flowers. Her florist used hops, Sweet Autumn clematis vines, Italian ruscus, various eucalyptus, fresh bay, native branches, maidenhair and plumosa fern. Florals included blossoms of Coral Charm peonies, Romantik Antike roses, White O’Hara, Patience, Polo and Sahara roses, and Mettalina. Other seasonal flowers made appearances as accents in berry and coral tones.

The Dress

Patty wore an Enzoani Bridal gown, purchased from Bridal and Formal in Cincinnati, Ohio. She knew she wanted something with lace, ivory tones and an illusion top. She also wanted a high neckline with lace. When she tried on the Enzoani gown, both her and her mom and sister were in agreement: it was the one. “It fit me like a dream, hitting my waist at the perfect spot. It was definitely everything I wanted,” says Patty.

What We Love

Patty decided to create a “Let Love Grow” theme and gave little home-grown succulents with thank you tags for the guest favors. Between Patty and her family, they grew over 300 succulents!