Real Weddings: Kristi & Mark

May 18, 2013: The Ballantyne Hotel

Kristi Horne, who works for Bank of America, and Mark Fox, in advertising for NBC, had one main goal for their wedding: for guests to leave exclaiming, “Damn, that was a good show!” Carolina Wedding Design helped them create “The Show,” from a mind-blowing menu to a wedding band extravaganza, “will call” concert invitations, and décor that will ensure the photographs still look fresh in 20 years. Working with a palette of ivories, grays, and greens, the couple chose green succulents, chandeliers festooned with white flowers, giant silver candlesticks, and ceilings draped in white fabric.

The highlight of the evening was the band Simply Irresistible out of Atlanta. They learned “The Way I Am,” by Ingrid Michaelson for the first-dance song and got the shy bride onstage for “MMMBop” for her former middle-school obsession. The band’s choreographed “Thriller” number brought down the house. Everyone stayed so late dancing that the Ballantyne passed late-night snacks—mac ’n cheese balls, fried peanut butter, and jelly bites, tiny taco salads, pizza bites, and mini chicken-and-waffles. The groom’s uncle even brought in Italian wedding cookies from Detroit’s Bonmarito Deli. Finally, the bride and groom sneaked off to Bora Bora for a high-adventure honeymoon of shark diving, scuba diving with stingrays, and rainforest hiking.