Photo by Kate IversonThis past Saturday night marked the union of two of l'étoile's most charming and indispensable staff members. l'étoile founder Beth Hammarlund and her longtime love, Brian Gioielli a.k.a. l'étoile's advertising guru, tied the knot at the beautiful Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis. Two of our favorite humans, Beth and Brian truly are the storybook couple. The kind-hearted, hilarious, successful and talented twosome charm each and every person they meet almost immediately - and like we've said before, the bar for perfect coupledom has been set so high by these two, we're all pretty much doomed. The l'étoile-touched ultimate dream wedding was a gorgeous, artful affair complete with its own funny (and top local trending!) twitter hashtag, a conglomeration of both of their last names, #hammarelli (dreamed up by l'étoile's resident smart ass, Robyn Lewis, of course).
Photo by Kate Iverson The comically large wedding party (about 25 total) included l'étoile staffers Kate Iverson, Jahna Peloquin and Juleana Enright, mplsart.com director/fashion designer Emma Berg, former Soap Factory program director (currently of Philadelphia) Katherine Rochester, Cowles Center marketer Nate Gagnon, as well as a number of the couple's longtime friends and family members from all corners of the country. The bride wore a custom-made, chartreuse dress designed by Emma Berg with jewelry by Bionic Unicorn and the groom was outfitted by Elsworth Mens in Minneapolis. All the bridesmaids wore bejeweled floral fascinators by Anna Lee of Ruby3 in their hair and each chose their own outfits which ranged from vintage beaded gowns to Alexander McQueen to local designers including Kerry Riley of Needle & Black.
Photo by Stephen StephensThe ceremony was held in a bright, airy gallery within the Weisman and was officiated by l'étoile contributor and local sci-fi author, Rob Callahan. The wedding party walked down the aisle to "Plainsong" by The Cure flanked by a couple hundred of Brian and Beth's close friends and family. Callahan launched into a short but humorous intro and after a few choice readings by friends, the two exchanged personally-written vows that brought most of the audience (and pretty much the entire wedding party) to tears. The ring exchange, however, was when Beth and Brian's true nerdiness and humor came out (note the Buffy, Star Trek, etc references!):
"Brian, with this ring I pledge to be with you. Through the long and the short of the years ahead, As your mighty Willow, your stoic Watcher, your loving Angel, or your Zeppo. I will make it so. An equal and awesome partnership is ahead of us. As you wish."
"Beth, with this ring I pledge to be with you. Through the long and the short of the years ahead. As your puppet, your pauper, your pirate, your poet, your pawn or your king. I will make it so. An equal and awesome partnership is ahead of us. As you wish."
Photo by Stephen StephensFollowing the ceremony, the party moved to the main hall of the museum where guests enjoyed an open bar, complete with White Russians, Gin & Tonics, wine and beer followed by a tear-inspiring champagne toast from Maid of Honor Élen Rhoades and Best Man Ben Theisen. Dinner consisted of artfully arranged entrees of beef, chicken and fish with garlic mashed potatoes, gingered carrots, and sweet cubed yams. The cutest part of the meal featured a dessert buffet worthy of Marie Antoinette which included piles of French Macaroons, a layered fruit and whipped cream cake, candied rose petals, decadent truffle-like chocolate mini-cakes, gummie raspberries and blackberries, and more, and later in the evening, a table dedicated to chocolate chip cookies and milk.
Photo by Stephen StephensAfter dinner, Janey Winterbauer and Jon Hunt took the stage to sing a couple songs for Brian and Beth's first dance, "Have a Little Faith in Me" by John Hiatt and "Your Song" by Elton John. Drinks flowed while guests of all ages danced to tunes a la l'étoile bff DJ Matt Perkins and around 10:30pm, we were treated to a rockin' set by our fave local band, Blue Sky Blackout, which even had some of the older guests bustin' moves on the dance floor. One of the sweetest moments, however, came when in the middle of BSB's set, drummer Marc Iwanin took the mic and sang a lovely rendition of "Beth" by Kiss, with Jon Hunt on guitar. Janey Winterbauer then joined the band for a cover of Paul McCartney's "Say Say Say."
Photo by Katie Iwanin. Yes, lighters came out. After the Weisman party ended, we all found our way back to the Aloft Hotel for an after party at the W XYZ Bar complete with a "Hammarelli" drink special. All in all, a spectacularly beautiful and perfect night. Beth and Brian are currently on their way to Jamacia for a week-long honeymoon. We're totally jeal!
Jahna Peloquin and Raul Osorio ham it up at the after party at Aloft. Photo by Christian Erickson.
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