Some couples want a wedding that feels like a party. Jenna and Kade wanted one that felt like home, surrounded by family, old friends and a whole lot of love stories. They found it at the Columbus Museum of Art, and we got to help bring it to life.
The night before the wedding, everyone they loved crowded into the Barrel Room at High Bank Distillery in Columbus for the rehearsal dinner. It was easy and relaxed. Buffet on the side, pink cocktails in hand, and a bourbon barrel that slowly filled up with signatures as the night went on. By the time everyone headed home, you could feel it. Tomorrow was going to be special.
Friday morning the girls took over the Hilton Columbus Downtown. Hair, makeup, coffee, a lot of laughing. When it was time to go, they all piled onto the shuttle and rode to the museum still in their matching pajamas.
Jenna stepped into her dress inside the museum while her mom buttoned her in, one button at a time. Jenna couldn’t stop smiling. Down the hall, Kade’s dad was fixing his bow tie for him. Two parents, two rooms, the same moment. We still get chills looking at those photos side by side.
For their first look at the Columbus Museum of Art, Kade waited in front of the museum’s original stone wall, carved back in 1930. When Jenna walked up and he turned around, his hand went straight to his face. Then he pulled her in and just held on. They read private vows to each other right there, just the two of them, before anyone else saw them.
After that, the museum was theirs. They wandered through the galleries, past gold framed paintings and marble busts, Jenna’s bouquet of lavender clematis and garden roses in hand. Outside on the lawn, her bridesmaids in dusty blue, sage, mauve, chocolate and blush grabbed her train and ran with it. It looked like early fall in the best way.
(Planning a museum wedding in Columbus? This is exactly why we love a first look. You get the galleries all to yourselves before your guests arrive.)
At 5:00 the violin and cello started, and guests found their seats surrounded by towering blue hydrangea, blush roses and delphinium. Jenna walked down the aisle to Canon in D. Their officiant, Johnathan, is marrying Jenna’s best friend, so every word felt personal. One kiss later, they walked back up the aisle as husband and wife to “This Will Be An Everlasting Love.”
Cocktail hour spilled outside into the early fall evening. Guests grabbed Jenna’s French 75 or Kade’s Margarita and then kept drifting toward one spot, a wall covered in framed wedding photos from their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends. The sign read “To all the love stories that came before ours.”
People stood there pointing, telling stories, finding the faces they knew. At one point Jenna and Kade stepped out on the balcony above and waved down at everyone. It was one of those moments you can’t plan, you can only make room for.
Inside, the reception glowed. Candlelight, blush linens, soft cream lounges and a black and white checkered dance floor waiting for them. A painting of red roses, a Lambert family piece, welcomed everyone at the door. And yes, Kade got his bourbon bar.
They came in as The Lamberts for the very first time to “12 to 12” and went straight into their first dance to “Beyond” by Leon Bridges. Later, Jenna danced with her dad to “Wildflowers,” and Kade held his mom close to “You’ll Be in My Heart.” Glasses went up, tissues came out.
When the night was almost over, the first notes of “Piano Man” started. Years ago, Jenna’s parents ended their own wedding with that same song. Now here was their daughter, on the dance floor with her new husband, starting her own love story in a room full of the ones that came before.
Jenna and Kade, thank you for trusting us with your day. We loved every second!
Planning a Columbus Museum of Art wedding? We’d love to help. Jenna and Kade had their ceremony, cocktail hour and reception all at CMOA with about 160 guests, and a first look gave them the galleries to themselves before anyone arrived. Vowed Weddings is a Columbus, Ohio wedding planner offering full design and event management, and we’d love to hear from you!
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