Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The couple first met in May of 2006 when Adrienne was a high school exchange student from Germany in Max’s home town of Grand Rapids, Michigan. They were introduced at a party when Max was home, visiting from college. With Adrienne set to return to Germany a mere two weeks later, the romantic prospects looked bleak. But the connection endured and after staying in touch for four years they officially started dating in December of 2010. This international romance took them all over the world, including Amsterdam, the first city where they lived in together as a couple. Adrienne and Max were engaged in August of 2016. Although living in Chicago at the time, they felt a strong connection to Amsterdam and planned a destination wedding for both their American and German families and friends.
This was a destination wedding for 100% of the guest list, 200 friends and family, approximately half coming from the bride’s side in Germany and Europe and the groom’s family and friends from the United States.
The couple wanted to be married by a judge without religious affiliation. The Vondelkerk is a decommissioned sacred space built in 1880 and conveniently located adjacent to Amsterdam’s iconic public park, The Vondelpark. The enormous vaulted ceilings of the Gothic revival structure appealed to the bride, who is an architect. The classical ensemble Alla Classica played throughout the ceremony.The couple professed their vows in keeping with the cross-cultural union, the bride declared hers in German and the groom his, in English.
Post the wonderful ceremony, four traditional canal boats were booked to transport the guests on a leisurely two hour ride through the canals of Amsterdam from the ceremony site to the Historic Het Scheepvaartmuseum (National Maritime Museum). The bride and groom arranged to hop between the boats so they could visit with all their guests. The boats were greeted at the Scheepvaartmuseum by servers in costume with trays of champagne.
The reception was incredible, having been orchestrated at the grand ship museum that was built in the 17th century but recently renovated to accommodate large parties. The enormous courtyard served as the reception space and was covered with a glass ceiling to keep out the mercurial Amsterdam weather (although it turned out to be unnecessary, as the couple enjoyed perfect sunny skies on their wedding day. The bride said “The layout of the space made it feel like we were at a big square somewhere in Europe, where you could grab a drink from any of the bars and meet in the middle of the square to dance. It didn’t feel like it was inside. The glass atrium had a lot of small lights on it, which made it look like stars. It was a very special space to have a reception in.” The design inspiration for the reception came from the couple’s affinity for marble and copper. These elements were carried out in all the paper goods and extended to décor and flowers.
Polterabend (like a rehearsal dinner) is a German wedding custom in which on the night before the wedding the guests break porcelain to bring luck to the couple‘s marriage. The belief in the effectiveness of this custom is expressed by the old adage: “shards bring luck“ (German: Scherben bringen Glück). Normally people throw porcelain plates on the streets. To honor the tradition Adrienne’s uncle built a box, with hammers attached to it, and all the guests has an opportunity to break Dutch blue plates. Emphasizing on a personal touch, Adrienne’s father also made his own Schnapps and filled bottles of it for every guest to take home.
The dinner was a feast fit for royalty, with a delicious salad of grilled scallops, Dutch prawns with fresh cream cheese and marinated cherry tomatoes followed by an incredible entrée of a braised beef- layered terrine of sweet potato with lentil compote, green pasta, sweet peas purée, baked mini shiitake, soy beans with a truffle vinaigrette paired with exquisite wines like the 2015 Château de Sancerre, the Marnier-Lapostolle the Sancerre, the 2006 Bosan Amarone, Cesari and Veneto. The guests were further treated to a lavish selection of desserts and mini-sweets as well as Dutch cheese and an all night espresso bar. Renowned Frankfurt band, King Kamehameha Club Band, came in to perform at the wedding. The couple arranged for extra musicians so that the band would never need to break during the evening.
After a spectacular destination weekend in Amsterdam for the wedding, they returned to work and took a delayed honeymoon in Ibiza and Formentera, Spain a few months later. The couple travels frequently and they like to say they are taking another “small honeymoon” with each trip.
THE BRIDE
Wedding dress designer: Vera Wang
The “Alden” dress featured a white lace at top with tulle skirt. The top was sheer and showed the dress’s boning. The bride had the skirt liner cut out so the tulle on the skirt was see through as well. The bride also wore pearl earrings borrowed from the groom’s sister and a pearl bracelet that had been worn by the same sister, as well as the groom’s mother and grandmother at their weddings. She finished the look with silver Jimmy Choo gladiator pumps chosen for their ability to shine through the layers of tulle.
THE GROOM
The groom chose a dramatic all black ensemble, wearing a Prada Black tuxedo with black button down and silky black tie and black shoes.