The anatomy of an effortless evening begins with the unseen details that create a flawless guest experience. Our team at Verve Event Co. was ecstatic to build that anatomy for Margaret and Itan's hobbit chic meets Bridgerton wedding weekend at the Inns of Aurora, a weekend asking two very different worlds, fantasy and refined elegance, to sit comfortably in the same room.

“So many people said, “this is the nicest wedding I have ever been too.” The decorations were wonderful. The attention to detail was outstanding. The planning and design were outstanding!” – Margaret & Itan

In this post, we're walking through the weekend as it unfolded, from a design that started with fantasy novels and horseback riding, to a hobbit-door escort display pulled straight from a Tolkien quote. Keep reading for all the behind-the-scenes details that went into this Inns of Aurora wedding weekend.

 

 

The Vision Behind their Fantasy Wedding Design

Every Verve design starts with a conversation about what a couple loves deeply. For Margaret and Itan, that conversation kept circling back to fantasy novels, horseback riding, and a shared appreciation for old-world elegance. Instead of leaning into just one of those threads, we built a design meant to hold all of them at once, with an immersive world of flowers, nature, and refinement that still felt like their real life.

The final look landed somewhere between English countryside charm and Lord of the Rings magic. Soft layers of lavender, lilac, and periwinkle, Margaret's favorite colors, set the palette, while mauve and plum blooms carried the fantasy feeling just far enough without tipping into anything literal. Celtic knot details worked into leather accents throughout the weekend honored Margaret's heritage, and warm leather brown tones nodded to the couple's shared love of horseback riding.

None of those references were meant to stand alone. The goal was a design where fantasy and real-life romance could sit in the same room without either one overwhelming the other, so that a guest who'd never picked up a fantasy novel in their life could still feel like they'd stepped into something magical.

 

 

The Welcome Dinner — An Evening in The Shire

The Inns of Aurora wedding weekend opened Friday night in the Lakeside Room, and it set the tone for everything that followed.

Green velvet drapery wrapped the room's perimeter, adding drama without making the space feel heavy. Centerpieces were built loose and gathered, moss and flowers grouped by variety. The goal was to make the room feel more like a long-loved home. Forged flatware and wooden napkin rings added texture underneath it all.

The welcome dinner itself was served family-style, a nod to Itan's family traditions, with a blessing recited over the challah and lit candles before the meal began. This small moment of breaking bread together grounded the rest of the evening. Guests sat down to a warm, lived-in room that felt like a true gathering in the Shire, exactly what our team has come to call “hobbit chic.”

 

 

The Ceremony at St. Patrick's Catholic Church

Saturday began with a shift in tone, from cozy and organic to something more romantic and refined. Margaret and Itan were married at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Aurora, where a lush floral arch greeted guests at the entrance and small meadow arrangements lined the aisle inside, carrying the same soft lavender palette through from the night before.

Bridesmaids in shades of lavender and dusty purple and groomsmen in soft gray suits gave the ceremony a cohesive look against the church's stone and stained glass. As Margaret and Itan exchanged vows, everything else in the room fell away. Guests showered the newlyweds with love as they stepped back out through the church's green doors, before making their way back to the Inns of Aurora for cocktail hour.

 

 

Cocktail Hour by the Lake

As the ceremony gave way to cocktail hour, guests settled into Adirondack chairs overlooking Cayuga Lake while servers passed a lavender-and-sage-inspired lemonade and a harpist played softly nearby. A custom, stone-textured bar sign anchored the space, with small floral arrangements sitting atop each cocktail table.

Guests spent the hour taking in the view and uncovering the design's hidden Easter eggs. Our favorite was the escort display. It was shaped like a rounded hobbit door and set in a bed of florals, carrying a line straight from Tolkien, “I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone,” with each card sealed in lavender wax to tie the literary detail back into the day's color story.

Then, Margaret and Itan made their entrance into cocktail hour and, a short while later, stepped into the reception tent to see the hobbit chic meets Bridgerton wedding design we'd been building with them for the better part of a year.

 

 

Reception

Guests stepped into the reception tent to find two long rows of tables dressed in the same lavender and ivory palette that had carried through the whole weekend, wooden chandeliers wrapped in greenery turning slowly overhead. After a weekend of smaller, more intimate moments, this was the room built to hold everyone at once.

Toasts ran long in the best way, funny in some places and tearful in others, and it was easy to see how much this crowd of family and friends, flown in from three continents, had wanted to be in one room together. Margaret and Itan cut into a cake dressed in buttercream flowers in shades of blue, gray, and white, with a matching spread of cupcakes fanned out beneath it, before the two of them found their way to the dance floor.

 

The After Party — A Cantina in Ixtapa

Just when guests thought they knew what to expect, the night took a playful turn.

The after party moved to Fargo Bar & Grill, reimagined as a cantina inspired by Ixtapa. Colorful papel picado banners strung overhead, while traditional alebrijes added bursts of color throughout the space. A late-night menu of tortilla chips, spinach and artichoke dip, pretzel sticks, and chicken tenders kept the energy going.

It was a deliberate tonal shift, proving that a wedding weekend can hold more than one story without feeling disjointed.

 

The Send-Off Brunch

Sunday morning brought the weekend full circle with something much calmer.

Guests gathered inside the Taylor House for a farewell brunch inspired by an afternoon tea. The mood turned relaxed and casual, a deliberate contrast to the elevated design of the two nights before, and guests lingered over easy breakfast items while reliving the weekend's highlights and saying their final goodbyes to the couple and their families.

 

 

A Stress-Free, Full-Service Planning Experience with Verve Event Co.

A multi-day, tented wedding weekend like this one lives or dies in its logistics, and most of what makes it feel effortless never shows up in a single photo. As Margaret and Itan's planning team, we built the structural footprint for the tent, coordinated vendor load-ins across three days, and worked out exactly how the weekend needed to flow, from an intimate Friday night dinner to a full reception the next evening to a quiet Sunday brunch. We mapped their floor plan and timeline more times than we could count, so that behind-the-scenes work never reached the couple or their guests.

Margaret's biggest fear going into planning was having to “wrangle 50+ people from across the globe alone,” with guests flying in from Mexico, Europe, and the Middle East for the weekend. Here's what she told us afterward:

“Verve helped us enjoy not just the wedding, but the entire planning process. We knew there would be more to planning a wedding than it originally seemed, and having someone help with that really takes stress off your shoulders. After meeting with Verve, we already felt some tension immediately vanish. As a veterinarian, I have a high-stress job, and Verve was instrumental in planning our wedding and helping us enjoy the entire process. They always kept our priorities in mind when advising us and helped us navigate the many challenges that came with hosting guests from Mexico, Europe, and the Middle East. I will always remember my wedding day as the best day of my life and it was honestly all due to Verve Event Co.”

 

More Weddings at the Inns of Aurora

Margaret & Itan's fantasy-inspired celebration is one of several styles we've brought to life at the Inns of Aurora. We've had the pleasure of working with several couples here, and each one has looked completely different from the last. 

If bold color and vintage glamour sound more like you, take a look at Ashley & Nick's Slim Aarons-inspired wedding, full of sun-soaked color and resort-style charm. For something Mediterranean, Caroline & Ben's dreamy celebration blends Italian and Australian heritage into one warm, citrus-hued design. And if a personal, symbol-driven design speaks to you, Becca & Geoff's meaningful fall wedding is worth checking out, too.

 

Ready to Plan Your Own Wedding Weekend?

A hobbit chic meets Bridgerton wedding sounds like a lot to pull off. But for Margaret & Itan, it was effortless, because the design held together and the logistics stayed invisible.

If you're dreaming of a wedding weekend built around what you deeply love, whatever that may be, we'd love to hear from you. Follow along on Instagram for more real weddings like this one, and reach out when you're ready to start planning yours.

 

Vendors

• Planning & Design: Verve Event Co.
• Venue: Inns of Aurora
• Photography: Laura Rose Weddings
• Florals: Flowerwell
• Tablesettings: Petunia Rose China, Nuage Designs, BBJ La Tavola
• Rentals: Revival Rentals; Hank Parker's Event Services
• Event Branding & Stationery: Max and Maiden Ink
• Beauty: Erica Stoy Hair and Erin Hills
• Dessert: Torta
• Entertainment: Break Through Entertainment DJ Jonathan Hogan, Sunshine Quan
• Content: Aglow Media Collective