Wedding Date: May 5th 2026

There's an old kind of magic in choosing to wait to see one another, and Hollie and Adam built their entire day around exactly that choice. No first look tucked away in some quiet corner of the morning, no stolen glance before the ceremony began. They decided the very first time they'd see each other that day would be the moment she walked down the aisle toward him, and I have to say, watching that decision play out in real time was something else entirely.

Adam showed up looking sharp in a green bow tie, his mustache styled to absolute perfection, standing at the top of the American Swedish Institute's main staircase with the kind of nervous energy that only comes from knowing something incredible is about to happen. And then Hollie appeared. I caught his reaction the second he saw her, and honestly, I don't think I could have asked for a more perfect moment if I'd scripted it myself. That's the thing about waiting all day for a single glance, it tends to hit differently than it would have hours earlier.

The ceremony itself unfolded right there on the mansion's main stairs, framed by cherry blossoms in full, glorious bloom, petals catching the light as it filtered down through the trees overhead. Small and intimate, the kind of ceremony where every single guest felt close enough to reach out and touch. Because the group was small, we even managed to get everyone gathered together on those same stairs for one big group photo afterward, and it's already shaping up to be one of those images that gets pulled out and passed around for years to come.

From there we wandered the mansion itself, and if you've never spent real time inside the American Swedish Institute, the architecture alone is worth the visit. Stained glass windows scattered light in every direction, and I found myself constantly stopping mid-conversation just to admire some new detail I hadn't noticed before. Every window, every archway, every bookcase-lined wall felt like its own tiny set piece, built specifically for two people falling even more in love with each other by the hour.

We stepped out onto the balcony right as the sun began its descent, and the light did something I genuinely can't put into words, golden and soft. Every flower on the property seemed to be blooming purely for them that day, which sounds like an exaggeration until you're standing there watching it happen.

Eventually we made our way up to the Hopper Terrace, art hanging along every wall, where their loved ones welcomed them in with open arms and full hearts. Their first dance followed shortly after. As the night wound down, I pulled them back outside one more time to catch blue hour settling in against the mansion's grand architecture, that deep, quiet blue light making the whole building look like something out of another century entirely. A fitting close to a day that had already given us more than enough magic to last a lifetime.