I Attended a Very Special Valentine's Day Wedding at the Empire State Building!
Valentine's Day, of course, is a celebration of love and it is now the wedding anniversary of my friends, flower and event designer, Preston Bailey and experimental musician and singer, Theo Bleckmann. After many years of courtship, the couple chose the Empire State Building as the venue. It turns out that this famous landmark skyscraper is a wonderful place to have a celebration. They were married just after midnight on Valentine's Day in a wedding with a King Kong theme, explaining that, "We wanted to give Kong a happy ending."
1 Here I am in the lobby of the Empire State Building with Kate Berry - AVP, Style Director, Weddings.
2 Posing with rapper Puma and his friends.
3 This guy was fun! Puma was on his way to his birthday party in another part of the Empire State Building.
4 There is so much to look at in this fabulous lobby.
5 Here I am posing in the renovated 34th Street corridor.
6 This is the amazing ceiling in the lobby, which had been hidden behind plastic panels and light fixtures since the 1960s. It was restored with 23-karat gold and aluminum leaf, part of the $20 million renovation of the lobby.
7 The handsome herringbone marble floor
8 The Art Deco elevator doors
9 The elevator call buttons
10 There's a lot of marble decoration, including this inlaid silhouette in the elevators. Photo credit: Mel Barlow
11 There are reminders of your location everywhere.
12 The wedding took place on the 21st floor and appropriately enough, the couple chose a King Kong theme. This giant ape made from thousands of flowers, petals, and leaves greeted the guests. Photo credit: Mel Barlow
13 There were many gorgeous flower arrangements.
14 Levy Lighting provided the beautiful lighting. Photo credit: Mel Barlow
15 Wedding favors hung from this "tree."
16 This was the curtained wedding stage. Photo credit: Mel Barlow
17 The seats were ruffled. Photo credit: Mel Barlow
18 Along with flowers, photos of friends and family also hung from the ceiling. Photo credit: Mel Barlow
19 Sylvia Weinstock, cake designer to the stars, created an amazing white wedding cake with a curtain of sugar orchids draped over the tiers. Photo credit: Mel Barlow
20 The bejeweled cake table
21 Another look at the detail
22 Posing with Melissa and Joan Rivers and Darcy
23 Posing for an iPhone photo
24 Event designers Marcy Blum, Harriette Rose Katz, and David Beahm Photo credit: Mel Barlow
25 Theo and Preston arrived. Photo credit: Mel Barlow
26 Theo and Preston with Darcy Miller, who created the lovely wedding favors. Photo credit: Mel Barlow
27 Fashion designer Reem Acra did last minute adjustments to Preston's tie. She designed his custom tuxedo. Photo credit: Mel Barlow
28 At midnight, the stage curtains opened and Theo began singing "You Make me Feel so Young." Photo credit: Mel Barlow
29 Reem Acra, created a 15-foot gown out of 400 yards of tulle and 1,000 flowers. It glided down the aisle, the tulle opened up, and Preston emerged. It was quite an entrance! Photo credit: Mel Barlow
30 Then, Joan Rivers appeared on stage to officiate. Photo credit: Mel Barlow
31 The newly-weds, at long last! Photo credit: Mel Barlow
32 Preston asked Darcy to make the favors for the wedding. She chose heart-shaped Jacques Torres truffle boxes and sketched the couple standing before the NYC skyline. Photo credit: Mel Barlow
33 She decorated the boxes with lovely ribbons and trim. Bernard Maisner, internationally renowned master calligrapher and stationer, created the name cards.
34 Miniature bottles of Chandon Champagne were another favor. Photo credit: Mel Barlow
35 Here I am with Kate and Darcy.
36 Nene Leakes of the Real Housewives of Atlanta and Kevin Sharkey - SVP, Exec Edit Dir, Dec & Creat Dir, Merch at MSLO
37 Kevin, Susan Magrino - my publicist, and Kate
38 Musician Valerie Romanoff and Sylvia Weinstock Photo credit: Mel Barlow
39 Nene Leakes and supermodel Cynthia Bailey
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
That was some more wedding. And, Martha, you looked loverly, as usual.
I saw Nene Leakes on The Price is Right today, and she won a record amount of money for her pet charity. I'd never heard of her, but she did good on the winnings.
Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | February 20th, 2013 at 12:13 am
So stylish! What a great couple! Loved all of the oh-so-fancy favours and the cake and the decor! Yayness for gayness hunty!
Posted by: Joash Narainsamy | February 20th, 2013 at 12:36 am
Very glamorous and Lovely event. These photos are great and Thanx for letting us see your life. Somehow, I felt inadequate on Valentine Day but WTH, it is just another day and when my family dropped in with a plate of cookies, another brought a couple of bottles of wine, We sat at kitchen table and had a great party with the kids playing around our feet.
Posted by: ann | February 20th, 2013 at 1:14 am
Dear Martha,
I keep looking at Alexis' blog, but nothing since December. I really liked her recipies for babies. Would you please pass this onto her?
Thank you
Posted by: christine | February 20th, 2013 at 3:11 am
Martha,
That looked like a very fun wedding. Thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | February 20th, 2013 at 3:13 am
Congratulations to the happy couple. I love the pretty colors and the party favors. Very lovely. The art deco detailing on the Empire State Building is to die for! Those elevator doors! And how could someone have covered up that ceiling? Thank you for sharing all of the wonderful design details of the building itself.
Posted by: Karen | February 20th, 2013 at 3:27 am
If I ever make it to New York, the Empire State building is on my list of must sees. The details are extraordinary and I love, love the art deco elevator doors.
What an elegant and beautiful wedding you attended on Valentine's Day Martha. You look very pretty in gold!
Posted by: Cindy F | February 20th, 2013 at 7:40 am
The Kong floral arrangement- that was so awesome. That was definitely a wedding that everyone present will remember.
Posted by: homer | February 20th, 2013 at 7:44 am
Okay, that looked like a FUN wedding. A gay man's dream having Joan to officiate and you Martha as a guest. I remember meeting Preston all those years ago on your show, several times on your wedding dvd's. So glad he had a wedding of his own with you and Darcy both there, a full circle moment for him I am sure.
glen
Posted by: Glen Nyhus | February 20th, 2013 at 8:03 am
So Beautiful looks like an elegant wedding. Can't wait to see more photos of Preston's wedding. You look so pretty Martha. I love Darcy's wedding favors, amazing
Posted by: Rowaida Flayhan | February 20th, 2013 at 8:23 am
Greetings Martha! What a wonderful and special event, thank you so much for sharing, love reading your blogs each day. We miss hearing from Alexis, hope everything is ok. Her recipes and pictures were amazing and seeing Jude and Truman brought a smile to our faces, so adorable!
Posted by: Gail | February 20th, 2013 at 8:36 am
I greatly enjoyed the photos of the wedding; one rarely sees such a plethora of creativity for a singular event. Thanks for sharing the experience!
Posted by: Sue Fawcett | February 20th, 2013 at 8:38 am
Fabulous!
Posted by: Sharon | February 20th, 2013 at 9:09 am
Wow! love all the details they thought up--happy to see two people in love sharing it with the world!
Posted by: Alisa | February 20th, 2013 at 9:14 am
Hi Martha, You and your great friends sure must have had a delightful Valentine's Day attending this outstanding fun wedding at the Empire State Building! These latest photos are fabulous and how nice that Mel Barlow took some of them for you! I have never been to Empire State Building and it is beautiful to see and tour! You look so charming and cute in all of the photos with you and all the others who attended the wedding! The King Kong theme was great! How fun to see Melissa and Joan Rivers, Darcy Miller, Kevin Sharkey, Susan Magrino, Theo and Preston plus all the other people who produced this great wedding! Those 2 charming fellows sure looked happy finally getting married! It's so much fun to see these delightful events you attend and it makes me very happy, also! Was so great to hear you and Alexis on your new program on Sirius XM107 yesterday and can't wait to hear you again! Will also see you on The Today Show in less than 3 hours and watch you on your PBS Cooking School rerun show at 10:30AM! It's going to be a great day again! Hope you are have another great day, also! Off to see The Daily Wag with Francesca and Sharkey touring the farm together! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | February 20th, 2013 at 9:15 am
Goodness gracious..... that was romantic and UNIQUE. Best Wishes to the Happy Couple!
Posted by: Rachel | February 20th, 2013 at 9:32 am
Gorgeous fun wedding at a sharp venue with an amazing entrance!
Posted by: Michele Givens | February 20th, 2013 at 9:38 am
Hi Martha,
Thanks for sharing the lovely wedding of these two talented guys. I remember Preston Bailey from one of your TV shows - you did a flower arrangement together. I'm not surprised his wedding was this beautiful! I enjoyed seeing the inside of the Empire State building too, including your poses, because I haven't seen it since I graduated from high school back in the cave days! And speaking of way back when, my latest blog is from that era and when I brought it forward to the year 2000, I had to mention you. Here's the link if you're curious: http://justtrish67.blogspot.com/ Have a nice day! Oops, almost forgot about your new radio show Mostly Martha. I listened to a repeat of it yesterday because I didn't get home in time - it was fun and since I'm now signed up to Sirius, I'll be tuning in again. Trish
Posted by: Trish | February 20th, 2013 at 9:55 am
Hi Martha,
A glorious wedding. Wow, the magic of it leaves me speechless. May your friends live happily ever after!
Thank you for sharing.
xo
Lisa
Posted by: Lisa Gordon-Miller | February 20th, 2013 at 10:13 am
What a lovely wedding! Loved all the details.
Posted by: Emily | February 20th, 2013 at 10:30 am
What a fantastic wedding! Thanks for for sharing!!!
Posted by: Michelle | February 20th, 2013 at 11:18 am
Saw you on ET when they covered the wedding. I remember you introducing us to Preston on your show. Makes me only miss your show more than I already do. Please, please bring your original taped hour long show back to TV. I can't begin to tell you all I have learned from you over the years. I too have been checking Alexis' blog and hoping all is well with her and the kids.
Posted by: Sandy | February 20th, 2013 at 11:24 am
You got some pretty cool friends Martha. The pics are somewhat dreamlike, and breathtakingly vivid and beautiful. And, my first time seeing the Empire State Building. I love how the design team incorporated nature into everything. I totally dig the lighting too, it really set the tone of an enchanted evening for all of you. The cake by far was my fav. Love the sugar orchids, freaking impressive how they appear suspended mid air. Congrats Theo and Preston.
Posted by: Jennifer McHenry | February 20th, 2013 at 11:43 am
What a spectacular wedding! Thanks for sharing all the details, and all the best to the happy couple!
Posted by: Vickie | February 20th, 2013 at 12:02 pm
A pink King Kong!
Posted by: Holiday Baker Man | February 20th, 2013 at 12:17 pm
WOW!
Loved the favors...quite charming.
Sigh...back to reality...time to clean my house.
Posted by: Sherey | February 20th, 2013 at 12:24 pm
Martha, I love the outfit you were wearing. I would very much like to see some articles in your magazine covering your wardrobe and style choices, much like what you've been sharing about your skin care and makeup preferences. As always, thanks for sharing. It looks like it was a fun, wonderful wedding.
Posted by: Becky in Kzoo | February 20th, 2013 at 12:28 pm
Thanks. Nice wedding ideas.
Posted by: Jaz | February 20th, 2013 at 1:32 pm
What a spectacular event and what fun! Thanks for sharing your marvelous photos of this special marriage. I am a little confused-Joan Rivers officiated?
Posted by: Diane P | February 20th, 2013 at 3:52 pm
Great photos! It looks like a wonderful evening in an amazing building.
Posted by: Laura Dembowski | February 20th, 2013 at 4:12 pm
How incredibly FABULOUS! What a wedding!! Thanks for sharing their beautiful day.
Posted by: Susan | February 20th, 2013 at 8:11 pm
Martha, you looked stunning as always! Must have been a very special day for the newlyweds!
Posted by: Mariola | February 20th, 2013 at 8:28 pm
What a spectacular wedding!! I forgot how beautiful the empire state building is!!!
Posted by: jackie Popomaier | February 21st, 2013 at 9:45 am
Darcy's art work is fabulous!
Posted by: Jan | February 21st, 2013 at 5:33 pm
Hey Martha love your cooking . I love to cook Italian dishes myself . I make a great sauce from scratch and enjoy cooking every day . I even bake for my two grandchildren .You have helped me out many times with your recipes . I am really good at following directions from cooking shows like yours . Must have come from the culinary school i attended in my youth . I studied 6 month cooking and 6 month baking . My baking instructors name was Isreal cooper he was a good baker and i enjoy baking today because of him . Tried working as a baker but it was too hot in the bakery for me .
Posted by: Dean Direnzo | February 22nd, 2013 at 9:24 am
Glad to see your friends in such an glamorious wedding. A nice way to spend valentine's day. You look good Martha...happy and healthy. I'm kinda glad I came to you website once again.
Posted by: Deborah Stewart | February 23rd, 2013 at 9:09 am
Ms. Martha, Just heard your thing on Wait Wait Don't Tell me. You were great. They were not so polite. Anyway, I want to tell you this : Back in about 1998 or so I was running a higher end restaurant/bar in Eugene, Oregon. At some point I made a derogatory crack about "Martha Stewart." Something about everything being perfect or whatever... I am telling you, all the women in that room jumped all over me at once. They would not here BS against you. All these waitress loved your shows. This left an impression on me. Great job. Van
Posted by: Van | February 23rd, 2013 at 2:49 pm
Love that building!
Posted by: Kisha Haraway | March 22nd, 2013 at 3:44 pm