Twisting Tradition

‘We all know that weddings are no longer a “simple affair,” as Steve Martin so memorably explained in Father of the Bride. “Nowadays, it’s not just dinner and a dance, it’s a production,” says Melissa Stratton, a St. Paul–based event planner who has worked with high-profile clients and endless budgets. With the average wedding cost hovering around $30,000 and many galas doubling, even tripling, that figure, Stratton was really put to the test last summer when she coordinated a wedding for seventy-five guests for under $15,000.

Before moving to Minneapolis a year ago, Stratton spent four years planning private events for a financial firm and a couple who split their time between Santa Barbara and the Virgin Islands, hosting everything from intimate vineyard dinners to extravagant parties. The experience taught her to focus on good service and pay attention to detail. “I’m the executer specializing in good service,” she says. Though she’s quick to say that design is not her strength, she often has a vision well before her clients and is driven to do things a little differently to help make every bride feel like a million bucks. Such was the case when she took on the challenge of planning and executing a wedding for Mari Richards and Aaron Wampach, held at Architectural Antiques.

It all began when Stratton ran into Richards when they were both looking at a 10,000-square-foot space in St. Paul. Within days, the venue was no longer available, and Richards, desperate to find a new place, called Stratton. Stratton scouted endlessly when a light bulb went on in a chandelier-filled architectural salvage warehouse in Northeast Minneapolis. She was sure Richards, an antiques-loving graphic designer for Manhattan Toys, would be thrilled with all the vintage surroundings. But trying to visualize a wedding in the space, which was one-third the size originally hoped for, was difficult. The always assuring wedding planner had to push aside the imperfections—mountains of doors, tables, and fixtures—and explain that, yes, there really would be an aisle, a dining room, and a place for people to socialize.

Previously, Architectural Antiques had only hosted a cocktail reception, so a ceremony and sit-down party had to be planned from scratch. (We should note that Architectural Antiques’ primary business is selling vintage wares, so site rental is case by case.) Stratton created an aisle between rows of simple white folding chairs that elegantly stood out among the store’s old natural woodwork. Musicians provided  the evening’s live music—alas, dancing was not on the agenda. After the vows, sparkling wine was hand-delivered on the patio by a team, assembled by Stratton, of servers moonlighting from local restaurants. In keeping with Stratton’s mission of “creative ways to save money,” the bride supplied all her own handmade paper products, from invitations to menus. She shopped at the Paper Depot and used her own printer. The flowers came from the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market.

After cocktails, the doors opened, unveiling the dining room. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling and centerpieces included statues and objects from around the store and mounds of key limes and bowls of salt and pepper. “I looked around and saw the amount of in-house props we could use—those things cost thousands and thousands to rent,” she says. Guests were treated to an organic four-course meal catered by Signature Cafe, with cupcakes in lieu of the traditional cake.

Stratton thrives on helping brides put a different spin on things and believes the “creative mass in the Twin Cities” provides a lot of opportunity to do so. Stratton has done everything from benefits to baby showers, regardless of size or scale, and hopes to someday work nationwide, possibly partner with a design colleague, and start a prop house. Having learned much from her friend and mentor, famed New York event planner Robert Isabell, she also gets inspiration from interior design, Martha Stewart, and InStyle magazine. She thinks some traditional weddings can be gorgeous if done simply (she hates plastic hooks holding flowers or ribbons on pews). Above all, her philosophy as the planner/coordinator/ executer/maître d’ is to keep service the highest priority.

“It’s the high-end details to make clients feel like VIPs that people forget about. You don’t have to have a million dollars to feel treated like that.”