Gervasi Vinyard as a wedding venue was a compromise for Unique and Marcus. This makes me laugh as I type it because if you’ve ever been to this beautiful wedding venue in Canton, Ohio you’ll wonder what about that vineyard could be a compromise. Or alternatively, you’ll wonder about Unique and Marcus. 😉 The thing is that Unique loves nostalgic old historic settings, and Marcus likes a beautiful outdoor view. They toured lots of wedding venues in the Cleveland area and Ohio in general but in the end, it just felt like Gervasi Vineyards was the perfect combination of both. Not to mention they’re huge wine lovers (this helped the cause).
That’s basically them in a nutshell, they’re all about blending and meeting in the middle. Unique is introverted and Marcus is a people person. Unique is loud and full of outward joy and Marcus can tell you how he thinks by raising his eyebrows across the room (I want it on record that I think it’s going to be his number one dad skill). 😉 The truth is that together they make a pretty incredible well-balanced couple. Mainly because of the incredible mutual love and respect that they have for each other, and how often they try and remember to meet in the middle.
When I first met the two of them on zoom in the heart of the pandemic, I knew immediately that I liked them both. Unique popped on a screen in what looked like an Avengers mask on, but a minute later I realized she was on a bus getting back to her hotel because she was on yet another assignment as a travel nurse serving in the middle of the worst of the covid pandemic. Marcus was taking a break from studying constantly because he was in the middle of med school and taking shifts in the ER. They both looked somewhat exhausted, and yet they both lit up the second the other one got on the screen. They were light-hearted even knowing what they were fighting through and they were just genuinely excited to be getting married.
Here’s the thing about their Gervasi Vineyard wedding that you might not realize. When you look at it now, it looks like a complete fairytale (and it was) but it was because of the two of them even more than the idyllic setting. I’m going to be very direct and tell you there were some real challenges that day. Just ask Unique she’ll tell you, hopefully with a laugh at this point, but it was a day that presented things that just weren’t expected. How about the fact that on her wedding day, middle of July it decided that it would be a good time to have a hurricane right smack in the midst of Ohio…. This is what weddings do, you plan and work, but the unexpected still happens.
Why do I tell you this?
I just recently sat with Unique as we were looking through her wedding albums and reliving the magic of her day. I really am going to say magic, because the reality is that even though on the day itself there were a number of things that were not idealistic she chose to be present and laugh through it all, despite the things that didn’t go “according to plan”. Literally, I would look over and see her and Marcus giggling at the head table. 😉 They didn’t miss the joy, or each other, or their family.
Now when she flips through the albums (which we did over and over again together) the thing that jumps off of those pages are all those amazing memories, the moments, how they felt, and the things that fade are things like the torrential downpour…
I think it’s really easy when you’re wedding planning to get lost in the idea of details. You might start out feeling like you know what it’s all about, but then time slowly wears that down, you go from seeing the big picture to being so hyper-focused on the color of your custom dyed ribbon* (items have been changed to protect your feelings) 😉 and whether it’s going to match perfectly that it’s difficult to remember what you are doing it all for.
I don’t actually think people realize when they’ve slipped from that perspective, but I can always tell. The danger here is that you miss the moments, which are, in my opinion, are one of the most important things about a wedding day.
Unique and Marcus didn’t miss the moments. Their family and friends didn’t miss the moments. Their wedding was one of the most fun weddings was of the year, I don’t think Gina, Kinzie, or I smiled as big or laughed as hard on that wedding day. We may have cried and yelled at the sky a few times too (don’t judge, we’re focusing on the beauty here). Everybody held the beauty and sanctity of their ceremony in such high regard, but when it was time to party? They were THERE for it. Such a FUN wedding reception!
This beautiful wedding was featured over on [BRIDES], and you can read the wonderful write-up over there which gives you an in-detail look at exactly how Unique planned this incredible wedding. Including choosing to source her wedding by shopping from black-owned or female-owned wedding professionals. Yes, she did this while she was busy saving lives as a travel ICU nurse…
I’m so grateful to know Unique and Marcus for our team to have been able to have been a part of such a beautiful moment in their history. Unique and Marcus, you know my stance on being invited to family barbecues for life. Just saying. 😉