Even the snow sparkling in the moonlight on Vail Mountain was nomatch for the glow of candlelight, the gleam of crystal and silver, andthe radiance of the bride dressed head-to-toe in a luminous confection of white tulle.The ballroom in the Lodge at Vail, Colorado was the scene of the Valentine Weekend weddingof Emily Brownyn Harrison of Washington, D.C. and Brian Christopher Sullivan of Los Angeles.The bride's parents, News 4 anchor Barbara Harrison and husband JohnPyles, welcomed guests from across the country for the weekend ofevents set in the ski resort where the bride and groom became engaged onValentine's Day last year. The celebrations began on Thursday night with two cocktail parties. One for the over-thirty crowdwas given by Jo Ann and John Mason and Hilda and Arturo Brillembourgat the Brillembourgs’ home in Vail. The younger crowd gathered earlierand stayed later at a party given by the siblings of the bride and groom at the Lodge. Friday, Valentine’s Day, guests were free to ski until evening. Athalf past six, they gathered at the gondola for the ride to the top ofVail Mountain, where the groom’s parents, Gail and Jim Ellis ofSan Marino, California, invited everyone to join them for dinnerand an evening of toasting as well as roasting. On Saturday, the wedding night’s event began with the ceremony atthe Vail Chapel, officiated by Father Lawrence Madden of GeorgetownUniversity. The bride’s attendants included her sisters, and friendsfrom both Stone Ridge School in Bethesda and Dartmouth College.Among the ushers were the groom’s brothers and classmates from PhillipsAcademy Andover and Northwestern University. | There were junior bridesmaids and flower girls too, and like theolder attendants, their dresses were in shades of creamy white. The flowerswere white roses with acorns and oak leaves. The oak-leaf motif wasborrowed from the groom's company logo, Rolling Oaks Capital, and wasfeatured on the invitations and gifts for the wedding party and guests. The bride's gown was designed for Neiman-Marcus by BadgleyMishka and was made of beaded silk with a skirt of over 100 yards of silktulle. The veil was finished with a hemstitch of beads and crystals. Sandi Hoffman of Gala Events in Bethesda created the ambiancefor the reception. The ballroom of the Lodge at Vail was decoratedwith over 6,000 white roses, some in simple crystal bowls, othersintricately wound around silver candelabra. The flowers weredesigned by Steven Chambers of Victoria Gardens in Washingtonassisted by Denver floral designer Nancy Barney. The wedding cake was designed by the bride's aunt, Beth Setrakian,of "Beth's Babies" cookie fame, and baked by the Lodge pastry chef. Itconsisted of five layers of chocolate raspberry mousse with a butter creamfrosting, adorned with 400 Godiva chocolate hearts. The weekend festivities concluded with an apres-ski gathering onSunday, hosted by Robert and Mary Galvin of Chicago, grandparentsof the groom. The newlyweds then left for Hawaii for a two-week honeymoon, while many of the guests were snowed-out ofWashington by the big Presidents' Day snowstorm. |
