The one wedding experience Ryan Samson will cherish above all others is the moment he saw his bride, Marjan Quadir, for the first time on their wedding day. “I had my back turned as she walked towards me, and as I heard her drawing closer, my heart began to race,” he recalls. “It was a magical moment when she tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around to look at her. She is always beautiful, but she looked absolutely radiant, and I couldn’t keep from saying, ‘Wow!’ over and over again.”

The venue selected to host the couple’s nuptials was the impetus for a classically romantic theme with a literary edge. “As our wedding would be taking place at an historic Gold Coast mansion on the North Shore of Long Island, there was definitely a Great Gatsby-inspired look that I hoped to create and carry throughout each detail,” affirms Marjan. Cool notes of silver and rich strokes of aubergine accentuated the blush tones of the primary color palette.

The mansion’s glass-enclosed Garden Room was beautifully ornamented with spring blooms in preparation for the ceremony. “The space was decorated with flowering quince and cherry blossoms to create a lush, romantic, dreamy environment,” says the bride. “Everything from the ceiling to the side panels of the room was adorned with blossoming branches.” Large sprays of blooms flanked the altar area of the space, and crystals were woven into the arrangements overhead. A custom runner was unfurled moments before bridesmaids attired in aubergine chiffon preceded the bride down the aisle. Marjan’s magnificent bridal gown swept to the floor in a mermaid silhouette of delicate rouched silk in the palest shade of blush. Bejeweled halter straps magnified the brilliance of the bride’s exquisite jewelry, and sparkling Louboutins completed the dazzling ensemble. The bride’s bouquet featured blooms in shades of blush and pink sapphire accentuated with mini calla lilies in a shade of deep claret.

Following the processional, the officiating celebrant began the ceremony with an account of the couple’s love story. “We spent a great deal of time crafting a personalized ceremony speech that told stories of our early courtship and reflected our growth as a couple and our love for one another,” reveals Ryan. “The celebrant had interviewed Ryan and me separately,” adds Marjan, “so she was able to incorporate our feelings for each other and describe them within our story for the ceremony.” An excerpt from The Great Gatsby was read by Marjan’s sister, followed by the recitation of a poem by classical Bengali writer and Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore given by the sister of the groom. “The entire ceremony was very heartfelt, and guests were brought to tears,” Marjan shares.

Cuisine ranging from French and Italian to traditional South Asian was offered during an elegant cocktail hour before guests were ushered into a marble entryway where seating cards were arranged on a table adorned with flowers. Richly paneled walls and gleaming hardwood floors gave the space a handsome, sophisticated air emphasized by fruitwood chairs that replaced the gilded seating used for the ceremony. Silver candelabras were crowned with blushing roses, hydrangeas, mini calla lilies, anemones, and other varieties of flowers that displayed the full spectrum of the event’s color scheme. Petite arrangements in antique silver vases were arranged at the foot of the larger centerpieces atop aubergine table linens. “We love classic elegance and romanticism, and I felt everything we incorporated into the wedding displayed that,” says Ryan. The couple’s cake was an edible work of art to which much thought had been given. “As my gown was not white, we decided to use a blush fondant as the base color,” explains Marjan. “Each of the cake’s five tiers featured a shimmering sugar ‘ribbon,’ and the edible flowers were handcrafted to match those used in our centerpieces.”

Although the wedding décor was breathtaking and the execution flawless, the main focus of the event was always on the relationship between Ryan and Marjan. “It was most important to me that our guests left with an appreciation for the love that Marjan and I share,” Ryan firmly asserts. “In addition to remarks regarding how beautiful everything looked, our guests told us they were taken with how much love they felt, particularly during our ceremony and the speeches from our bridal party.” The bride agrees that concentrating on what matters most is the best advice a couple can take. “Things may not necessarily happen as planned, but guests will not even know about or remember those aspects of the wedding,” she says. “Just enjoy the big day and all the precious moments.”