The Diamandis-Blakeman ceremony and reception were held at the home of Toots Bixby, a well-known interior designer and dear friend to the bride and her mother, who renovated the stately Spanish Colonial Revival home in the latter part of the twentieth century. The renovations to the Mediterranean masterpiece included a spacious entertainment pavilion that Flowers by Flora transformed into a Grecian greenhouse of sorts, with the foraged florals from roses to lavender from local gardens in Montecito and Fair Harbor, Connecticut, the home of the Groom. The backdrop was a dramatic forest of evergreen trees lit with white lights and filled with Grecian-blue paper butterflies handcrafted by schoolchildren on the island of Patmos, the ancestral home of the Bride. The table decoration was simple and elegant with white linens, ample use of silver pieces and china from the collections of the Merry Widows of Montecito, as the friends of the Mother of the Bride call themselves, and rustic arrangements of white and blue hydrangeas, clipped and dried especially for the occasion from the Mother of the Groom’s garden in Fair Harbor. The aisle flowers and arch that decorated the ceremony space featured greenery, roses, and crisp bows of various shades of blue. The seating and ceremony area for the sixty guests was snug and convivial, ensuring that there were no gaps in the decor or the conversations.

The ceremony began with a break with tradition. George Blakeman, the Groom’s father, walked the Mother of the Bride, Alexa Diamandis, and the Mother of the Groom, Abigail Ellsworth Blakeman, both wearing shades of blue, down the aisle together. It was an emotional moment for all the women in attendance to see these two mothers united by their children. Maid of Honor Sarah Blakeman made her way down the aisle in a vintage Betsey Johnson dress covered in the winged creatures of the theme. The Groom and Best Man, Lloyd Chandra, stood at the altar in blue suits and silver ties, a sophisticated modern look.

When the Bride appeared in her ethereal Kalliope Moon dress, an elegant bohemian affair with hints of blue amid the ivory layers and a matching tulle veil, there were audible gasps from the guests. The effect of the Bride in her dress against the backdrop of evergreens was breathtaking. The guest next to me, Lucinda Bufford Morrison, a member of the Connecticut wing of the floral foragers and of the Daughters of the American Revolution, whispered in my ear, “What a triumph!”

The Bride was escorted down the aisle by her godfather, Baron Plumley, Lord Simon Fox, to the waiting arms of Chase Blakeman. Timothy Lynch, then mayor of New York City and Mr. Blakeman’s (now former) boss, married the couple with a flourish and a bit of the Seamus Heaney love poem “Scaffolding,” as the first drops of the downpour began.