Ana kisses Jon. Jon smiles, and leaves the room to get ready for their photo shoot. We are in their beautiful loft in central Manhattan, furnished with elegant minimalism and distinctive flair. Sushi and Champagne are being served, and multiple conversations cross paths midair. We are eager with excitement for today’s photo shoot as we are photographing Ana Maria Macedo and Jon Jonsson two years after we captured their memorable New York wedding in June of 2009.
When Ana Maria Macedo and Jon Jonsson decided to tie the knot, they made a splash worthy of a small tidal wave on New York’s social scene. Successful business-owners by day, and party-loving socialites by night, they rocked the New York’s summer with their two hundred plus vogue-ish guests from all over the world. The roaster included a handful of Swedish industrialists, a generous serving of Wall Street wizards, a pack of Hollywood moguls, and heaps of Brazilian and Eastern European models to balance it off.
Today while Ana’s personal stylist is hurrying up with a curling iron, putting on finishing waves on her luscious auburn hair, Ana answers multiple phone calls, Skypes her employees in Brazil and schedules appointments for the week. An Elite agency’s model Ana is also a successful entrepreneur, the owner of Ana Maria Couture brand, a line of elegant dresses with a cult-like following of devoted customers. She talks about her future plans to set up new retail locations in the United States and Europe and about the success of recently opened stores in Sao Paolo and Rio De Janeiro. Once again she surprises us with her Napoleonic stance and no-holds-barred attitude. It seemed all too familiar.
When we first met Ana at our New York studio back in 2009, months before her wedding, from the first moments of our conversation we knew she was not an ordinary, run-of-the-mill client. Beautiful, stylish and commanding Ana laid out her ambitious wedding plans in front of us. Impressive as they were, to our question about which wedding planner she was working with Ana replied with absolute certainty and in her distinctive and endearing accent: “I don’t need to use a wedding planner. I plan all my events myself. I like to be in control.”
We started to worry.
Being in the wedding industry for many years and having worked closely with numerous professional event planners we have learned, that planning a wedding on your own is not a simple task. Planning a wedding of Ana’s size and ambition, a three-day event with over two hundred people flying in from all over the world seemed to us a gargantuan task to be handled by a team of event specialists (we were hoping for someone of a Mindy Weiss or David Tutera statue) , much less by a single woman, the bride to be precise, who is occupied by running a successful business, has time to work on her modeling career, and is known as one of NY’s most active socialites. To our astonishment Ana proved us wrong.
Put it this way – if Ana lived in the Middle Ages, in France, and there was a war going on, she would give Jeanne d’Arc a run for her money. When our crew arrived to the bridal suite at the Waldorf-Astoria on the day of the wedding in June 2009, the place was overrun by beauticians of all sorts, semi-dressed bridesmaids, and scattered family members from Brazil, who made it just in time for the wedding. And in the middle of all this beautiful turmoil was Ana Maria, as always towering above it all, on the phone, giving orders, answering questions, consulting on the outfits and hairdos of her guests & friends, and yes, being in total control. From the perch of her armchair, while being groomed and painted, Ana ran her wedding not unlike a general commands an army on a battlefield. Well, perhaps with few less casualties.
Women, be they clients, friends or family members, all equally trust Ana’s opinion because she does not only sell her clothes to them, she dresses her clients and gives them tips on how to be stylish, elegant, chic and versatile with the outfits. Ana puts her heart in what she does and makes women look and most importantly feel beautiful. Even on the day of the wedding, devoted clients, who became good friends, were calling Ana since the early morning, seeking her advice about the outfits they were planning to wear.
Picture this – a bride is being prepped for the ceremony, while answering calls from her guests, advising them what to wear. If Ana was annoyed, she hid it well, handling herself with dignity and zen-like calmness. However, the wedding day anxiety did not escape Ana completely.
And there was a good reason for it – it hasn’t been a smooth ride for Ana Maria and Jon. Despite their whirlwind romantic affair, their original wedding scheduled a year prior was ruined by an absentee groom. “I was jilted like a real-life Carrie Bradshaw,” said Ana in her interview with New York Post on July 20, 2008. All this added to the wedding-related stress, but a case of Moet & Chandon Champagne arrived at the door, and seemingly uplifted the spirits.
The minute we stepped into the church Ana’s face flushed with relief – Jon was standing right by the altar, confident, happy, and manly in that strapping Nordic way. This time around everything went smoothly and according to Ana’s intricate plans. The ceremony took place at St. Bartholomew’s Church, gothic and gloomy even on a bright summer day bound by rigid geometrical proportions, located just a short walk from the Waldorf Astoria.
As the ceremony commenced in came a flock of color-coordinated bridesmaids, all Brazilian, all wearing Nicole Miller designed dresses, and cleverly matched bouquets. It felt like there was an explosion of color and beauty in otherwise monotonous church atmosphere. All bridesmaids seemed to have perfect features masterfully accentuated by colorful cocktail dresses.
For the venue Ana picked now-closed legendary Tavern on the Green. The décor matched the overall theme of the event, and the food matched high expectations of the very-well polished and epicure guests. Without any assistance in planning Ana managed to organize a series of treats for the guests, that included a real rock concert with talented and beautiful Vanessa Muller and her band, a series of mini-parties and after-parties, a cruise on a yacht, multiple dinners, and an authentic samba band with carnival-dressed dancers.
“Brazilian Carnival was the highlight of the party,” says Ana reflecting back on her successful wedding. “I was worried for a minute about how Jon’s family will react. I mean, one thing is to go to the carnival in Rio, another is to bring the carnival to your wedding. I am very proud of my country’s traditions, and I thought if Jon fell in love with me, he will fall in love with my culture.”
Most of the guests did not know what to expect and looked surprised when in the middle of the night they were all given Havaiana flip-flops, boas, sunglasses, carnival masks, and all sort of party flavors. People were having fun with the whistles, the masks and colorful feather boas when the DJ suddenly stopped the music and the lights were turned off momentarily just to come back on in a few moments to reveal carnival-dressed dancers and the sounds of real Brazilian Samba played live by NY’s famous Samba Nation band.
When Ana stepped into the circle of dancers, everyone froze to watch. We have never seen Samba to be so graceful as danced by Ana Maria. In her Oscar de la Renta dress Ana looked like a fairytale queen, a swanlike beauty flowing with the rhythms of the music. “Oscar de la Renta was a great choice,” says Ana, “a great combination of class, beauty, and comfort”.
“When you have two hundred people flying in to see you getting married, the only way you can show your appreciation is to make them have fun” says Ana today while we pose her and Jon for a family portrait by the diner table, to commemorate their two-year anniversary. “A wedding is about creating memories, not only yours, but of everyone who comes to share the day with you. While planning the wedding, I kept in mind all the people I love. I knew the wedding was a success when I saw all the happy faces of my friends and family.“
The dresses, the flowers, the readings in the church, the bridal suite with all the beauticians, and vendors, multiple parties, travel and accommodation arrangements, and much more – all of that was masterminded and thoroughly organized by Ana Maria herself. “Pick great vendors and trust their professionalism” says Ana today. “If they can do their job well there is no need for a wedding planner… although having one is probably a good idea.”
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